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Kevin Costner wasn’t the first pick for John Dutton in 'Yellowstone'—it was another familiar face

Taylor Sheridan once shared how a legendary actor almost played John Dutton in 'Yellowstone' instead of Kevin Costner.

Taylor Sheridan's 'Yellowstone' revitalized the dormant Western drama genre. While credit goes to his gritty writing, a major chunk of it also can be attributed to the stellar performance of Kevin Costner who played John Dutton. The fact that 'Yellowstone' Season 5 wrapped with an underwhelming finale although owed itself to many issues with the storyline, Costner's John being killed off, stands as evidence of his onscreen brilliance.

While fans now can never imagine someone else slipping into the shoes of Costner's iconic role, another Hollywood legend was initially touted to breathe life into John's character. The star in question is actor and filmmaker, Robert Redford. Talks of bringing Redford on board happened when the show was in development for HBO. However, executives at HBO reportedly weren’t thrilled, and dubbed the show 'too middle America.'

Sheridan recalls a moment when producers at HBO told him to bring out Redford for the legendary character in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. "If you can get us Robert Redford, we will greenlight the pilot." Taking them at their word, Sheridan visited Redford and successfully convinced him as well. "I drive to Sundance and spend the day with him and he agrees to play John Dutton," Sheridan shared. "I call the senior vice president in charge of production and say, 'I got him!' 'You got who?' 'Robert Redford.' 'What?!' 'You said if I got Robert Redford, you would greenlight the show.'"

What happened next surely shook Sheridan. He recounted, " And he says— and you can’t make this shit up— 'We meant a Robert Redford type.'" This marked the beginning of Sheridan's frustrations with 'Yellowstone' at HBO, which eventually led him to hang up on execs during a notes call. Despite these setbacks, Sheridan impressed then-programming president Michael Lombardo, who, just before being fired, returned the rights to 'Yellowstone' to the creator.

While Sheridan found his John in Costner, unfortunately, the end of this iconic duo was as bitter as one can get. The show, initially a massive hit for Paramount, began to unravel because of ongoing clashes between the two pillars of the show, as per CBR. Tensions were particularly evident during season 2 when the storyline involved Tate’s kidnapping.

It was revealed that Sheridan wanted John to be portrayed as a character willing to do anything to protect his family, while Costner envisioned John as an aging man struggling with control over both his family and land. These sprawling disagreements between Costner and Sheridan, coupled with scheduling difficulties as the former sought to work on 'Horizon', ultimately contributed to the show’s premature end. Costner at the time, shared, Costner further explained, “I gave this thing five seasons. I was really happy to do it. And I don’t need drama. So, let’s just take that drama away, let’s take the guessing [away]. The fans have been way too good to me. And my obligation is to go on and continue to make things that mean something to them.”