What was the process like for you and the other producers of trying to recapture that old Yellowstone magic, while also creating a show that has its own identity and stands on its own two feet?
Yeah, when it first came up, it was while we were shooting the last episode of the original show — which I thought ended really well for Kayce. He fought for a very long time to get his little slice of heaven and his dream life. As we’re shooting that is when I got the call from one of our producers about CBS wanting to do a procedural show — which I honestly thought didn’t sound like a very good idea.
I just felt like it would be sort of weird to take this character out of this world that we knew so well and put him into a completely different format. I said no, basically. And then Taylor [Sheridan, Yellowstone creator and Marshals producer] called me a couple months later and said that he’d spoken with Spencer [Hudnut, Marshals creator] and that he really liked him and he thought his idea was actually very, very good. So he said, at the very least, you should talk to him . . . and Taylor was right. His idea was really good. It didn’t feel like we were just making something to keep it going, to make money. It felt like there was actually a great story that needed to be told.
And yeah, we wanted there to be enough of the original flavour in there. We wanted it to look and feel and smell like Yellowstone. We used the visual bible of Yellowstone; the look is very similar. But then, this had to be its own show, because there’s no way that we were going to be able to recreate what we had on the first one.
The early episodes of Marshals almost mirror your reluctance in a meta way, as Kayce himself doesn’t want to take this new job. He needs to be convinced . . .
I’ll take it one step further with the meta thing. I had a kid after I said no. My wife and I had a baby. And of course, there’s a switch that gets flipped inside of you when you have a baby. You start thinking, “OK, maybe whether or not I want to tell this story is not important. Maybe I should just be thinking about his future.” And that’s literally one of the reasons Kayce becomes a marshal.
I feel like there’s always been this thing with this character — that art imitates life to a degree that’s sort of uncomfortable. You know, literally the reason he becomes a marshal [in the pilot] is because he wants to go protect his kid at this rally. I don’t know . . . the resemblance between Kayce’s arc and my life has always been a little too close.
It is a rare sort of assignment you have here. You’re taking six seasons’ worth of character development on one show, and transferring it into a whole different genre.
The idea of even doing it was very strange. I think that’s why I was reluctant at first. I’ve never heard of someone doing a spinoff show, but completely changing tone or format.
And I wanted to be clear that in no way do I think I should have to approach playing him any differently. It should be the same guy. If you want him to be different in any way, then the story would have to dictate that. It would have to make sense. Otherwise, you’re just sort of stealing a name and a hat to try to get some viewers. Otherwise, let’s just make a different guy entirely. That was my thing — I didn’t want there to be a bunch of notes from up top about how Kayce should have a different personality all of a sudden.
Even though he was never quite as lawless as his siblings, when Kayce joins this squad of federal agents, there’s a tension between the legal way of doing things and the Dutton way of doing things . . .
Yeah, he has some Dutton in him and I don’t think he likes to be told what to do or how to follow the rules. And obviously he’s running into some issues with that at first. But at the end of the day, we know he’s not a guy that wanted a badge. We’ve already seen him deal with that [as a livestock agent on Yellowstone]. But the thing that he wants is no longer a possibility. The thing that he wants, he lost forever [after the death of his wife]. And so, this sort of new tribe, and this new job, is his only option, unless he just wants to be a complete recluse.
In normal Dutton fashion, though . . . I think they just have a hard time following rules.
Has the fact that Kayce is now dealing with a rebellious teen son given him a new perspective on his own father [Kevin Costner’s John Dutton]?
Yeah. And I also think he’s realizing that Tate [Brecken Merrill] doesn’t want the same things as him. In his mind, it would be he starts their own little ranch and then Tate takes it over. I think Kayce would have really liked that for himself. But it’s becoming clear that’s not really the life Tate wants. And maybe neither of them want that anymore, because without Monica [Kelsey Asbille] around, it’s a completely different thing. And everything about that ranch now reminds him of his wife. So, taking this new job, entering this new world, is just a way to try something different that might get them a little closer to what Tate’s actual destiny is.
What does the Montana setting add that you wouldn’t get in a cop show set anywhere else?
I mean, there’s something about the scenery of the mountains. I think that’s a part of the reason why the original Yellowstone was such a success. It’s hard not to see that on camera and wish that you were there in person. I always say that the land itself — the views and the mountains — were the biggest character in Yellowstone, and it’s a big character here, too. And it just comes with its own set of bad guys that would be very different than if you were in a big city.
Yes, the general thinking is that being a cop in the city is more dangerous. But arguably, a perp in the wilds of Montana might be more likely to take a shot at you . . .
Maybe. I think part of it is, when you’re somewhere that rural and there’s not a cop on every corner, people have to police themselves a little bit. I live in Montana, and nobody’s breaking into anybody’s house in Montana. Everyone’s pretty strapped out there.
One of the key relationships in this new show is Kayce and his old Navy SEAL comrade/new marshal boss Cal [Logan Marshall-Green]. What exactly do they mean to each other?
I thought it was really nice when I read the first script to see Kayce have a friend. We’d never really seen that. And that backstory of him being a SEAL was something we never really touched on. So, to me, it was a gold mine of story that we could go into. And later in the first season, there’s a lot of flashback scenes to Afghanistan and him and Cal’s relationship, and why there’s a bit of a darkness there. There’s some resentment and some things they’re holding onto . . .
But I think Cal comes to offer Kayce a lifeline. We figured he’d heard that Kayce’s wife passed, and came to check on his old friend — and offer him the sort of salvation that he got through using his [military] skill set again for good.
Has moving from a streamer to a broadcaster changed things at all in terms of how you can tell a story?
You know, not for Kayce. I feel like the transition was fine because he’s not super-vulgar anyway. There was a lot of choice language on Yellowstone, but it really wasn’t coming from my character. And I was not the one that was naked in a horse trough . . .
That’s true. They couldn’t have done the Beth spinoff [Dutton Ranch] on CBS . . .
No . . . there would’ve been a lot of bleeps.
Marshals airs Sundays on CBS
MEMORABLE ROLES:
He first turned heads and warmed hearts in the latter seasons of ABC’s Brothers & Sisters, playing Ryan Lafferty, illegitimate son of late patriarch William Walker (Tom Skerritt). On the big screen, he played Christian Grey’s much-better-adjusted brother Elliot in the Fifty Shades trilogy of romantic thrillers, and had a small role in director Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, playing real-life war hero Marc Alan Lee. His greatest claim to fame, however, was on smash-hit western Yellowstone. He brought to life ex-Navy SEAL, current cowboy Kayce Dutton for all five seasons — who stood out from his duplicitous siblings thanks to an innate sense of decency, yet never hesitated to pull the trigger to protect what was his and defend those he held dearest.
CURRENT GIG:
The first of multiple spinoffs to emerge in the wake of Yellowstone’s 2024 finale, Marshals has moved the gritty, soapy intrigue from streamer Paramount+ to CBS. It follows youngest Dutton scion Kayce (Luke Grimes) as he’s reluctantly roped into joining a squad of federal agents who’ve just set up shop in Montana — all the while struggling to raise teen son Tate (Brecken Merrill) after the death of his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille). The first season wraps this week, with a second already in the works.