Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton with son Tate, played by Brecken Merrill, in the 'Marshals' season two premiere. Matthias Clamer/CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Logo text [This story contains major spoilers from the season two premiere of Marshals, “All Hat No Cattle.”]
Luke Grimes wasn’t sure if Yellowstone fans wanted to revisit his Kayce Dutton. Mainly because he wasn’t sure, either. The flagship series had let the Dutton son — along with his wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill) — ride off that series with a fresh start for their family. All things considered for the Taylor Sheridan flagship, it was a pretty happy ending.
“I had reservations to begin with about continuing Kayce’s story and continuing it in a completely different format,” he admits to The Hollywood Reporter about needing some convincing to sign on to star and executive produce the CBS spinoff showrun by Spencer Hudnut (with Sheridan exec producing, but not writing Kayce for the first time) that launched earlier this year in March. “I was so prepared to let Kayce go, and then once I had let it go, I missed it, so the idea that I could maybe do it again felt really nice.”
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Nerves were quelled when Marshals premiered with a bang — the shocking series premiere revealed that wife Monica had died off-camera, in between that Yellowstone ending and Marshals beginning, giving Kayce the hook he needed to kick off a multi-season series with him at the center. The ratings instantly followed: The premiere drew more than 20 million viewers in its first week, making it the biggest show on TV regardless of platform.
Still, Grimes admits he also had reservations about moving the character forward after such an immense loss. “My whole arc [on Yellowstone] was about our family, and then not having her around was kind of a really big deal,” he says. “I also knew the audience wouldn’t be ready for it, either. I know that a lot of people were really upset by the fact that Monica had died in between where Yellowstone ended and Marshals began. So we’ve always tried to be really sensitive that.”
Now, after introducing a possible romantic interest for Kayce in season one, the season two premiere that launched on Sunday night nipped that in the bud when that woman, Dolly Weaver (Ellyn Jameson), was killed in a standoff between Kayce and Dolly’s father, the starting season two big bad Tom Weaver (Chris Mulkey), who had taken son Tate in the season one finale and betrayed Kayce.
Below, Grimes dives into the unique Marshals format as the show kicks off its 20-episode season two (not quite procedural, but also not only about a Dutton), reveals if they have discussed bringing Asbille back for flashbacks, talks Jimmy’s (Jefferson White) return (“It really feels like we’re shooting Yellowstone again,” he says), and still hopes for a Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce Dutton Ranch crossover as Marshals finds its footing and plans to stick around for the long run: “I love playing Kayce,” says Gimes of what the future holds. “This has been the greatest character of my life.”
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When I last spoke with you, it was before the show launched. You had hopes and expectations, but you never know how a show’s going to be received. Out of the gate, the ratings were huge. What was your reaction when you saw how big Marshals was?
I think it was bigger than any of us expected, especially on the streaming side of things. Honestly, it felt really good that people showed up for it. I didn’t know how it was going to be received. I had reservations to begin with about continuing Kayce’s story and continuing it in a completely different format. I was a little nervous about that, and the fact that people showed up and watched it and kept watching it was very encouraging.
If the show hadn’t hit and you only got one season, how disappointed would you have been if your ride as Kayce ended?
To be completely honest, that’s what I thought was going to happen. (Laughs.) I really thought, at least I don’t have to put him away just yet. I love playing Kayce. This has been the greatest character of my life, and here I am, nine years later, still playing him. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, or have too much expectation. So I was like, if it’s just one season, it’s just one season, and it’ll be fun; I get to put the costume back on. And here we are — it looks like we’ll be doing it for a while.
How much of Kayce is a costume for you? How have you blended and influenced him; and how has he influenced you?
Oh, man, it’s hard to know where one starts and the other ends at this point. It’s been so long. A lot’s happened in my life. I moved to Montana. I got married and had a son; when I started playing Kayce, I didn’t have a family. I was just a single guy, and that, in a weird way, is life imitating art.
I feel like I’ve learned a lot from him about the Western lifestyle, and a lot about our veterans and what they go through because he deals with PTSD. I’ve sort of grown up with him. When I put on the boots and hat and jacket — which I don’t walk around looking like in my normal life — that helps me click into him. Kayce talks a little different than I talk, so there’s a voice and a gravitas and a heaviness that he has that I don’t have in my life. I used to have to beat myself up to get into his headspace in the first couple years of Yellowstone, and now it’s back of my hand, second skin kind of a thing.
Ellyn Jameson as Dolly Weaver (before she is killed) with Grimes as Kayce Dutton. Gilles Mingasson/CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The season one finale ended on a big cliffhanger for Kayce, and this premiere jumps right in and resolves some things I thought the show would take more time with in season two — like a big Bad with Weaver and a romance for Kayce with his daughter, Dolly, who is now dead. Were you excited about or dreading widowed Kayce being with another woman, potentially, after Monica?
I was sort of dreading it, honestly. I was very hesitant to do that in the first season, because I was missing my buddy Kelsey [Asbille] so much. My whole arc was about our family, and then not having her around was kind of a really big deal. It just felt wrong for the character and for me personally to have some romantic interest right off the bat. And we knew that, so we tried to thread the needle and not be too overt. But I know that they’re not going to let the lead of a show not have a romantic interest at some point. (Laughs.)
I also knew the audience wouldn’t be ready for it, either. I know that a lot of people were really upset by the fact that Monica had died in between where Yellowstone ended and Marshals began. So we’ve always tried to be really sensitive that.
Now, as we’re shooting season two, I feel like enough time has passed where the audience, and I, are sort of more ready for that. Like, okay, he kind of needs it now. You’re seeing that it’s going to be a pretty lonely life for him as his son turns 18 and he’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere by himself. He’s going have to have some community and some love in his life.
Now that you have established Marshals as its own show, have there been thoughts or discussions with Kelsey Asbille about doing flashback appearances or cameos to fill in more of that time between Yellowstone and Marshals?
I would love it, personally. Her and I haven’t really spoken about it. I don’t know if she would be open to it. Those things are so personal and strange. She feels sort of done with that chapter in her life. But I would certainly love to have her around again, I think it’d be really fun. But I don’t know if it’s in the plan or not.
Kelsey Asbille as Monica Dutton in Yellowstone, here with Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton. Marshals revealed that Monica died from cancer caused by toxic contamination on the Broken Rock Reservation; Asbille does not appear in the spinoff. Paramount Network There is a lot of Dutton history that plays into this premiere, with Kayce seeing the repercussions of Tate being in harm’s way because of the family name and land. The episode ends with Kayce crying while looking at a broken family photo of him with Tate and Monica. How much of this season is Kayce trying to move forward, and how much is him realizing he can’t ever in certain ways?
A good example of him not being able to completely move forward is that he is still wearing his wedding ring. We’re deep into [filming] season two now, and he’s still wearing it.
That initial storyline in Yellowstone [with Kayce and Monica] was almost Romeo & Juliet; two people who weren’t really supposed to be together because of a family feud, and couldn’t help but be in love; twin flames. So no matter what happens, whoever comes into his life is going to have to understand that it’s always going to be a big part of who he is.
He has this enemy now with Weaver, who has even more of a vengeance against Kayce with his daughter being killed. Is there one overarching story this season, or do you tell a bunch of stories in a more procedural format?
The interesting thing about our show is that it’s a hybrid. There’s definitely a procedural happening. But with Kayce’s story, and some of the other U.S. Marshals stories, there are through lines that go all the way through the season. But we’re not a traditional procedure where you can pick any episode and you don’t need to know what happened before or after. There is a through line through the entire series, which I really like. I tend to watch shows like that than more I do procedurals. But for the people who love procedurals, there’s always some new baddie; some new bad guy to chase down. And I know some people love that.
We were worried about two of your marshals, Cal, played by Logan Marshall-Green, and Belle, played by Arielle Kebbel, after that cliffhanger finale. We knew they were returning, but we didn’t know in what shape they would be, and we see they are okay from the attack. How would you say you expand the ensemble more in season two?
Expanding the ensemble was always the plan. Let’s start with the guy they know, and then from there, build on everyone else and strengthen everyone else’s storylines, and that’s definitely happening in season two. Kayce’s relationship with all of them gets deeper, and the friendships grow stronger. That’s a really fun part of this, too — as he finds himself needing community and people in his life, he finds it in his team, and they sort of become his new family.
Did you guys have a bigger budget for season two?
I don’t know, but it does feel like we took it up a notch. I can already tell there’s another level of action, and we’re also learning what the strengths and weaknesses of our show are, and trying to play on the strengths. I just feel like the whole thing is a bit more elevated from season one.
I was very excited to see that Yellowstone character Jimmy (Jefferson White) is joining your universe. The 6666 spinoff was set to happen centered on Jimmy, but recently Taylor Sheridan revealed that he decided against it once he purchased the real Four Sixes ranch in Texas where the show would have been set. Was Jimmy then waiting in the wings? How did those discussions happen?
Spencer [Hudnut, showrunner] and I like to chat on the phone about what we’d like to do with the show. He’s really open to anyone’s ideas. We were talking one day about, what could we do this year for Kayce? and the possibility of bringing anyone back from the original show, and through that conversation, we both landed on Jimmy being such a good idea.
He was obviously a fan-favorite from the original and, like you, I found out that the other thing [the spinoff] wasn’t going to happen, so I asked Spencer, “should I call him and see if he’d be into it?” I did, and he was thrilled about the idea. They chatted, and we asked Taylor if it was okay if we borrowed one of his actors. It came about really organically and immediately, as everyone started hearing the idea, it was like, “That has to happen.” There was no pushback from anywhere about bringing Jimmy on.
What can you tease about Jimmy? Has he grown up even more since we last saw him on Yellowstone?
I will say, physically, he’s looking very manly these days! He showed up. He looks in shape or something. He’s a different guy, almost, than what I remember. It’s been a long time. We’ve all grown up a little bit, but he comes in to help Kayce out at East Camp. There’s clearly a lot of land and a lot of work and a lot going on out there and, as Kayce has more responsibility as a marshal, he’s having a harder and harder time keeping up with everything. Jimmy comes in in a really good time to help Kayce out as Jimmy feels a debt to the Dutton family for changing his life. It’s a really cool storyline and has been fun shooting those days with him, because it really feels like we’re shooting Yellowstone again.
Jefferson White as Jimmy Hurdstrom in Marshals. Cam McLeod/CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. We talked last time also about if you would consider a Dutton Ranch crossover, but I understand that doesn’t happen in season two.
Yeah, I think we all knew it wasn’t going to happen that quickly. I think we have to let our shows stand on their own for a while, and get on their own two feet. Beth [Kelly Reilly] is my only living family member, other than my son, so it would make sense that at some point we would have to talk or something. I don’t think anyone’s opposed to it. I just don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Have you been watching Dutton Ranch [the other Yellowstone spinoff with Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser‘s Rip]?
I haven’t seen it yet. I almost felt like, while we were starting to get into this, watching that might have messed with the tone in my head of what we’re trying to do over here, because they’re very different shows. What they’re trying to do is make a continuation of Yellowstone. Their show was meant to be season six of Yellowstone with who is left. And then what we were trying to do is something very different, knowing that it was going to be on network and that it was going to be a procedural show, we have to change the formula completely over here.
Kayce doesn’t have to change, but his whole world and everything around him — the pace, the tone and the speed at which things move, even just the amount of episodes; we’re doing 20 this year. There’s a lot more going on. So I will eventually watch Dutton Ranch. I just haven’t seen it yet.
Have you spoken to Taylor Sheridan about his reaction to season one of Marshals?
Yeah, he had some very kind words to say about it. We were chatting not that long ago, and he was really proud of what we did. He had some really cool things to say. It felt really good.
So how many seasons have you and Spencer discussed? It must feel nice that you can go into season two with confidence that you can set up a season three, and probably a season four. Do you guys have a number?
I don’t know what his master plan is. We’ll talk about one season at a time. It is doing really well, so I would imagine that we’ll keep going. But we really don’t know until we get a season three pickup if there’s going to be a season three. You just have to take it a season at a time. I think if you start to think too long term, maybe you spread it a little thin, and if you just give everything you have to this season right now, then we’ll let what happens down the road figure itself out then.
Would you want to play Kayce for another five seasons? Does that appeal to you?
I thought I was done with Yellowstone, to be honest. I felt very, very satisfied with the way that it ended, and when they first approached me about doing Marshals, I didn’t feel very interested, but that was also because we were shooting the last episode of Yellowstone when I heard about it. It sort of felt like, what? I was so prepared to let it go, and then once I had let it go, I missed it, so the idea that I could maybe do it again felt really nice.
As far as how long I want to do this, I’ve been acting so long that I know not to get my hopes up or try to project how long I’m going to do something. That’s so out of my hands. All I can really do is be in the moment and do the work that’s in front of me right now. That’s how I’ve had to become over the years with so many disappointments and ups and downs. I have season two right now, and that’s sort of all I’m worried about.
Are you able to do other projects?
I guess from year to year, it’ll depend on how many we end up shooting and how much time I have. I don’t like sitting around doing nothing, so if we do 13 episodes, then I have half the year. For sure I’d want to fit something great in there. This year, we’re shooting about eight months of the year, so there wasn’t a ton of time to do anything else. But I definitely have my eye on some stuff for the beginning of next year. I have to see how everything times out.
And what episode of Marshals are you shooting now?
We finished episode 13 and we’re heading into 14!
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Marshals season two releases new episodes Sundays (8-9 p.m) on CBS and streams on Paramount+ (live and on-demand), or releases on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers next day.
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