The co-stars portray father-daughter duo John and Beth Dutton

During their time on Yellowstone, Kevin Costner and Kelly Reilly developed a sweet friendship. The co-stars – who portray father-daughter duo, John and Beth Dutton – worked together for years before Kevin, 69, announced his departure in 2023.

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In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kelly, 47, opened up about John’s exit storyline in season 5B. “It changes nothing as far as Beth’s desire to protect her family’s lineage. In fact it becomes more urgent,” she explained.

Nonetheless, Yellowstone will feel different when it returns in November. During their time on the show, Kelly bonded with the A-lister and raved about him in interviews. “Kevin and I have now been working so closely together for five years,” she told Gold Derby.

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“I love him so much, and as Beth, I think that’s her – I mean she’s a married woman now – but I think that number one central relationship in her life is with her father, there’s so much history there.”

Kelly has been asked about working with Kevin on numerous occasions, and every time she’s sung his praises. “He’s honestly one of the nicest, most generous actors I’ve worked with,” she told Looper.

“We get on so well and we have this real fun relationship. So, yeah, I mean, it’s pretty wonderful. He’s so incredible on the show. I really respect him as an actor and the work he’s doing. I just love what he does. I could watch him all day. I’m learning a lot from him.”

Asked if Kevin ever gives her advice, Kelly remarked that while he hadn’t, she loved to observe the way he works. “I admire his stillness as an actor. It’s things like that that he teaches me inadvertently. But no, he’s not sitting me down, giving me lessons,” she said.

During their tenure on Yellowstone, Kevin and Kelly have had to shoot some difficult and emotional scenes together. “We take care of one another, that’s what I feel most,” Kelly said in a joint interview with her co-star. “I feel like he takes care of me. We’re players in a team, like, we’re on the same side.” Joking with Kelly, Kevin quipped, “She’s unmanageable!” which left her laughing.

Following Kevin’s departure, the Beth Dutton star has stayed tight-lipped about what went down. While Kevin admitted that he’s “not finished” with Yellowstone this month, he won’t appear in season 5B. Back in June, the father-of-five confirmed his absence in a video.

“I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love, I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,” he said.

“It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop and I’ll see you at the movies.”