Yellowstone Star Was Killed Off in Order to Focus on Mayor of Kingstown

Fans of Taylor Sheridan's multiple TV shows know good and well he likes to work with some of the same people. Prior to the release of the hit Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown, Sheridan had enlisted his Wind River star Hugh Dillon to join the cast of Yellowstone as Sheriff Donnie Haskell, but when their Jeremy Renner-starring show finally got picked up to series, it meant that his time on the Kevin Costner-hit had to come to an end. Speaking with ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, Dillon was quick to confirm that his death on Yellowstone was a necessity because of how quickly things were moving with development on Mayor of Kingstown.

"That was the case," Dillon said when we asked if he was killed off because of Mayor of Kingstown. "I've been working with Taylor (Sheridan) for my whole career, but you know, he got me come and work with Rener on Wind River. We were shooting in Utah and then he said, 'Come and work on Yellowstone, we haven't sold Mayor, but we will.' He kept, you know, reassuring (me), 'We're gonna sell it, we're gonna get there.' And I'm like, 'It's been 10 years dude, but whatever.'"

Dillon continued, "And then the day he said, 'Okay, we've sold Mayor, you're gonna learn how to produce it. You gotta listen to me, you gotta trust me and I'm there.' And he goes, 'And I wrote you an honorable death in Yellowstone and then you're gonna move right into Mayor.' And this was during the pandemic. So he's like, you got drive to Texas right now, I don't want to hear anything except the sound of the engine. And you calling me from your car.' I'm like, I'm doing it, drove to Texas, we wrote the rest of Mayor and we shot that death scene for Yellowstone and then I was producing and it's just been a blur ever since."

Season two of Mayor of Kingstown, which features Dillon on-screen as well in the role of Detective Ian Ferguson, will premiere on Paramount+ on January 15. A third season is already being considered ahead of the new episodes as Dillon revealed to us, teasing "We had 10 years to construct it. So yeah, we've got a big future plan."