Luke Grimes Returns As Kayce Dutton
Earlier this spring, actor Luke Grimes stepped back into one of his most recognizable roles, reprising Kayce Dutton in the newest Yellowstone spin-off, Marshals. Luke’s return marked a continuation of the Dutton family saga, this time shifting focus to Kayce’s next chapter.
In the new series, Kayce steps into a leadership role with a U.S. Marshals team in Montana, and his now-grown son Tate (Brecken Merrill) joins him. The shift comes after Kayce sold the family ranch and chose to start over, following the events of Yellowstone’s series finale, which concluded the Paramount Network drama.
Luke Grimes Opens Up About Returning To The Yellowstone World
Luke admitted during a recent interview that when he was first approached about returning to that character in Marshals, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it.
“I didn’t think I wanted to come back to it, because I felt like Kayce’s story ended so perfectly in the first show. And I was like, well, what are we gonna do now? He’s got his dream life,” Luke explained. “Everything he’s been fighting for, he’s gotten. He literally rode off into the sunset. And what sort of breaks that world open for him is that that dream life became no longer possible.”
We learned in the first episode that Kayce lost his wife, Monica, after battling cancer. The episode later reveals that the illness may have been related to toxins dumped by a mine on the Broken Rock Reservation.
The loss appears to have deeply affected Kayce in a profound way as he admits to how her death has gravely impacted his life, and given him a renewed sense of purpose. Monica’s death seems to set the tone for what’s to come throughout the series.
RELATED: “Marshals” Creator Teases What’s Ahead for Kayce Dutton
Luke Answers Some Mysterious Questions From His Yellowstone Days
While Luke has fully immersed himself into all things Marshals, he did recently further explain some loose ends that left Yellowstone fans speculating. Speaking to Taste of Country about his new album Red Bird, Luke cleared up some questions from the iconic series.
In Season 2, Episode 9 of Yellowstone, Kayce and an associate secretly plant a bomb on the Beck brothers’ plane. However, the explosive device is never detonated, and the storyline is never revisited.
Luke clarified that the moment was not intended to be a mystery. The storyline originally had a planned resolution, but it was ultimately scrapped due to creative changes during production, leaving the scene without an on-screen payoff.
“He [Taylor Sheridan] did actually write the end of that plot into an episode,” Grimes told the outlet. “Then, a few things happened with the powers that be and we had to change direction in how we did the episode.”
Luke further explains why it got left out, saying:
“There was a plane crash that was written into an episode, but then we had to sort of pivot. A lot of times people don’t realize what a writer like Taylor is up against. There’s a lot of cooks that try to be in the kitchen,” he continued. “I think Taylor is the greatest of all time when it comes to pivoting and not letting others take his story, but that being said there are some he wasn’t able to finish.”
You can watch Luke Grimes’ full interview below.
