Kevin Costner has explained the surprising success of Yellowstone, admitting that a good Western cannot just be men "rushing towards a gunfight".
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Kevin stars as the lead John Dutton in the popular Paramount series. John is the patriarch and owner of Montana's largest ranch and the series follows him and his family as they navigate life on the ranch, and conflict with developers and native Americans.
WATCH: Kevin Costner will soon return to screens for Yellowstone season five
Speaking at the launch Paramount+ in the UK, he shared that "most Westerns aren't very good because they reduce themselves to the black hat and the white hat".
"But 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.'"
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Speaking to People he added: "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."
Yellowstone has gained a huge following over the last few years since it began airing on the Paramount Network in 2018 and ended season four as one of the most-watched shows in America.
Kevin will return as John Dutton in season five
Production for the new series is already underway in Montana, having kicked off in early May 2022. It will be 14 episodes long rather than the typical ten. However as a result, the upcoming season will be split into two seven-episode offerings.
The plot of season ten remains firmly under wraps for now, but it seems likely that it will reveal whether John Dutton's campaign to take over as Governor has been successful, as well as explain what Kayce meant by his ominous line in the finale.
As fans will recall, after returning home, he told his wife Monica: "I saw the end of us," which has left fans scratching their heads on whether he means his marriage, the Dutton family or the whole Yellowstone Ranch.
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