Taylor Sheridan infamously had issues with Kevin Costner on Yellowstone. But Costner almost didn't get cast for John Dutton.
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Originally, Sheridan recruited Hollywood icon Robert Redford to play the Dutton patriarch. But he sadly was forced to fire the actor when the network didn't want Redford. It turns out they didn't actually want Redford, but a Redford type.
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Sheridan shared his frustrations about pitching Yellowstone and what happened.
"They said, 'We want Robert Redford,' " Sheridan said. "They said, 'If you can get us Robert Redford, we'll greenlight the pilot.' I drive to Sundance and spend the day with him and he agrees to play John Dutton. I call the senior vice president in charge of production and say, 'I got him!' 'You got who?' 'Robert Redford.' 'What?!' 'You said if I got Robert Redford, you'd greenlight the show.'"
Taylor Sheridan Talks Redford
But the network did not want Redford on the show.
He said, "And he says — and you can't make this s--t up — 'We meant a Robert Redford type.' "
They ended up having a crisis meeting, which didn't go well for Sheridan.
"We go to lunch in some snazzy place in West L.A.," Sheridan says. "And [Yellowstone co-creator] John Linson finally asks: 'Why don't you want to make it?' And the vp goes: 'Look, it just feels so Middle America. We're HBO, we're avant-garde, we're trendsetters. This feels like a step backward. And frankly, I've got to be honest, I don't think anyone should be living out there [in rural Montana]. It should be a park or something.' "
Fortunately, Sheridan managed to get Yellowstone made. And the rest is, well, history. As for Redford, Sheridan decided to dedicate The Madison to the late icon.
"I can't speak to the decision that was entirely Taylor's. What I will say is, anyone who sees the show will understand why it is a love letter in many ways to a world that Redford certainly introduced to me," director/cinematographer Christina Alexandra Voros said. "His name as a tribute at the end of that episode feels like the absolutely appropriate move to make."
