The Creative Choice Yellowstone's Luke Grimes Made To Become Kayce
Taylor Sheridan's world of "Yellowstone" is rugged and unforgiving, and it leaves an indelible mark on all the characters who live and work on the fictional Montana ranch. The focus of "Yellowstone" is the Dutton family, whose ancestors were also ranchers and homesteaders, and the popular series stars Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, and Cole Hauser.
Grimes plays the role of Kayce Dutton, the youngest of John Dutton's (Costner) children. Kayce has somewhat of a tenuous relationship with his father, and during Season 1, he spends most of his time away from the ranch living on an adjacent Native American reservation. However, due to increasing hostility and pressure on the Duttons and their ranching business, Kayce soon finds himself back with his family and working on their ranch. He quickly gets thrown into positions of authority, much to the chagrin of some of the ranch hands, but he earns their respect in typical Dutton-style fashion.
Recently, the actor who plays Kayce had a chance to talk about some of the creative decisions he makes while playing the character, and one of his tricks might already be apparent to those that have heard Grimes speak in real life.
Luke Grimes makes his voice sound lower while playing Kayce Dutton
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the interviewer pointed out that Luke Grimes' real voice is higher than that of his character. The interviewer then asked if the actor makes a conscious choice to speak in a lower register, which led Grimes to dig into some of Kayce's military backstory and the ethos of the show itself to explain his decision. "And the world of 'Yellowstone' is just a little harsher and a little darker," Grimes explained, "so I just felt like giving him something in his voice, even something in his physicality, that just felt heavier than my own. These scripts are dark. They're very dramatic. What these people go through is mind-blowingly hard. So I just thought, 'If Kayce's lived this life that's never been easy, then it should be just a little bit harder for him to spit things out.'"
This is actually an interesting character decision on behalf of Grimes. By getting into the mind of his character, he is able to effectively convey the hardship of Kayce's life by simply changing his voice. As a dedicated and loyal husband, son, and brother, Kayce isn't as quite as ruthless as his siblings, and is often considered somewhat of an outsider within the context of the show. Still, Grimes' portrayal of Kayce nails all of the right notes, and he is a multi-faceted character with his own agency and beliefs, which makes him enthralling to watch.