Since the conclusion of Yellowstone after its fifth season finale on December 15, the future of the franchise has been tentatively up in the air.
While there has been talk of a spin-off with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, plus the continuation of prequel series 1923, no official verdict has been reached on how the show and its cast will remain part of the universe.
Since then, though, several of the cast members have shared their thoughts on its conclusion, and especially where their careers seem to be heading since wrapping up work on the Taylor Sheridan Western epic series.
Among them is Luke Grimes, who is now moving on after six years with the series, and sat down with Men's Health to discuss what's next and his relationships with his co-workers.
He was specifically asked about his ties now to former series lead Kevin Costner, who left the show after the first half of its fifth season due to reported creative differences on set with the showrunners and conflicts arising from work on his own passion project, the Horizon saga.
"I haven't talked to him since," Luke, 40, says of his former onscreen father, although light-heartedly added: "It's not a case of any hard feelings or anything; it's just, he's Kevin Costner."
"He's a big deal. I do have his phone number — I just don't feel like it's my place to reach out. He can reach out to me if he wants to."
He spoke further about the blindside of seeing Kevin exit the show. His character, family patriarch John Dutton, was killed off in the second half of the fifth season.
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"None of us saw it coming the way it did, and obviously there was news about possible blowups behind the scenes or whatever," Luke explained. "But just like in life, man, these things happen, they happen fast, and they're not predictable."
"I lost my father a few years ago. It happened fast, and it was not the way that you would think that that would happen. In life, these things happen and then people have to start making decisions. And in our little Yellowstone world, that helped ramp the show up into a boil."
In a previous conversation with Esquire, he alluded to some of the "conflicts" on set between Kevin and Taylor, adding that his exit actually made the season much easier to film.
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"Hopefully everyone can see that it was time," he said of the change. "To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone."
"Obviously, it didn't make it super fun to be around. Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we've filmed."
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As for what the future holds, Luke further told Men's Health that his priority now was to focus on his acting, music, and fatherhood, having welcomed his first child in October. "I like writing songs. I like acting. I'm going to try my best to just keep doing those things."
"I have a kid now, so I'm sure that at some point I'll have to do some things for money. I'm just hoping and praying that I can continue to be in stuff that I'm proud of."