Luke Grimes Admits He Was Worried About Filming ‘Marshals’ Without Kelsey Asbille: “I Just Couldn't Wrap My Head Around Kayce Without Monica”

Luke Grimes is opening up about the challenge of filming Marshals without Kelsey Asbille, with the Yellowstone star admitting he struggled at first to envision how they could continue Kayce Dutton's story without Asbille's character, Monica.

Please bear in mind that, if you haven't yet seen any of the Yellowstone spin-off Marshals, this article contains spoilers regarding Kayce and Monica's respective storylines.

At the start of Marshals, which takes place chronologically after Yellowstone Season 5, Kayce - played by Grimes - reveals that he lost his wife, Monica (played by Asbille) to illness. As a result, a key part of Marshals is Kayce and his son Tate's attempts to make peace with the absence of Monica, and somehow work through the grief.

It was a shocking but unsurprising development, with widespread reports emerging that Asbille would not be returning to the Yellowstone universe for Marshals ahead of the Season 1 premiere. Even though it was an expected plot twist, it was disappointing, as Kayce's entire character arc in the original series revolved around his marriage to Monica and his attempts to shield his family from the Dutton chaos.

Now, with Marshals currently in the middle of its second season, Kayce is getting increasingly close with his US Marshals team-mate, Andrea Cruz (played by Ash Santoz).

In a newly shared interview, Grimes reflects on this plotline, “They're not wrong. They're meant to feel that way. I've always loved a will-they, won't-they kind of a storyline. I don't know where it's going, but they're kindred souls, and I think the way that we're sort of building that is really beautiful. And you don't see it much these days, where, you know, they're forming a really amazing friendship first”.

Santos echoes Grimes’ enthusiasm for the slow-burn approach to their on-screen romance, “I think that's why it's gaining so much attention, is because you're not seeing that very often right now on TV. We fell in love with it first in literature, like, having characters who it takes so much time to recognize that within each other, and then the will-they, won't-they? People just love seeing that in storytelling”.

Grimes underlines that his primary concern before agreeing to Marshals was the sudden removal of Monica from Kayce's story, “The thing I was most worried about doing Marshals was doing it without Kelsey. That's legitimate. Like I just couldn't wrap my head around Kayce without Monica. That was the story. The rest of Yellowstone was about people fighting over land, and I just loved my wife. I had my own thing going on, and so I didn't know what that would even look like”.

He continues, “But then once I sort of, you know, could wrap my head around the the fact that that was going to open up all these new storylines, like, we just have to make sure we do honor that and don't try to skip over it or pretend it didn't happen”.

Grimes adds that the scene where they host a memorial for Monica was hugely moving, with Mo Brings Plenty paying tribute to his nephew, Cole Brings Plenty, who died in 2024, during the service. Cole appeared in the popular Yellowstone spin-off, 1923.

Grimes underlines, “That was my favorite part of Season 1...We had this amazing scene where we kind of paid tribute to her death, and this beautiful ceremony and we were...all really actually almost crying because it was so beautiful. And you know, Mo Brings Plenty actually just did the ceremony and included his nephew that had actually passed away...I didn't have to work at all that day”.

The ‘No Horse To Ride’ singer-songwriter continues, “Like everything just came the way that it should have. So I think we ended up doing that, and we needed to do that, and now we can, you know, lay that to rest and maybe try some new things”.

Grimes concludes by revealing that he's had conversations with Marshals Executive Producer and writer, Spencer Hudnut, about the issue of when Kayce will take his wedding ring off, “But I will say he's still wearing the ring, and...Spencer and I have talked about, like, when do I take it off? Are we going to make this a thing, or is it just going to not be there one day? So we're still trying to figure that out”.

With the drama escalating each week in Marshals Season 2, we can't wait to see how Kayce and Ash's blossoming, will-they, won't-they romance progresses. Either way, Grimes has made it clear that it will never be a case of forgetting Monica in the storyline, which has been reassuring for fans of the original series, given how pivotal Kayce and Monica's marriage was to the overarching plot. New episodes of Marshals Season 2 air on Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS, with each instalment then being made available to stream online via Paramount+.

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