The actor who plays a young Kevin Costner in the flashback scenes of “Yellowstone” was originally aiming for a completely different role in the western series!
Launched at the beginning of summer 2018, the Yellowstone series managed to revive the western trend, a genre completely abandoned by television in recent decades. The success of the program also made it possible to bring Kevin Costner back to the forefront in a role of great importance, after several years crossing the desert in Hollywood.
In Yellowstone, the American actor plays John Dutton, the patriarch of a family at the head of the largest ranch in the entire state of Montana. The expanse of land attracts the desire of real estate developers, and to defend their property the latter will be ready to do anything – including the use of force.
“This guy is completely crazy”
The western series takes place in the present day, but sometimes returns to the characters’ past during flashback sequences. These flashbacks thus made it possible to connect Yellowstone to its prequel 1883, but also to reveal parts of John Dutton’s youth. On this occasion, the character was played by another actor, Josh Lucas.
In an interview given to Deadlinethe latter spoke about his role in Yellowstone, revealing that he was amazed by the vision of series creator Taylor Sheridan:
Taylor told me that there won’t be much to film at first, but that season 5 is where I’ll be appearing the most. He didn’t know at the time if the season would consist entirely of flashbacks, or just for a few episodes. I remember thinking to myself that this guy is crazy. A series that goes beyond two seasons is rare enough, so what can we say for five seasons.
The Godfather in Montana
The physical resemblance between Josh Lucas and Kevin Costner was not taken into account when choosing the interpreter of young John Dutton. Before filming, the American actor and Taylor Sheridan discussed this subject, and together discussed the saga of The Godfather where Vito Corleone is played by Marlon Brandon and Robert De Niro at two different periods of his life.
If he regrets not having been able to appear more in Yellowstone, Josh Lucas also reveals that he originally wanted to play the role of Rip Wheeler, the ranch foreman. But Taylor Sheridan had already chosen Cole Hauser for the role, which didn’t pose any problem for Josh Lucas since the two actors are long-time friends.
Paramount+ Evelyn Dutton, the late wife of John Dutton, as actress Gretchen Mol
While two prequels have already seen the light of day (1883 and 1923), and a third (titled 1944) will soon begin filming, who knows if Taylor Sheridan won’t one day offer Josh Lucas his own spin-off of the Yellowstone universe?
There is no doubt that fans of the western series would love to know more about John Dutton’s youth, and to see his late wife Evelyn Dutton appear (played by Gretchen Mol in the Yellowstone flashbacks) as well as their four children: Lee, Kayce, Beth and Jamie.
All the series from the Yellowstone universe can now be found exclusively on Paramount+.
Discover the list of series currently available on the platform!