‘Yellowstone’ Star Kelsey Asbille Shares What Working With Kevin Costner Is Like
Kelsey Asbille works alongside a pretty impressive cast on the set of Yellowstone, but nobody on the show carries more weight than Kevin Costner. The Oscar-winning actor and director stars as Dutton patriarch John Dutton on the show, and in a new interview, Asbille admits that working with him is like being "forever starstruck."
"The man is a living legend," Asbille — who plays Monica Dutton on Yellowstone — tells Taste of Country in advance of beginning to shoot Season 5. "He's a true movie star, and they don't make 'em like him anymore. So, I think that there's an aspect of, you're constantly ... I guess forever starstruck is a good way to say it."
Asbille adds that Costner is a joy to work with.
"He's had a career for a long time, but he still loves, he's so passionate about what he does. And I think that that's really contagious," she says. "He's such a team player, so when you're working with him, you feel immediately very comfortable."
Yellowstone earned its first Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination in 2022 in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and Asbille says being present at the awards ceremony was a standout moment in a series of standout moments.
"It really was such a treat," she says. "To all be there, and be at the table with Kevin ... I think there's a part of this job that will always feel very surreal."
Asbille's sentiments echo what other Yellowstone actors have said publicly about Costner. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2022, Ryan Bingham, who plays singing cowboy Walker on the show, revealed that Costner is so down-to-earth that he insists on shaking hands with every cast and crew member on the set of the show every day.
Season 4 newcomer Piper Perabo tells Taste of Country that she was also initially starstruck by Costner. Perabo plays a protester named Summer Higgins, who initially runs afoul of the Duttons before having a one-night stand with John Dutton. Perabo's first scenes on Yellowstone put her right in the middle of a protest that goes off the rails, then straight into a long one-on-one exchange of dialogue with Costner.
"It was so crazy ... I was like, 'Okay, this is a lot for Day One,'" Perabo says with a laugh. "But it was exciting."
"It was also a little intimidating," she admits. "My first day with Kevin ... he's a real movie star, and so when you do a scene with somebody like that, you have this whole history of film that you see. You know, Bull Durham and Dances With Wolves and Field of Dreams. Just so many films that are kind of in your mind the first moment you see him. It's a little confusing. But he's such a good actor, and he's directed so many films that you get down to the work really quickly, because he's so calm and steady."
Season 5 of Yellowstone is set to begin filming in May, and it will begin to air in the Fall of 2020. Seasons 1-4 of the hit Paramount Network show are currently available to stream via Peacock.