Kevin Costner says he would return to Yellowstone if he was “really comfortable with it” – and he even has an idea for his character’s final arc.
The 69-year-old actor plays the role of John Dutton III in the acclaimed Western drama, but last year it was announced that he would be leaving the series at the end of Part 2 of Season 5, which is scheduled to premiere on November 10, despite expecting to star in seven seasons.
The reason for his exit was creative differences with showrunner Taylor Sheridan and his busy workload.
Should Sheridan invite him back, Costner says he has his “own fantasy” for how Dutton should end his journey.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at CinemaCon this weekend, he said: “I’d like to be able to do it but we haven’t been able to … I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five.
“So how it works out — I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with [it], I’d love to do it.”
The Field of Dreams star says fans will have to “wait and see” if they bring it back.
He added: “[Dutton] needs to be proactive in what happens and I’ve kind of had my own fantasy how [the character’s final arc] might be.
“But that’s Taylor’s thing. I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”
Last year, it was reported that his team were “begging” for him to be rewritten into the new Yellowstone series before he settled his messy divorce from Christine Baumgartner.
Puck News claimed Costner’s representatives managed to arrange a phone call between themselves and Sheridan, who had written most of the fifth season’s second half under the belief Costner would not be returning.
The outlet reported even though Sheridan was apparently willing to rewrite it in order to continue Costner’s character’s storyline, the actor’s alleged demands for more money, a reduced shooting schedule and script approval scuppered negotiations.
Divorce proceedings revealed Costner had discussed participating in a sixth season with producers, but negotiations failed.
He said: “There were issues about creative. I tried to break the log jam. They walked away.”
Costner also wasn’t happy the final season would be filmed in two parts, and said: “I was going to do my movie Horizon and leave that show, do my movie, then do (the second half.)
“A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”
Sheridan said he was “disappointed” by Kevin’s decision to quit the show, adding to The Hollywood Reporter: “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered.
“His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
