BY JUDY SLOANE
Front Row Features
HOLLYWOOD-Season one of CBS’s “Marshals” averaged 19.3 million multiplatform viewers per episode, becoming the #1 new show of the year.
In season 2, Luke Grimes continues his role of Kayce Dutton, working with the elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his unique skills as a Navy SEAL and cowboy in Montana, while also caring for his son, Tate, played by Brecken Merril. This season Luke is joined by his former “Yellowstone” cast member, Jefferson White, reprising his role as Jimmy Hurdstom, the good-hearted ranch hand and proud cowboy.
TV journalists spoke with the series’ star Luke Grimes and executive producer and showrunner, Spencer Hudnut, about their upcoming season which premieres Sunday, October 4th on CBS.
Q: The first couple of episodes in season 2 spotlight how people are not necessarily like their fathers. But a lot of the viewers think that John Dutton (Kevin Costner) was a great guy. Of course, his son Kayce doesn’t think so.
Spencer Hudnut: We’re not trying to relitigate Kayce’s feelings for his father. I think “Yellowstone” wrapped that up very nicely, and Kayce felt like he made peace with him. I think what Kayce’s dealing with is watching his own son, Tate, this season, turning 18, becoming a man and trying to figure out what kind of Dutton man is he putting out into the world? Rather than looking at his own father, in a negative way, I think looking at some of the missteps that his own father made, having a better understanding of the difficulties that his own father faced. There are so many parallels now between being a single parent, being frustrated with a teenager who has their own ideas of what they want to do with their life. So there’s definitely a theme throughout this season, as Kayce found his own path in season one. What path is Tate going to find this year?
Q: Luke, I want to ask you about Brecken, what it’s been like all these years.
Luke Grimes: It’s a trip watching a little kid grow up, he’s 18 now. This past week, he’s been able to come to set for the first time by himself without his mom. When we started, he was nine years old, he was tiny. It’s been wild.
To play a character this long already is not something I ever saw coming, but to have a relationship like that, to have someone play my son and then actually watch them grow up is cool and fulfilling. [We] have a great friendship. People always ask, do you feel like a real father or a mentor? No, that’s never been our thing. We’re just buds and we like working together. I’m very proud of that kid. He’s going to do well.
Q: We just learned that Jefferson White’s Jimmy from “Yellowstone” will be in this season. Can you talk about the decision to incorporate that character?
Luke Grimes: Very simply, we’re just trying to make the best show that we can. Spencer and I have a lot of conversations about how to do that, try to come up with ideas for the story and ideas that we feel our audience would really enjoy. And through those conversations, Jimmy came up.
There are characters in “Yellowstone” you either love or hate, but I think universally, everyone loved Jimmy and personally, I really liked working with Jefferson. He’s a great guy. Good energy, great actor. And so, it was just born out of how do we delight our audience a little bit more this season and bring somebody back that everyone misses?
Spencer Hudnut: Jimmy’s coming to East Camp. He’ll be spending time in Montana. He’ll be getting to know this team, this newfound family for Kayce. We have such a great roster of actors. It’s fun to keep adding to that.
Q: Luke, you just mentioned, what it’s like for you to play this character for so long. How do you keep it fresh?
Luke Grimes: I guess the way that it has stayed fresh is that “Marshals” is a completely different show. I think I get to use that in the work as far as watching this guy progress in his life and become different. He’s a completely different guy now than he was at the beginning of “Yellowstone.”
It’s been a wild ride and a crazy journey and, I, Luke, have changed so much in the nine years since I started this. I was a 33-year-old boy when I started “Yellowstone.” And now in my own life, I have a kid and I can look back and go, wow, I was just guessing back then. Now I’m starting to understand what that really is. It’s been an amazing journey. It’s also changed my life in so many ways. I ended up moving to Montana, which I never thought I would do. I’m just a very different guy because of this job. “Marshals” is going to continue that ride even further and life’s going to continue to imitate art and the other way around. It’s been the best thing, besides my wife and kid, that’s ever happened to me.
Q: Spencer, any final thoughts about Season 2?
Spencer Hudnut: We’re all very proud of the work that we’ve been doing since May. We’re really trying to up the stakes in Season 2. We have a lot of exciting twists and turns for everybody. We’re trying to give the fans more of what they took to in Season 1. And of course, always digging deeper into these great characters that this fantastic cast has brought to life and really elevated off the page. We’re very excited and happy to get to share this with everybody on October 4th.
