“Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan sat down with The Hollywood Reporter (THR) in June to finally discuss all the chaos going on off-screen.
Sheridan, 53, is hardly known for holding back his true feelings, and it sounded like his team was pretty nervous for what is an enormously important interview at this point in his career. After starting out as an actor, Sheridan has shot up to become one of the most successful and talented show-runners and writers in the entire entertainment industry.
Thanks to the success of shows such as “Yellowstone,” “Tulsa King” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” to name but three, it feels like you can’t move for something brilliant Sheridan’s recently created. But the on-screen drama slipped into reality in 2022, when rumors started swirling that “Yellowstone” lead Kevin Costner would be exiting the series. From there spawned what feels like a thousand pieces of gossip related to Sheridan and Costner’s cantankerous relationship, and may have led to an early conclusion to the biggest show in America.
Sparks are flying and tensions are rising on the ‘Yellowstone’ set https://t.co/EPzJozJbuU
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 6, 2023
Sheridan has kept quiet throughout the chaos, so his interview felt like a huge surprise. Even more surprising was that Robert Redford was actually supposed to take on Costner’s role of John Dutton.
Another stunning revelation was Sheridan only agreed to do a massive development deal with Paramount because he wanted to buy the 6666 (Four Sixes) Ranch in Texas. When asked if he’d taken on too much with the deal, he replied, “I’ll tell you what, it sure looked that way.”
But throughout the rest of the conversation, Sheridan comes across as a talented, ambitious, gift-from-God-type writer. The only issue is whether he’ll be able to finish up the epic saga of John Dutton. When pushed about Costner and their alleged scheduling and personal issues, Sheridan replied:
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered. His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
But Sheridan said he is still “disappointed.” He told THR he feels like Costner’s attitude towards wanting to make his own original movies, now, all of a sudden, “truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
So, what is the fate of Dutton? “I don’t do fuck-you car crashes,” Sheridan told the outlet. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”
Apparently, Sheridan and Costner had their differences over the direction of Dutton’s future, but more so the violence he inflicts. It reads like Costner doesn’t like Dutton as a person, so Sheridan has had to remind him “Yellowstone” is basically “The Godfather” but in Montana.
“And I recall him winning a Golden Globe last year for his performance, so I think it’s working,” Sheridan said. (RELATED: Here Are The Ways ‘Yellowstone’ Could End)
Unless Sheridan decides to break his support of the Writers Guild of America strike, it’s uncertain whether we’ll have new episodes of “Yellowstone” in November. He still has to wrap the scripts, which could take six episodes, could take 10 — who knows! But we will get a conclusion to the epic saga and I, for one, am so ready for it.