Another Dutton death.
Mo Brings Plenty couldn’t believe that Kelsey Asbille’s Monica Dutton was killed off before the start of “Marshals.”
The “Yellowstone” alum opened up about the surprising decision and his floored reaction during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Sunday.
“Boy. At first, I was like, ‘Why?!’ Because that was our connection to the Duttons,” Plenty, 56, began. “There’s always been a connection between the Dutton family and Broken Rock, but Monica was more of a connection.”
He added, “So to lose that, at first, my reaction was like, ‘No.’”
However, the Oglala Lakota actor acknowledged that “Marshals” creator Spencer Hudnut has to “tell a story” and Monica’s off-screen death created a “void” for his character, Mo, to fill.
“And the blessing of that occurring is that Kayce [Dutton] has to fill that void now,” Plenty explained. “So that connection is still there.”
He continued, “Not just for the fact that Rainwater adopted and took him in as a brother, but I think the warriors that Mo and Kayce are, that brotherhood has always been there, but it’s become even stronger.”
“Marshals,” the latest spinoff of Taylor Sheridan’s hit neo-Western drama “Yellowstone,” kicked off on CBS and Paramount+ on March 1.
But the series premiere surprised fans with the revelation that Kayce Dutton’s wife, Monica, died from cancer off-screen after the events of the original show.
Luke Grimes, who played Kayce in “Yellowstone” and reprised the role for “Marshals,” previously said that he was upset that Asbille, 34, didn’t return to the Broken Rock Reservation or the spinoff.
“I was heartbroken for myself and for [Asbille],” Grimes, 42, told TVLine earlier this month, adding that he had to “work up the courage” to call his former co-star.
“We had a great conversation,” he continued. “In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood.”
Hudnut, meanwhile, told THR that he wasn’t involved in the conversations around Asbille not returning. He said she wasn’t available to be on “Marshals,” but called her character’s ending “beautiful.”
As for Plenty, he did a “happy dance” upon being invited back to reprise his “Yellowstone” character for the latest offshoot after the original series concluded in December 2024.
Besides Plenty and Grimes, Gil Birmingham (Thomas Rainwater) and Brecken Merrill (Tate Dutton) also returned for “Marshals.”
“I received a call from my team, and I said, ‘Absolutely. If Luke and Gil are involved, I’m in,’” Plenty told THR. “It was an easy yes to carry on these characters. These are such iconic characters, and I so desired to carry them on.”
“I was kind of sad when we were finishing up ‘Yellowstone,’” he added. “Those were some amazing guys. And then all of a sudden, here we are. We’re back. It was just great news to me. I was doing cartwheels in my mind and a happy dance that I would not want the world to see.”
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