Kevin Costner Always Knew ‘Yellowstone’ Deserved More Acclaim & Its Award Nomination Is ‘Cherry On Top’

Dec 15, 2022 by apost team

Kevin Costner has been a major Hollywood movie star for more than three decades. He made his acting debut in “Sizzle Beach, U.S.A.” It was filmed in the late 1970s but wasn’t released until after Costner had already made it big in the industry through films such as “Silverado,” “The Untouchables” and “No Way Out.” But 1988’s “Bull Durham” and 1989’s “Field of Dreams” took Costner’s fame to stratospheric levels.

Throughout his career, Costner has shown an incredible range in thrillers, blockbusters and westerns, and has even gone behind the camera. The multi-talented star’s first stint as a director came with “Dances With Wolves.” The film was a commercial and critical success, and proved Costner had the movie-making chops, on and behind the screen. He also earned two Oscars for the film, which won Best Picture and Best Director at the 1991 ceremony. Costner also directed two more films, “The Postman” and “Open Range,” but these saw far less success. 

While Costner has built his remarkable career primarily through films, in 2018, he took on his first television gig on “Yellowstone.” The series follows the family of John Dutton, played by Costner, who owns a large ranch in the Montana plains. In the show, Dutton faces numerous challenges and bids by developers to squeeze him out of his land, while also navigating conflicts with a bordering Indian reservation and its political leaders.

While the show was not ecstatically well-received at the start, it has slowly but surely built up a vast and dedicated following, particularly among fans of the neo-western genre. Now, it is finally getting the recognition many of its producers and stars always knew it deserved from the industry.

Costner said he always believed “Yellowstone” had what it takes to attract a strong viewership. He told AP he thought viewers would find it “relevant,” saying “The show is able to highlight at times the beauty of ranching, and it certainly talks about how difficult it is. We’re set in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I think the idea of mountains and rivers captured people’s imagination. But it’s a working ranch. It’s how it’s still done. I think it spoke well of that, with its kind of heightened sense of drama.”

And if anyone can judge what makes a good western, it’s Costner. He told People the success of “Yellowstone” hinges on being able to tell a good story through its characters.

“I’ve always believed a good Western isn’t always just rushing towards its gunfight. If you can create language and situations, and then you end up at a gunfight, I think it can be an amazing movie or TV show. But I think if you’re trying to get there so fast that you don’t understand the people, or it’s not complicated, then it’s a problem.”

He added he’s always been drawn to westerns because “when they’re done well, you are kind of haunted by how you can measure yourself to wonder, Were you tough enough to make it? You were forced into decisions every day in the West which were kind of, ‘Wow.’” 

Meanwhile, Costner’s heartland drama has picked up in viewership with every subsequent season. It has also seen multiple spin-offs, including a prequel “1883” starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, another prequel showing how the Duttons came to own their Montana ranch called “1923” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, and the upcoming “6666.”

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While “Yellowstone” progressively became a hit among viewers, critics were slower to be converted. However, that’s now changed, with Costner scoring his first Golden Globe award nomination in 2022. In a touching message posted after receiving the nomination, Costner wrote, “Working on @yellowstone has been a truly fulfilling project, and it has been enormously gratifying and humbling that audiences have embraced the show and its’ characters the way that they have over the past five years. To be recognized for this performance is the cherry on top, and I share this nomination with everyone who contributed to the show especially my fellow castmates, the producers and the crew.”

Costner was nominated for Best Television Actor in a Drama Series alongside Jeff Bridges, Diego Luna, Bob Odenkirk and Adam Scott.

The recognition may have been a long time coming, but Costner always knew it had that special something. When prompted in an interview on whether he thought “Yellowstone” was being snubbed because it was a western, he said “I’m not sure, because we’re a very verbal show. We’re not reduced to ‘yep’ and ‘nope.’… we’ve been able to create a show that didn’t start out being popular but did it on its own terms.” He also told GMA “You always hope that your work’s not disposable. But we’ve been working for four years. So I think the lesson there is we worked just as hard the first year and the second and the third year and nothing changes with this.” 

Costner’s sentiment was echoed by his fans, who reacted to the news with delight. One comment celebrating Costner’s nomination embodied their feelings best. It read: “I hope you all bring home the awards! It’s taken long enough for the recognition from them! You’ve always had it from us, The Fans.”

Do you think Costner deserves to win the Golden Globe for his work on “Yellowstone?” Are you a fan of the show? Let us know and be sure to pass this on to friends and family, too.