The author of the profile, James Hibberd, asked Sheridan for clarification about rumors that he and Costner clashed about Dutton’s character arc. It was specifically reported (by The Daily Mail, so, do with that what you will) that after the two came to loggerheads over Dutton’s season 2 trajectory that Sheridan dismissively told Costner to “stick to acting.”
If you haven’t seen “Yellowstone,” season 2 charts an ongoing feud between the Dutton clan and a family called the Becks who have a competing interest in the region. Things take a decidedly dark turn toward the end of the season, and even the gallant Dutton patriarch takes a hand in the dealings. Sheridan recalled his tension with Costner over the unfolding drama:
“There was a time in season 2 when he was very upset and said the character wasn’t going in the direction he wanted. I said, ‘Kevin, you do remember that I told you this is essentially ‘The Godfather’ on the largest ranch in Montana? Are you that surprised that the Godfather is killing people?'”
Sheridan felt that Costner had “clung to [Dutton’s] commitments to his family and way of life,” but was somewhat blinded to “Dutton’s big failing,” that is, that he isn’t “evolving with the times — not finding different revenue streams [for the ranch].” Though Sheridan does admit, “I don’t know that he was wrong. In season 3, we steered back into it.”
In the end it seems Sheridan did get his way, as Dutton has only grown darker as “Yellowstone” has gone on. But as the show announced its fifth season will be its last … shortly after Costner revealed the fifth season would be his last, it appears Costner may have really been the Godfather of the “Yellowstone”-verse after all.