We all know Luke Grimes’ character, Kayce Dutton, as one of the most likable characters on Yellowstone.
The son of John Dutton, Kayce is a level-headed cowboy and former Navy SEAL that has returned to the Dutton Ranch, and is loyal to his father and will do whatever it takes to keep the Dutton family name alive and well.
Of course, he also has a tumultuous relationship with his wife, Monica, who is Native American and has issues with Kayce’s loyalty to the ranch, considering the lengths his family goes to in order to protect it.
Although Kayce has played several roles on a number of movies, like American Sniper and Fifty Shades of Grey, Yellowstone has catapulted his career to heights he probably never imagined.
He’s now a household name, an aspiring country music singer who has an album in the works, and now, he’s the face of Stetson cologne.
But speaking of Stetson cologne, he recently sat down for an interview with Gear Patrol to discuss the new partnership, along with what life has been like since he joined the Yellowstone cast.
Perhaps the most intriguing part is when he discussed how his lifestyle has changed since joining the show, including a move to Montana.
“It’s a big influence on pretty much every aspect of my life. I’d say, most importantly, I’d never been to Montana before doing Yellowstone. Now I live there… I’ve lived there for two and a half years. And that’s, obviously, such a huge change because I lived in LA before. So that’s informed every part of my life possible.
He also discussed how the pandemic spurred the move to Montana after living in Los Angeles and even Austin, Texas, for a time, and also how it removed so many of the distractions that were present living in the city.
“My wife and I traveled around for a while in an Airstream and had to be in Montana for work in August.
And the thing with the Airstream was like: I want to live in the mountains. I want to live in the country and live somewhere beautiful. When you see it, let me know. And, let’s figure out where we want to kind of put down roots.
Out of all the places that we went, she loved Montana. And so we put down roots there and the gearshift was pretty huge.
The day-to-day is very different. It was hard in LA for me to not be distracted and remember what life is about in its simplest way. In Montana, it’s really hard to forget that. You’re a lot less distracted and your days become more about what you want your days to be about.
And I feel a lot more creative there just because I have a lot more time to be less distracted. And, it just works for me. I know it wouldn’t work for everyone. I’m sure some people would be bored to death out there, but I love it. I love the lifestyle change.”
He also weighed in on the chance to work the legendary Kevin Costner, as well as director and creator Taylor Sheridan, who is in the midst of putting together quite the resume of his own.
Grimes says he is inspired by working with people who have already been successful in the industry and relishes the opportunity to learn from them:
“I think anytime you’re around people that have been that successful in the way that you are trying to be successful — anytime you’re around such iconic people — it’s inspiring.
And obviously, everyone has their different methods, their different ways, but you can certainly see a through-line in the work ethic, how they carry themselves, how professional they are, how hard they work and what it really takes to have a career like that.”
And finally, with a passion for music and a new country album in the works, Grimes shed some light on working alongside Ryan Bingham, who he’s known for quite a long time actually.
But at the end of the day, music has always been a calling of his, and now, he’s finally getting the opportunity to pursue it:
“It’s been something I’ve always done. I’ve always played music. I’ve been in bands since I was 10 years old — church bands first and then not-so-churchy bands after that. It’s just always been something I’ve done, but acting was always the day job, that’s the business of it all, and I just played music on the side as something that I loved.
And honestly, it was as simple as someone approaching me and saying, ‘I’ve heard that you’re into this. Send me some stuff.’ Then one thing leads to another and I got an opportunity to do it a little more professionally. And I wanted to give it a shot.
I’ve actually known Ryan [Bingham] for a lot longer than I’ve been doing the show. We’re not the closest of friends, but I’ve just known him around and always loved his music and been such a fan. I’m a big fan of country music in general, whether that be the more well-known stuff that the masses know or the underground stuff — more in the Bingham vein.
I kind of just love it all. So [the music] sort of happened organically and I’m trying to try my best just to enjoy it and not let the professionality of it take over or make it a job.”
Yellowstone Season 5 premieres on Sunday, November 13th on Paramount Network.
Luke Grimes On Bringing His Late Father On The Set Of Yellowstone: “His Favorite Thing I’ve Done”
Luke Grimes has been a busy guy here recently.
Not only is he in filming for Yellowstone Season Five, where he plays Kayce Dutton, but he’s also pursuing a career in country music as well.
Grimes first announced that he was dipping his toes into country music back in January, and back in September, announced that he has a full album in the works.
On top of that, he’s signed a record deal and been added to the lineup for Stagecoach 2023, so the mission is full go.
Grimes recently sat down with the New York Post to talk about everything from “in the works” country music career, to fashion, his family, and Yellowstone.
He kicked things off by discussing how he gradually decided to pursue country music:
“I was writing some stuff, singing it into my iPhone, and sent it to a few friends. One thing led to another, and I get a phone call from this great music manager, and he says, ‘Do you really want to try this?’
And I said, ‘Well, why wouldn’t I?’, not really thinking much of it. Now here I am signed with Universal Nashville, I’ve got a record deal, and I have a show booked!”
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the interview was when he began to discuss his family, considering his father had recently passed away.
He admitted that his father was a big time Yellowstone fan, and very supportive:
“Big-time fan, huge, huge. This was his favorite thing I’ve done, by far. I took him to the set a couple of times, him and my mom, and they got to meet Kevin and Taylor (Sheridan, the show’s co-creator).
It was really special to do something he was so proud of. I’m so glad he got to see me realize a dream in that way.”
The interviewer also attempted to get some word out about Kayce’s future with his wife Monica on Yellowstone, but Grimes admitted that he wouldn’t share any spoilers:
“I feel like it would be frowned upon to divulge. I feel like I would get a phone call. So I’m gonna plead the fifth on that one.”
I guess we’re just gonna have to be patient and wait for the season five’s premier on November 13th.
Why Luke Grimes Says Kayce Will Never Abandon The Dutton Ranch
As we slowly creep up on the premier of Yellowstone Season Five on November 13th, stars from the show are beginning to shed more light on what we can expect for the upcoming season.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, a few cast members discussed some intriguing points of focus for the upcoming season.
Cole Hauser (Rip) and Kelly Reilly (Beth) discussed what we can expect from Beth and Rip’s marriage in Season Five.
Although things haven’t been all sunshine and rainbows between the two for the most part throughout the show, it sounds like things may heat up between the iconic duo, as Hauser described the relationship as a “slow burn,” meaning things could begin to escalate in Season Five.
With that being said, Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton on the show, was also a part of the interview, and he shared some intriguing points about where Kayce will be at once season five rolls around.
We know he’s fresh of his vision quest where he saw “the end of us.” The only thing left to figure out is whether that means the end of him and Monica, or the end of the Dutton Empire. With Avery sniffing around, and the “7 Generations” prophecy from 1883, both could be true.
He shared:
“When you meet him (in season 5), he’s off the ranch. He’s sort of almost happy. He seems like he likes his little life on the Res with the family.
But as the story progresses, you realize he can’t stay away for too long. Something calls him to take care of that legacy. In true Kayce fashion, there’s no relief from the sort of rock and a hard place that he’s in between.”
He adds that much like other seasons, this one feels different:
“Every season has felt incredibly different. I think that’s the beauty of Taylor’s writing. He knows how to make this show just take every twist and turn it possibly could, and to keep it so fresh.
Every year has felt very different from the last.”
Yellowstone Season 5 premieres Sunday, November 13th, on Paramount Network.
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Luke Grimes Says Yellowstone Could Go On Longer Than Expected
Could the success of Yellowstone push the show out even further expected?
Whenever there is money to be made, the answer is always “yes.”
But if you think Taylor Sheridan is go the route of The Walking Dead or How I Met Your Mother with it, and by that I mean, drag it out for way too long just to fill up season, guess again.
A while back, Taylor Sheridan said that the end of the show is in sight:
“Well, I know how it ends. I’m writing to that ending. There’s only so much hovering one can do before the story starts to lose its locomotion; you can’t put it in neutral just because it’s successful.
It will go as many years as it takes for me to tell the story, but you’re not going to see nine seasons of it. No way.”
He echoed that sentiment in a previous interview, hinting that show could possibly conclude after Season 6, which might be sooner than fans want, but there’s no sense in dragging the story out for the sake of more seasons (looking at you How I Met Your Mother).
“Well, I know how it ends. I know how the series ends, and you have to move in a straight line toward that end. You can’t walk in circles, waiting to get there, because the show will stagnate.
So, you have to keep moving forward, and there have to be consequences in the world, and there has to be an evolution toward a conclusion. Can that be another two seasons beyond this? It could.”
It kind of sounds a lot like 6 or 7 seasons could be the wheelhouse, and with Season 5 set to start filming next month, we could be much closer to the end of the show than we are the beginning.
However, most of this was said before the Kevin Costner-led series became the biggest show in the country. And Taylor does have a whopping NINE shows in the works right now, including a number of Yellowstone spinoffs, but are they really gonna close up shop and go out on top?
Possibly… but possibly not.
Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton on the show, recently sat down with Hollywood Reporter, and while he admitted he knows Taylor wouldn’t never push it too far, he acknowledges the pressure (and money) that come from making a very successful show.
He’s confident that if they did decide to capitalize on the momentum, there wouldn’t be a sacrifice in quality:
“As far as how long Taylor wants it to go, I know what I’ve heard firsthand from the source himself. But I also heard that before it became the biggest show on the planet, and when something becomes this big, I know there’s a lot of pressure to keep it going.
But I do know that Taylor would never let it go past its due date. We’re never going to jump the shark. So I’m sure he could figure out a way to make it a little longer and keep its quality as good as he wants it to be.
But I don’t know… I wouldn’t want it to go past its due date either. I mean, it’s fun to do, I love the cast and crew, but once any great show outlives its material, it’s no fun for anybody.”
Only time will tell…
Kayce Dutton’s Vision Quest
One of the most intriguing scenes from all of Season 4 was right at the very end.
Kayce embarks on a vision quest, a Native American ritual, and let’s just say… he sees some shit.
And one of the things he saw was “the end of us,” as he tells his wife Monica (Kelsey Absille) during the season finale. However, the big question is… is it the end of Kayce and Monica? Or, is it the end of the Dutton Empire as a whole?
According to Luke, he’s on a need-to-know basis:
“So Taylor and I have this understanding that he knows how this thing ends for everyone. He knows how it ends for Kayce, and he’s known since he wrote the beginning. He actually said that he knew the end first.
I’ve actually really gotten into the idea of never knowing how this ends until I get to read that last script. It’d be a great payoff as an actor to go through the journey.
But Taylor and I sat down and he told me just enough about what those two paths looked like and just enough about that statement.
It wasn’t enough that I know what’s going to happen or where he goes from here, but it was enough that I could say that line and have an idea of what I was talking about.”
Welp, once again… only time will tell…
And if you’re as pumped as I am for the music of Season 5, you MUST be following our Yellowstone: The Soundtrack playlist, available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Featuring EVERY SINGLE SONG from the series, we make sure we update it in real time, so every Sunday night, all the new stuff is right there.
It’s the most-followed Yellowstone playlist out there, and no joke… it might just be the best playlist on planet Earth.
