Kevin Costner did not appear in his character's final appearance on “Yellowstone” on Sunday night.
Speaking about SiriusXM's “The Michael Smerconish Program,” Costner admitted, “Honestly, I didn't know it was actually on last night.”
He added: “This is a moment where I swear to God, I mean, I see ads with my face all over the place and I'm like, 'Oh, I'm not in that ad.' “I did,” he continued. 'I'm not in season, but yesterday I didn't realize what I really had, my focus was on what I had to do, and some There was a phone call. To make.
“Sometimes I feel like I'm just a passenger in life. You know, there's a lot going on,” Costner added. “And someone said, 'You played last night, right?' And I said, 'Hmm, okay.'” No, I actually found out about it this morning. ”
Kevin Costner said on SiriusXM's “The Michael Smerconish Program” that he never saw his character exit “Yellowstone” and that he “didn't know it actually aired last night.” he said. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images, SiriusXM)
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In Sunday night's episode, John Dutton, played by Costner, was apparently shot to death after being discovered by Beth and Casey Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly and Luke Grimes.
Although it appears to be a suicide, there are suspicions that it was actually a murder.
“I didn't see it. I heard it was a suicide, so I didn't want to rush out to see it,” Costner said of the episode.
When Smerconish said that Costner's character didn't seem like the kind of character who would die by suicide, Costner replied, “Well, they're very smart people. Maybe that's a red herring. Who knows?” Don't you know? They are very good, and they will definitely die.” Please understand that. ”
Director Costner said his character's death, an apparent suicide, was “not something I'd want to rush out to see,” but that the creative team on “Yellowstone” were “pretty smart people” who wanted to make the show work. He added that he would think about what to do. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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The Dances with Wolves star also said he didn't know how his character would be leaving the show.
“No, no, that's their job. I gave it five seasons. I didn't even know it was going to last that long. Several times I thought about my own ending. There was,” he said.
He went on to say, “Listen, they're smart people. Whatever they're doing, they're going to figure it out. But I came up with two endings when I didn't mean to.'' ” he added. [do it as] As long as it lasts. ”
“None of us saw it coming,” co-star Grimes, who plays Costner's son on the show, previously told Fox News Digital.
Luke Grimes says the 'Yellowstone' cast is in the dark about Kevin Costner's exit. (Getty Images)
“I didn't see it. I heard it was a suicide, so I'm not in a hurry to go see it.”
— Kevin Costner
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“None of us knew when or how it was going to happen. And, you know, it happened in a way that none of us saw it coming. But we were all kind of preparing for it, and at some point it was really fun to see who the characters were going to be and going through that journey with the audience. ” he said.
Grimes said he was “a little disappointed” that the “Yellowstone” cast didn't know that Costner wouldn't be returning for the conclusion of season five.
WATCH: 'Yellowstone' star Luke Grimes admits 'nobody saw' Kevin Costner's impending departure
“I think he was probably a little disappointed that we didn’t know he wasn’t coming back,” he began. “I think if we could have said goodbye in a different way, we might have had a better goodbye. It was, you know, more of a surprise than anything else.”
“But like I said, it's above my pay grade. And our job is to just show up and do what's on the page to the best of our ability. It’s about execution,” Grimes said.
Grimes, who played Casey Dutton in Yellowstone, told Fox News Digital that she always thought the cast would end the show without Costner's character John Dutton, but after seeing the development, she said, “Nobody was going to do that.'' I didn't think it would happen,” he said. (Michael Buckner/Deadline/Penske Media via Getty Images)
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“I'm not quitting the show,” Costner said on “The Michael Smerconish Program.”
He explained that the issue stemmed from the schedule and contract for his “Horizons: An American Saga” film series.
Costner said he “loved the show,” but the long wait between seasons began to affect other projects he was signed to. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images, SCAD)
“Well, they're very smart people. Maybe that's a red herring. Who knows? They're very smart. And they'll figure it out.”
— Kevin Costner
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“Yeah, we didn't really have to leave anything behind. There was a gap there. There were contractual things that allowed us to do both things, but both things were contractual, so we didn't have to do anything else. I had some leeway, but it was difficult to stick to the schedule,” he explained.
“Apparently, it was too difficult for them. There was time, whatever happened, you can deal with it. But no one, I didn't leave. I didn't quit the show.” got it?
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“I had a contract to do all three,” he continued. “There were contracts in place to do all three. And within about eight months, two more different kinds of contracts were being negotiated. They were trying to do things, not my demands. It was a request.”
“I responded to them about the two additional things that had changed. Things changed and when they finally wanted to change it a third time, I had an obligation, so I added 300 people. was waiting for me. I couldn't help them anymore.'' I didn't quit the show, just because I couldn't help them. It doesn't matter what business you're in. ”
Costner said he's still open to returning to Yellowstone if things go well.
The “Horizon” star said he's still open to returning to “Yellowstone.” (Matthias Nareek/Getty Images)
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In September he said: entertainment tonight“Making 'Yellowstone' was a great part of my life, and sometimes things come back, but I've always been open to what I started. And 5 The season has been a lot for us, and you know, I don't think this story is over yet.”
Fox News Digital's Janelle Ash, Larry Fink and Emily Trainham contributed to this report.