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Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner has a sentimental item of his dad’s on set so he can keep his late father “close”.
Cowboy John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) is just as comfortable with a gun in his hand as he is on the back of the horse and the same can be said for the Hollywood actor who grew up hunting.
At last year’s PCQC (Park Cities Quail Coalition) awards ceremony which celebrates the sport, Costner was given the PCQC 2023 Lifetime Sportsman Award and took to the stage for his acceptance speech.
The 69-year-old explained that his first ever gun was a BB gun while his second had belonged to his dad.
“It was a 1903 30-30 that he bought for $20 and he kept it in a closet, there was no such thing as a safe back then and I thank God for that in my own way”, he said.
Read more: Kevin Costner finally addresses stance on Yellowstone comeback for final outing
Costner previously shared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Kimmel that when he was asked to bring in the “coolest thing you have” to sharing day at kindergarten, the star brought this rifle.
He said: “Of course, I thought all the other stuff paled compared to what I brought.
“But she [the teacher] quickly put it away, put a note on me, because I couldn’t read and it said ‘Kevin can’t be allowed…’ I’m guessing, ‘…to do this’.
The star then added: “I actually use that rifle in the show, it was my father’s, I like to keep him close to me.”
Costner elaborated on this point during his acceptance speech which he made two years after both his parents had died.
“I want to end tonight by reminding you of that 30-30, the one that wasn’t really mine. The one that disappeared, the one that got me into so much trouble.
“That gun that was once so heavy that I couldn’t really hold on my own, the one I carried to school, passed into my hands, it came out of the attic.
“I won’t say anymore except to say that if you watch Yellowstone closely, you’ll even see that the gun I was carrying in that field, the same one that goes in the scabbard on my horse, that’s the very gun.”
While John Dutton is the head of the household in the Paramount Network series, it is unclear if he will be back for the final lot of episodes.
Costner had called time on Yellowstone due to scheduling conflicts with his film Horizon: An American Saga but it has now been reported that he wants to return to the show.
With the scripts already written though, it will be up to creator Taylor Sheridan if he wants to make last-minute changes to given Costner’s character a more fitting ending.
Yellowstone is available to watch on Paramount Network.
