Kevin Costner’s Recent Yellowstone Drama Should Come As No Surprise – Looper

That same summer, Kevin Costner told ET that he’d originally agreed to do “Yellowstone” thinking it was a 10-hour movie. (Long, sure, but not much longer than 2012’s three-part, six-hour miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys,” for which he won an Emmy, and not quite as long as “Horizon,” which will be split into four parts, per Variety). 

“I’m down with long,” he told the outlet. “I understand long really well, and it was pitched to me we were going to do one long movie […] Somewhere along the line, they wanted to turn [it] into a series, and you kinda have to look at things again.” Costner said he had his own reasons for deciding to sign on, but at no point did he say, “and I hope to stay on this series for a very long time.” He did, however, note that he was “happy for the show and everyone in it.” 

And there’s no reason to believe he’s not. But the bottom line is Costner has his own career (and life) to think about, and that career already includes (in addition to his prolific acting resume) 21 credits as a producer, and, crucially, three as a director. One of those projects – a little western called “Dances with Wolves” – took home the Oscar for best picture in 1990, and earned Costner (another) Oscar win for best director and a nomination for best actor. It’s not shocking that the actor is shifting gears to do a thing he loves, has done before, and has already told us he wanted to do again; what’s shocking is that he’s stayed on “Yellowstone” for as long as he has in the first place.