In a new PEOPLE cover story, the Oscar winner and βHorizonβ director looks back β and ahead β at his life and iconic 40-year career
Make no mistake about it:Β Kevin CostnerΒ adored his time working on the hit series,Β Yellowstone.
βI loved the show,β says theΒ Oscar winner, who is No. 1 on the list in PEOPLEβs annual 100 Reasons to Love America issue,Β in this weekβs cover story.
βI liked the people on the show. I liked what it was about. I love that world.β
His affection for the series and cast is one reasonΒ controversy around his exitΒ was especially hurtful to the star, who played patriarch John Dutton III for five seasons, from 2018 to 2022.
Costner kept the show a priority for over a year awaiting the next seasonβs scripts and schedule, he says, but ultimately, βThe scripts werenβt there.β
He bristles at reports he left because ofΒ Horizon: An American Saga, his ambitious western epic whose first chapter hits screens on June 28, or that he offered just one week of his time.
In fact, Costner had long front-burnedΒ YellowstoneΒ after initially signing on for just one season.
βWhen it was first pitched to me byΒ Taylor [Sheridan]Β it was one season and [like] a long movie, which [is] speaking my languageβ¦ but ultimately, I think what happened was the studio didnβt want that,β he says. βAnd because heβs such a prolific writer, he said, βI can do that. I can make a series that goes onβ.β
Costner gladly βstepped up,β and βI said, βIβll do it for three seasonsβ,β he says, βand I ended up doing it for five.β
In fact, he was game to continue, but there was no timeline or new material, he says. βThere was a moment where that show for me stopped for 14 monthsβ¦ Thatβs the fact. I could have done a lot of things in that time, but I wasnβt aware that that [hold-up] was going to happen.β
As is his way, Costner stayed mum and rode out the rumor-filled churn but was βdisappointedβ no one came to his defense. βI read all the stories,β he says. βI was disappointed that nobody on their sideβ¦ ever stepped up to defend what it was I actually did for them. There came a moment where I thought, βWow, when is somebody going to say something about what IΒ haveΒ done versus what IΒ havenβtΒ done?ββ
Costner was drawn to the project when it first came his way and was excited to collaborate with Sheridan. βI liked the writing and really, really liked what Taylor was doing,β he says. βHe understood the world of modern-day ranching and was able to create all this other type of drama inside it, but in an effective way.β
If the script and scenario was right, Costner notes, heβd beΒ open to returning. βIβve always felt thatβ¦It might be an interesting moment to come back and finish the mythology of this modern-day family,β he says. βAnd if that happens, I would step into it if I agreed with how it was being done.β
Still, he says: βIn the very end, I couldnβt do any more for it than I had already done.β