Luke Grimes never expected Marshals to continue beyond its first season, despite his love for playing Kayce Dutton. Now that the Yellowstone spin-off has returned for Season 2, the actor is reflecting on his initial doubts and explaining why he chose not to set his expectations too high.

Luke Grimes Returns as Kayce Dutton in Marshals Season 2

The hit Yellowstone spin-off Marshals is back for its second season after attracting more than 20 million viewers during its premiere. CBS renewed the series on March 12, and production on Season 2 began in early June following the first season’s cliffhanger finale on May 24.

The series follows Kayce Dutton, the son of John Dutton, as he leaves his previous life behind and joins a specialized team of U.S. Marshals.

Season 1 opened with a devastating revelation: Kayce’s wife, Monica, had died after battling cancer. The story later suggested that her illness might have been linked to toxic substances dumped by a mine on the Broken Rock Reservation. Her death has had a profound impact on Kayce, establishing a central emotional conflict for the series.

Grimes has returned to his role as Kayce, alongside Gil Birmingham as Broken Rock chairman Thomas Rainwater. The second season also introduces Logan Marshall-Green as Pete “Cal” Calvin, a close friend of Kayce’s from his military days.

Grimes previously revealed that he had reservations when he was first approached about reprising the character. After spending years developing Kayce on Yellowstone, he felt the character’s story had reached a natural conclusion and worried that continuing it might diminish the emotional impact of the original series.

However, the creative direction for Marshals, which follows Kayce into law enforcement, eventually changed his mind. Taylor Sheridan, the creator of Yellowstone, also gave his approval to the spin-off, helping Grimes feel comfortable returning to the role.

Why Luke Grimes Expected Marshals to Last Only One Season

Despite the show’s strong performance, Grimes told The Hollywood Reporter that he initially assumed Marshals would be a one-season project.

“To be completely honest, that’s what I thought was going to happen. (We’d only go one season). I really thought, ‘At least I don’t have to put him away just yet.’ I love playing Kayce. This has been the greatest character of my life, and here I am, nine years later, still playing him,” the actor said.

Rather than expecting the series to become a long-running success, Grimes deliberately kept his expectations in check.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up, or have too much expectation. So I was like, if it’s just one season, it’s just one season, and it’ll be fun; I get to put the costume back on. And here we are — it looks like we’ll be doing it for a while,” he explained.

The actor’s cautious outlook has so far proved unnecessary, as the series has continued into a second season. Still, Grimes is not assuming that the show will run indefinitely.

Luke Grimes Plans to Take Marshals One Season at a Time

Although Grimes is encouraged by the series’ performance, he said its future ultimately depends on whether CBS orders another season. For now, he is concentrating on the work in front of him rather than planning too far ahead.

“I don’t know what his master plan is. We’ll talk about one season at a time. It is doing really well, so I would imagine that we’ll keep going. But we really don’t know until we get a season three pickup if there’s going to be a season three,” Grimes said.

He added that focusing on the current season is more important than trying to map out the show’s long-term future.

“You just have to take it a season at a time. I think if you start to think too long term, maybe you spread it a little thin, and if you just give everything you have to this season right now, then we’ll let what happens down the road figure itself out then,” he continued.

For Grimes, returning as Kayce has meant revisiting a character he has played for nearly a decade. While he is pleased that Marshals has continued beyond his initial expectations, he remains focused on making each season count rather than taking its future for granted.

Marshals airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Source: Compiled from various sources.