Kevin Costner and his “Yellowstone” co-star Wes Bentley got into a heated physical altercation that left Kelly Reilly in tears.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which published a lengthy profile on Costner’s career and reputation on Wednesday, the scuffle was over the veteran actor’s desire to have his greener counterpart veer from the script.
Costner, who starred as John Dutton and also served as executive producer in the Western family drama series, was filming a tense scene with Bentley and Reilly, his on-screen children, on a soundstage in Utah.
Between takes, tensions boiled over because Costner, 70, was pushing Bentley, 47, to ditch director Taylor Sheridan’s script and personalize the moment with ad lib acting.
But Bentley refused because, as he explained to his on-screen dad, it was Sheridan’s call, not Costner’s.
“Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him,” an eyewitness told THR.
While “no fists were thrown,” the source said the men “were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.”
The exchange made Reilly cry, and production briefly shut down, per the insider.
When “Yellowstone” premiered in 2018, Costner was the big fish in the small pond, as the cast was made up of relatively unknown actors.
However, the massive success of the first two seasons shifted the power dynamics on the set in Sheridan’s favor, according to THR.
Sources told the outlet that certain cast members eventually were fed up with Costner’s “diva-like” demeanor.
“The incident with Wes was the line in the sand. Everything was different after that,” a second insider who witnessed the fight explained.
“Everyone loved Wes, and so that really made Taylor upset. Kevin and Taylor butted heads from there on out. It got very awkward.”
Reps for Bentley confirmed the incident but simply called it “a work-related argument during an emotional and physically tough scene,” noting that the matter was “discussed and resolved.”
Reps for Costner, whose character was killed off at the beginning of the fifth and final season, declined to comment.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com ’
