Josh Lucas has huge shoes to fill when he stars as the younger version of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton in Yellowstone, and he has pride in the “responsibility” he’s been handed.
Lucas has played John nine times over the course of the series, and he will likely appear on screen several more times if the story continues. In the episodes, he shows how the family patriarch became the gritty, morally ambiguous person he is today.
During a chat with Yellowstone TV, he explained how he hones into Costner’s persona.
Josh Lucas discusses the tremendous responsibility of bringing Young John Dutton to life. #YellowstoneTV pic.twitter.com/UCl4vEAUtG
— Yellowstone (@Yellowstone) April 7, 2023
As Josh Lucas explains in the clip, John’s entire purpose in life is to protect his ranch and family. And there are no lines he wont cross.
“Any time John feels like the land is being threatened, that threat must be dealt with quickly and violently,” Lucas laughs.
Lucas plays John during a highly emotional time in his life. In the flashbacks, his wife had only just died. John deals with grief and anger that he pours into his determination to remain the most powerful man in Montana.
Josh Lucas Feels a ‘Tremenous Sense of Responsibility’ to Perfect His ‘Yellowstone’ Character
Lucas admitted he has huge respect for Costner’s ability to nail the part, despite never playing anyone like it. So Lucas has been careful to bring that same intesity to the flashbacks to give Costner his due appreciation.
“John Dutton in his own way is a much heavier, gruffer and in some ways tougher than you’ve seen Kevin play before,” he said. “And I think he has fallen into it with such power and such, again, like a dignity and a weight. And so to me, it was like, how do I find that and make sure that when you watch the flashbacks they’re both seemless, but you’re not distracted by them?”
“Because I feel tremenous sense of responsibility to it to get it right to do things that kevin is doing. “And I hope those things are there,” he added. “And I hope they’re not distracting. I hope that they give the weight and the power that I believe is present in what Kevin is doing as a character.”
You can catch up on Josh Lucas as John Dutton in past episodes, which stream exclusivey on Peacock.
