A Yellowstone Star Tried To Convince Taylor Sheridan To Keep Their Character Alive

“Yellowstone” announced itself as a show that wasn’t afraid to kill off main characters with its 2018 pilot episode “Daybreak.” In that episode, we’re introduced to Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III, owner of the Yellowstone ranch in Montana, and his family. But by the end of the pilot we’d already seen two family members kick the bucket — most notably John’s eldest son Lee Dutton (Dave Annable), whose fate in “Yellowstone” started the series on a tragic note and set the story of the show in motion.

In the episode, Lee accompanies his father as they try to recover their cattle from the neighboring Broken Rock Indian Reservation. During their late-night recovery mission, however, the pair are confronted by the inhabitants of the reservation and the Broken Rock police, who show up in an attempt to keep the peace. Sadly, they’re unsuccessful in that mission, and Lee ends up being shot and killed by Reservation resident Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui).

This particular death was hugely significant as Lee was supposed to be John’s heir to the ranch, and had helped tend to the sprawling property since he was a child. While Lee only appears in this first episode (barring some photographs in episode two and a flashback scene in season four) he is one of the most important characters in “Yellowstone,” as it’s his death that kicks off John’s renewed search for an heir and the family in-fighting that results. It seems Annable, too, recognized the importance of his character as the actor tried to mount a campaign to keep Lee alive.

Dave Annable started a campaign to keep Lee Dutton on Yellowstone

Prior to “Yellowstone” — which won’t feature Kevin Costner in its final episodes — Dave Annable had appeared in “Brothers & Sisters,” “666 Park Avenue,” and “Heartbeat.” In all of those shows, Annable was a member of the main cast. But “Yellowstone” only needed the actor for one episode, despite his protestations.

“Yellowstone” announced itself as a show that wasn’t afraid to kill off main characters with its 2018 pilot episode “Daybreak.” In that episode, we’re introduced to Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III, owner of the Yellowstone ranch in Montana, and his family. But by the end of the pilot we’d already seen two family members kick…