Back in the saddle: Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton leads Yellowstone into *Marshals *territory

Grimes and the "Marshals" team explain why the "Yellowstone" spinoff is a story worth telling

By Samantha Highfill

Samantha Highfill

Samantha Highfill is an executive editor at **, where she's worked for more than 12 years covering television.

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February 24, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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Kayce Dutton’s hat is a perfect fit. So perfect, in fact, that it's not going to fall off even in the middle of a knock-down, drag-out fight. And, to be clear, Kayce is in the middle of a knock-down, drag-out fight.**** As a temporarily deputized member of the U.S. Marshals, Kayce (Luke Grimes) is currently trying to apprehend the suspect of a recent attack in his home state of Montana. In an otherwise empty hospital bathroom, Kayce shoves the guy's face into the mirror; the suspect reciprocates with a right hook. Moments later, they're both on the floor, leaving John Dutton's youngest son to crawl to his gun just in time to stop the assailant from stabbing him. And yet, as Kayce lies on that bathroom floor, out of breath and once again having just barely escaped death, one thing remains completely and totally stable: the black cowboy hat on his head.

"Luke's been wearing that hat for years. It's like an extension of his head," *Marshals* showrunner Spencer Hednut tells **. And there's no doubt it will be tested many more times over the course of* Marshals*’ 13-episode first season (premiering March 1).

The CBS spinoff picks up about a year after the end of *Yellowstone*, and blends Kayce's Montana world with his past experience as a Navy SEAL, with a former brother-in-arms asking him to join his team of deputy U.S. Marshals.

Sitting in his Montana home, Grimes confirms that he's still wearing his original hat, which was quite literally made for him during a fitting at the home of *Yellowstone* creator Taylor Sheridan before the beloved western series ever aired an episode.

"If you watch a real cowboy, they can haul ass on a horse going 30 miles an hour, and that hat never comes off," Grimes says of his headwear, though he's quick to point out that he's not a real cowboy. Even if he has played one for nearly 9 years.

Raw materials

For five seasons on Paramount Network's *Yellowstone*, Grimes portrayed tortured cowboy Kayce Dutton, the youngest of four Dutton siblings whose larger-than-life (and death) father, John (Kevin Costner), usually got what he wanted — no matter the cost. When the series began,

Kayce was the only sibling who'd left the family ranch behind, choosing to live on the Broken Rock reservation with his Indigenous wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill). As much as John and Kayce's relationship ebbed and flowed, his devotion to protecting his family never did. And when your dad has a lot of enemies, that’s not always as easy as it sounds.

From his very first audition, it was a role that Grimes felt — like Kayce's hat — was a perfect fit. The audition scene was from the pilot of what would become one of the biggest shows on television. (The series finale amassed 13.1 million viewers.) It was Kayce, sitting around a campfire, eating fresh fish alongside his two brothers and his son.

"I still have that audition on my computer from years ago," Grimes says. "That's what got me the job. And then doing that scene on the day was really special. It's one of the best scenes in all of *Yellowstone* that I was in."

'Marshals' star Luke Grimes photographed exclusively for .

And although Kayce would lose one brother by the end of the pilot, followed by his father and his other brother by the end of the series, he somehow made it out with what could be described as a happy ending — giving most of his father's land back to the Broken Rock reservation and keeping the East Camp for his family's future. But happily ever after doesn't exactly make for a great spinoff.

"In that first conversation with Luke, he was like, 'Kayce's happy. That's not very interesting,'" Hednut, who previously ran CBS' *SEAL Team*, recalls. "So we knew that something had to shake him out of that."

So, although they won't go into details at this point, it's safe to assume Kayce is no longer too happy when we find him.

"There's a reason why Kayce is the only one with the black hat," Grimes says, recalling that initial fitting. "He's got a lot going on in his soul. Clearly, he's got demons, and his arc was trying to heal and find his path. In the original *Yellowstone*, he did that."

"We're kind of in black hat territory again."

Luke Grimes photographed exclusively for .

Hednut was first approached about a potential *Yellowstone* spinoff before the fifth and final season finished filming. Coming from working on *SEAL Team*, his approach utilized Kayce's time in the military. A week before the finale aired, he pitched the idea to Sheridan. Then, he had to get Grimes on board.

"They started bringing it up when we were filming the last few episodes of the original series. There started to be some offers for a spinoff, and I hadn't gotten one yet, and I was like, 'I guess that's it for me,'" Grimes remembers, likely nodding to the other current-day *Yellowstone* spinoff, *The Dutton Ranch*, which stars legacy cast members Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser. "And then I got a call and it was like, 'It'll be CBS primetime and it'll be more of a procedural format.'"

Grimes is the first to admit he had to ask a friend what a procedural was.

"My mom loves procedurals," he says with a laugh. "I wasn't too familiar with the format. I was like, 'His story ended so perfectly. I don't know if we should go back into it.' I was very reluctant at first. I'd never heard of anything like this before."

Hednut likes to say* Marshals* is a "non-traditional procedural," and once he was able to share his vision for the series, Grimes found himself thinking about picking up that black hat again.

"I realized we're not just trying to juice a stone and get a paycheck, there really is a story to tell," Grimes says. "This guy used to be a SEAL, and we never explored that."

Mo Brings Plenty, Luke Grimes, Tatanka Means, and Gil Birmingham on 'Marshals'.

Other members of the* Yellowstone* family didn't need nearly as much convincing.

"I missed filming a lot, so when I got the email that they're working on a spinoff, I jumped for joy," says Brecken Merrill, who returns as a moody 17-year-old Tate. "I was all in immediately."

Kesley Asbille has not yet been confirmed to be part of the show as Monica, and although it's unclear what role her character will play in the new series, if any, the show puts a real emphasis on Kayce being more of a father to Tate than ever before.

As for where Kayce might find a little guidance in that department, *Marshals* also managed to rope in a few more familiar faces. Gil Birmingham returns as Broken Rock Chairman Thomas Rainwater. And Rainwater doesn't go anywhere without his most trusted right-hand man, the unshakeable Mo (Mo Brings Plenty).**

"Rainwater provides a real anchor for Kayce," Birmingham says. "Somebody he can trust, somebody that he loves."

For Birmingham, returning to the hills of Montana felt like a trip down memory lane — or at least something like it.

"When we started shooting the first episode, we were on the same location from *Yellowstone*," he remembers. "Luke and Mo and I were reminiscing: 'This is so strange, it's like time travel.'"

As Grimes puts it, "It felt like the way we made *Yellowstone*, just with a whole new batch of characters."**

Brecken Merrill as Tate and Luke Grimes as Kayce on 'Marshals'.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Finishing and shaping

In the new series, Kayce finds himself reuniting with his former SEAL Team leader, Pete Calvin, a.k.a. Cal (Logan Marshall-Green), whose new team is comprised of Bronx transplant Andrea (Ash Santos); former Broken Rock reservation cop Miles (Tatanka Means); and Belle (Arielle Kebbel), an ATF agent who seems to have a (secret) local history.**

"Part of what we wanna do with this show is really explore the cost and consequences of being someone who runs into the fire," Hednut says. "How do you do the most intense job in the world and then come home?"**

Kayce is no stranger to intense work, but at this point, as a man who's lost all of his brothers, reuniting with Cal is about more than just finding a job.

"It's nice to see Kayce have a friend," Grimes says, though Cal and Kayce's history isn't without its drama. "There's something dark about that history, and it's really cool to watch that unravel over the first season," he adds.

Logan Marshall-Green as Cal and Ash Santos as Andrea on 'Marshals'.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

When it came to casting Cal, Hednut knew who he wanted for the role.

"I've known Logan Marshall-Green for 20 years," Hednut says. "He was on my radar at *SEAL Team*. He would've been a great guy to come in and run the team [on that show]. But I thought, 'I'm not gonna get him, obviously,'" he says with a laugh before embracing what he calls "the power of the *Yellowstone* brand."

Marshall-Green, though not familiar with the flagship series, says he watched the pilot to get a feel for the world.

"The caliber was very high," he says of the *Yellowstone* opener, adding that a big part of *Marshals*’ appeal for him was "I'm fond of the soldier's story, especially the vet and what they go through."

On the other end of that spectrum, Arielle Kebbel has been waiting for the chance to join the Sheridan-verse for years.

"It's the first job I've ever had where so many friends and colleagues have texted me or said to me, 'You manifested this,'" she says.

It also doesn't hurt that Kebbel's character, Belle, was described in the audition as "Martha Stewart in Cowboy boots."

Arielle Kebbel as Belle on 'Marshals'.

"I went, 'Oh, Martha's my neighbor,'" Kebbel says with a laugh.

Hednut confirms, "Her agent sent me a picture of Ariel on a horseback with Martha Stewart."

As the team started to come together, there was one piece of the story that really hooked Marshall-Green.

"More than anything, what tipped the scales for me was the Indigenous stories that they were planning on telling," he says.

With Rainwater still serving as leader of Broken Rock, the show will delve into many of the issues facing reservations.

"We get into some subject matter that is very realistic and [features] present-day challenges for the res," Birmingham says. "We're going to address real-life things — mining companies trying to come along, drug cartels. Rainwater has a lot more on his plate than what was in *Yellowstone*."

Arielle Kebbel, Tatanka Means, Luke Grimes, Ash Santos, and Logan Marshall-Green on 'Marshals'.

Final touches

And then there's the action. From the bathroom fight scenes, to chases on horseback, to gun fights, *Marshal*s takes what the Paramount Network drama did and cranks it up a few notches.

"There was a bit of action here and there in *Yellowstone*, but this is an action show," Grimes says, before adding, "It was very surprising to my body. A word of advice to anyone else who comes into this having never done it: Stretch."

Although much of the cast joined with little time for training, they squeezed in what they could. But throughout filming, they were also surrounded by experts — in more ways than one.

"We had a military consultant who was a SEAL. We have a writer who was a SEAL. My landlord ended up being a SEAL," Marshall-Green shares.

Combining the action with the characters — both new and old — and a world that's already been broken in, *Marshals *hopes it can carry on the* Yellowstone* legacy. And even if he had his doubts at first, Grimes is confident they've created something worth watching. **

Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton on 'Marshals'.

"I'm my own worst critic," he says. "I was like, 'If you take a poll of who people want to have a spinoff, I don't know if Kayce would be top of that list. I think there's other characters that they would rather see. So there was a fire under me, like, it has to be good. If it's not good, I'd rather not do it. We tried really hard to make sure that any of the original *Yellowstone* fans would have something to grasp onto. But if you'd never seen *Yellowstone*, we wanted this show to make sense on its own as well. I think we accomplished that as much as we possibly could."

If nothing else, Grimes got to continue living out his childhood dream.

"It's all the things I wanted as a boy when I wanted to be an actor," he says. "I wanted to play a soldier, I wanted to play a cowboy. This show is all of those little boyhood dreams wrapped into one character."**

The actor continues, “I just love him. Kayce feels like a brother in a weird way. I was really surprised by how quickly my soul and my mind wanted to dive back into that. Who would've thought it would be for this long, you know? But I'm still really enjoying the ride." **

It’s impossible to say how long the ride will last, but if we know one thing, it's that Kayce's hat won't budge the entire journey. It's a perfect fit, after all.*****-----------*

*Directed by Kristen Harding + Alison Wild*

*DP: Eric Talesnick*

*Color Correction: Nate Seymour/TRAFIK*

*VFX: Viktor Metelev*

*Design: Alice Morgan*

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Western”