Luke Grimes on <em>Eddington</em>, Flexing His Comedy Chops, and His <em>Yellowstone</em> Future

For a film about an isolated, Southern town that's struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic, Ari Aster’s Eddington is shockingly funny. Even more surprising? The typically stoic Luke Grimes is the most hilarious actor in the movie.

The 41-year-old Yellowstone star plays Guy, a police officer in Eddington under sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) and an impromptu campaign manager once Cross decides to run for mayor. He helps come up with campaign slogans including, “Let’s Free Each Other’s Hearts,” and then scrambles to outfit himself in riot gear from head to toe the second he hears about protests brewing. He’s both comically unprepared and unqualified for this moment in America—much the opposite of what fans have been accustomed to seeing from Grimes as livestock officer Kayce Dutton in Yellowstone. Even so, it’s a welcome change of pace.

“He’s a guy who clearly is just afraid and trying to point the finger anywhere,” Grimes tells me over Zoom. “It didn't read that way in the script, originally, but we worked on it, and he became more of a bumbling fool than a hateful person. That was our way into it—just a guy trying to figure it all out and failing miserably.”

Eddington hits theaters this Friday, July 18. After that, Grimes is set to return to the world of Yellowstone for a solo spin-off series on CBS titled Y: Marshals. The new show will see Grimes leading a team of U.S. Marshals, following the sale of his family’s ranch in the Yellowstone finale. “There are going to be some familiar faces, but we’re not shooting here in Montana,” Grimes says. “Everything else is going to feel like a different world.” Unlike Eddington's Officer Guy, something tells me Kayce will be ready for it.

Below, Grimes shares more working with Aster, holding off on watching Yellowstone until the series ended, and reflecting on the aftermath of our last interview when he was honest about his relationship with Kevin Costner.

"He’s a guy who clearly is just afraid and trying to point the finger anywhere," Grimes says of his Yellowstone character.

ESQUIRE: What were the early days of the pandemic in 2020 like for you?

LUKE GRIMES: I was one of those lucky ones. It was actually a great time. I had just gotten married, and we moved to Austin, Texas. When it first hit, obviously, I was afraid just like everyone else. The big bad wolf was coming to get us. We had no idea what was going on. The grocery stores were empty. We were like, How long is this going to last? My wife and I bought an Airstream to start traveling around—not to gloat—but it was really fun because we had nowhere to be. The phone wasn't ringing, and I was able to just go and camp for as long as I wanted to, which was the ultimate dream trip.

How do you think people will react to this film?

We all knew it was going to be divisive from the get-go. If you're an extremist in any way, if you have chosen to go very far down one path or the other, you're going to be offended no matter which team you've chosen. What the movie's trying to say is that there are these corners that we've put ourselves in and we've sort of stopped engaging with each other. There’s this team mentality where these are my people, and I hate everyone else. So, I feel like if you feel yourself being offended, then maybe there are some deeper questions you need to ask yourself.

Especially your character—he’s probably the most unprepared guy on screen.

Yeah, Ari sort of leaves himself alone when he writes, and he writes things that maybe he doesn't fully understand all the time. Obviously, he's a brilliant filmmaker. He is one of those guys that storyboards and edits in his head as he's making the film. It's really incredible to watch. But with the characters, he's really open to interpretation. Not everything is so cut and dry. I remember I was asking him at first, “What is your vision for Guy? Is he just kind of a shitty person?” And he said, “Let's not reduce it too much. Let's not figure it out right now. Let's figure it out over the course of making this movie.” And he was right. It ended up being a lot more interesting and a lot different than I would've approached it had I just sat down and sorted it out real quick.

I was telling Ari that, usually, I've chosen characters based off whether there's something in the character that I like. But with this character, there really wasn't. I chose him solely off the fact that I wanted to work with Ari, as I had for this, and working with Joaquin as well was a dream come true. Joaquin has made an entire career off playing those types of characters, so it's great to have him around as a high watermark of how good you can get at playing people you don't necessarily like.

Grimes and Joaquin Phoenix at the Eddington premiere at DGA Theater Complex on June 26, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Next up for you is Y: Marshals. I’d love to know what pulled you back into Yellowstone for a spin-off.

Honestly, I did not think I was going to do it. They started flirting with the idea of doing a Kayce spin-off and I was like, “I don't know, guys.” I thought it ended really well for him. We really took him through a full arc. He got what he wanted and went through hell to get it. So, let's just let him be, personally. I remember saying I didn’t know if it would make any sense. Then there were a lot of ideas getting thrown around, and at some point, I heard a really good idea and that was kind of it. I thought, Actually, that opens up the world for him. And putting the hat and jacket back on isn't all that bad. I really liked playing that character. It was the most fulfilling job I've ever had in my life, so I'm happy not to say goodbye to him fully.

When we talked in December, that thinking of I don’t know if it would make any sense is basically what you told me. But I had a sneaking suspicion that, for anyone who sticks with a character that long, it's not always easy to just put them down and walk away.

No, it's not. And a lot of times it's not just because of the character but the family you've built. I see Kelsey (Ashbile) from time to time. Obviously, we live really far apart. I live in Montana and she lives in New York. But we became so close over the years, so I'll see her whenever I'm in New York. I keep in touch with a lot of crew. We all got along really well. Kelly (Reilly) lives in England. That makes that kind of difficult. But I would always welcome the chance to go to lunch or get a drink with any of that cast.

"It was the most fulfilling job I've ever had in my life," Grimes says about playing Kayce Dutton on Yellowstone. "I'm happy not to say goodbye to him fully."

You were pretty open about how you felt about Kevin Costner leaving Yellowstone the last time we talked, and then it created an accidental media firestorm. So, I hope it's all okay with the two of you now.

Yeah, I haven't really spoken to him since he exited the show, and for no other reason than just we're busy people. I didn't mean to say anything that made such a clickable link. [Laughs.] That was a big lesson.

The way I look at it, you were just being honest. That's more than most.

Yeah, I mean as honest as I'm going to be to a national publication. [Laughs.]

I remember you also mentioned that you hadn’t watched Yellowstone yet, and that you were saving it for a big binge once the series ends. Have you gotten around to it since the finale?

Well, now I have to wait it out even longer. I got at least a couple more years of this thing. So, let's see. Hopefully I'm not a senior citizen by the time I get to watch it.

There’s a good bunch of TV shows that I'm just waiting to watch when I retire.

My wife and I's favorite thing to do is watch film and TV together. But since we've had our baby, that's come to a screeching halt. The days of just anytime you want, being able to plop down on the couch and watch whatever TV—that's over. So, I'm actually looking forward to having that in my life again, like any new parent.