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Luke Grimes avoided revealing major Yellowstone spoilers as he shared his reaction to a shocking moment on the show.
Grimes, who has played Kayce Dutton on the hit Western drama since its debut in 2018, caught up with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Tuesday (November 12). Fallon asked Grimes about Yellowstone after the highly-anticipated season 5B premiere on Sunday (November 10). Fallon noted it was the most watched episode ever.
Yellowstone viewers tuned in to discover the fate of John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, who confirmed over the summer he would not return to the show as he worked on Horizon: An American Saga. Costner said in a video at the time, in part, that he realized “that I’m not going to be able to continue season 5B or into the future. It was something that really changed me. I loved it, and I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Editors note: Spoilers ahead.
Fallon said “we learned about the death of a major character” on the latest episode of Yellowstone. John Dutton is found dead from a gunshot wound. It’s meant to appear as though he took his own life, though it’s actually part of a murder plot. Neither Fallon nor Grimes, however, named Costner’s character when they spoke about Yellowstone on The Tonight Show.
“I mean, we always kind of knew it was coming,” Grimes said when asked about his reaction to the script. “That’s sort of how the show was set up, right? It was always gonna go there. If this person goes away, can they still do it? But obviously, it ended up happening in a way that none of us saw coming. It’s very shocking. …He had terminal cancer when the show started. We always knew it was… But we couldn’t let him go. We needed him around.”
Grimes has starred alongside Costner in the show since 2018, along with Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser and others. Reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson made her acting debut in Yellowstone in the season 5 premiere. Grimes revealed on The Tonight Show that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has always known Kayce Dutton’s fate on the show, though he didn’t reveal it to Grimes before the current season.
“I am, man,” Grimes said when asked whether he’s happy with the way everything wraps up for his character. “I think it’s perfect. Taylor knew the end from the very beginning. …He told me, he was like, ‘I don’t want you to know how it ends, but I know how it ends.’ And then when I read it, I was like, ‘(I’m) glad he saved it.’ It’s really perfect.”
The next episode of Yellowstone is set to premiere on Sunday (November 17).