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Kevin Costner is shining a light on his exit from the hit series Yellowstone. After playing patriarch John Dutton III for five seasons, the actor said he still has fond memories of working on the Paramount Network series.
“I loved the show,” Kevin, 69, told PEOPLE in an interview published Wednesday, June 19. “I liked the people on the show. I liked what it was about. I love that world.”
That’s not to say it was absolutely perfect. When Kevin announced he was leaving the show in 2022, rumors swirled about the real reason behind his exit.
“I read all the stories,” the actor admitted. “I was disappointed that nobody on their side … ever stepped up to defend what it was I actually did for them. There came a moment where I thought, ‘Wow, when is somebody going to say something about what I have done versus what I haven’t done?’”
In February, Kevin’s attorney, Marty Singer, also responded to online rumors, stating: “As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
According to Kevin, he originally agreed to participate in creator Taylor Sheridan’s show for one season as it was pitched to him like a long movie. Ultimately, the Oscar winner believes the studio wanted a show that could span several seasons.
“Because he’s such a prolific writer, [Taylor] said, ‘I can do that. I can make a series that goes on,’” Kevin believed. “I said, ‘I’ll do it for three seasons’ and I ended up doing it for five.”
He added that he was open to continuing, but no one could provide a timeline for the production. Fourteen months went by where the show had stopped. As a result, Kevin wanted to pursue other projects.
Despite the past, Kevin said he would be open to returning to Yellowstone if the script and scenario were right. “It might be an interesting moment to come back and finish the mythology of this modern-day family and if that happens, I would step into it if I agreed with how it was being done,” he said. “In the very end, I couldn’t do any more for it than I had already done.”
Kevin’s latest film, Horizon: An American Saga, hits theaters everywhere on Friday, June 28.
