They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but can it also be mightier than the director’s chair? Kevin Costner certainly thought so.

I think a man’s persuasive power is biblical when he rewrites a whole script not to make himself look better, but to make Clint Eastwood’s role juicier… and succeeds. That man is Kevin Costner.

When I heard Costner rewrote A Perfect World just to convince Eastwood to co-star, I had to sit down, take a sip of strong coffee, and rethink my entire stance on who the real auteur of Yellowstone should’ve been. If Costner could woo the squinting sage of spaghetti Westerns with a pen and a typewriter, then what on God’s rugged, sunburned earth was Taylor Sheridan thinking by sidelining his creative input in Yellowstone?

I mean, what if he had been given the reins to write his own character’s destiny? Would John Dutton have been more than just a rancher with a penchant for violence? Perhaps a patriarch grappling with the changing tides of time? It’s a tempting yet clever thought, and one that deserves a closer look.

When Kevin Costner rewrote Clint Eastwood’s decision

A Perfect World | Credit: Warner Bros
In 1993, Clint Eastwood was done juggling acting and directing like a cowboy flipping flapjacks with one hand. He was all set to direct A Perfect World, but he wasn’t planning to appear in it (I mean, onscreen)…until Kevin Costner cracked his knuckles, picked up a pen, and gave him a character worth his squint.

Alongside screenwriter John Lee Hancock, Costner retooled the character of Red Garnett to make him more complex, more conflicted – essentially, more Eastwood. As producer Mark Johnson put it (via LA Times):
In fact, he sat down with John [Hancock] and worked on the script for a couple of weeks–ironically, not to work on his character, but to work on the character of Red. So, in a sense, he could seduce Clint by giving him more to do.
And it worked. Eastwood took the bait, not because he was hungry for screen time, but because Red was finally given what every actor over 60 craves more than money or craft services: emotional redemption.

Taylor Sheridan, you should’ve let Kevin Costner rewrite a few pages too

Yellowstone. | Credits: Paramount Network
Now, let me contrast this with the Yellowstone debacle. Kevin Costner’s John Dutton began as a stoic, land-loving patriarch clinging to legacy like a dog to a bone. But come Season 2, Taylor Sheridan’s script had him veering into unhinged territory. While he thought he was making The Godfather of Montana, Costner had a different read entirely

During a chinwag with The Hollywood Reporter, Sheridan finally let the cat out of the bag: Costner was “very upset” during a crucial patch in Season 2. He reportedly told Sheridan the character “wasn’t going in the direction he wanted.” And honestly? He wasn’t wrong.

By Season 3, even Sheridan had to eat humble pie (probably served in a rusty tin plate). He admitted Costner had a point and realigned Dutton’s arc. Result? Costner won a Golden Globe. That, my friends, is what we call cowboy karma.

Look, I’ll say it plain: Costner’s exit broke something in Yellowstone. When he left, the show didn’t just lose its star; it lost its heart, its compass, its narrative thermostat.
Kevin Costner in Yellowstone [Credit: Paramount+]
What makes this worse is knowing that the man had already proven himself, not just as an actor, but as someone with story instincts sharp enough to move Clint Eastwood. Sheridan could’ve handed him a script, a pen, or, at the very least, a listening ear. But no. What we got was a cowboy show that forgot it was about cowboys, not crime lords.

According to Costner himself, the root of the problem wasn’t a scheduling conflict or contract brawl (though there was plenty of that, too); it was creative drift.

Well, if I could pitch Yellowstone now, I’d call it A Perfect World: Ranch Edition. Let Costner rewrite, reframe, even reinvent. He’s not just a good actor. He’s a story whisperer. A character surgeon. A man who made Eastwood do one more film just by changing a few lines.

Would you have liked to see Yellowstone with more of Kevin Costner’s vision?  I’d tip my hat to that idea; now I’m curious to hear yours. Drop your thoughts in the comments below; I’m all ears, partner.

Yellowstone is available to stream on Paramount+, while A Perfect World can be rented on Apple TV (US).