The Dances with Wolves actor received a career renaissance when he starred in the Western show.
Actor Kevin Costner has become endearing to a whole new generation of cinephiles with his starring role in Taylor Sheridan’s Western TV show Yellowstone. The actor plays the role of the family patriarch John Dutton in the show, which will soon end in 2024 with its final season.
Costner’s performance as the head of the Yellowstone Ranch has drawn universal critical acclaim and earned him an SAG nomination and a Golden Globe Award. Despite the fame and fortune that the series has brought him, Costner’s father was reportedly skeptical about the show in the beginning and told him to stay away from the show.
Kevin Costner In Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone
Actor Kevin Costner is not new to the neo-Western genre after having won his Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture for the film Dances With Wolves. The Western epic film was one of the most successful films of the star’s career, which has since seen many fluctuations. However, the genre came back to save him with the show Yellowstone.
Created by Taylor Sheridan, who is known for writing the film Sicario, Yellowstone follows the familial and political drama that occurs in the Yellowstone Ranch. The series sees Costner playing John Dutton, the patriarch of the Ranch, and the various events that befall his family as he tries to keep it intact.
The show was universally acclaimed and has seen five seasons, with the second part of the fifth and final season set to air in November 2024. Costner’s performance as John Dutton has received acclaim all around the world and he has also earned an SAG nomination and a Golden Globe Award.
Earlier this year, Costner revealed that he would be walking away from the show after t he fifth season as he wanted to film his Western epic Horizon: An American Saga. Various legal issues cropped up due to his decision, with Costner announcing that he would be going to court as he was offered less money to star in the final season of the show.
Kevin Costner’s Father Asked Him To Stay Away From The Show
Yellowstone gave a much-needed resurgence to Kevin Costner, who was still reeling from the failure of his disastrous directorial The Postman. The film’s failure caused a major dent for Costner both commercially and creatively, and he would not direct another film until 2003’s Open Range. While he has seen success in the 2000s and 2010s, he truly returned to his former glory with Yellowstone.
The actor’s late father, however, was reportedly not on board with him starring in the neo-Western show, back when he signed onto it. His father William Costner reportedly warned him against working on the show, which has a lot of gore and ruthlessness. Costner Sr. reportedly felt the role would alienate his son from his fans.
Kevin Costner revealed in an interview with Parade,
“My dad, who passed away this year, and my mom, too, within months of each other, took a big interest in my career. He said, ‘You’re going to lose your audience, fellow. That is a naughty show.’ He said, ‘They’re going to drift away, son.’ He said, ‘You mark my words, that’s naughty.’ I just had to look at my dad, ‘Oh, my God.’”
However, after the show debuted and became a runaway hit, his father seems to have softened up to it. While his late father never gave him an apology for being wrong, he reportedly mentioned that his nurses were curious about the show’s ending.