Luke Grimes Had to Work Up the 'Courage' to Call Kelsey Asbille and Reveal “Marshals” Spinoff Killed Off Her Character
Luke Grimes Had to Work Up the 'Courage' to Call Kelsey Asbille and Reveal “Marshals” Spinoff Killed Off Her Character
Julia MooreMon, March 2, 2026 at 5:11 PM UTC
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Luke Grimes (left) and Kelsey Asbille attend the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in 2022Credit: Getty -
The Yellowstone spinoff series Marshals premiered on Sunday, March 1, on CBS
The premiere episode confirmed that Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille) died, leaving Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) a widower
Grimes, 42, admitted that he was nervous to tell Asbille, 34, about the spinoff's premise given it hinges on her character's death
Luke Grimes had a daunting phone call to make before signing on to his Yellowstone spinoff series.
Grimes, 42, reprises Kayce Dutton in Marshals, a new CBS series that premiered on Sunday, March 1. The premiere episode revealed that Kayce's wife, Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), had died after being diagnosed with cancer.
The confirmation came after months of fans speculating about whether Asbille, 34, would reprise her role on Marshals, as she was never listed as part of the cast.
Grimes said he was "heartbroken" both for himself and for his longtime costar about the spinoff's twist.
"It felt like, ‘I don’t even know what that would look like doing it without her, what that would feel like.’ Kelsey’s become one of my best friends," he told TV Insider. "She’s the coolest actor I’ve ever worked with. She’s down to earth, sweet and kind to every other actor and the crew.”
Luke Grimes (left) and Kelsey Asbille on "Yellowstone"Credit: Paramount+
“I worked up the courage to call. I didn’t know how she was going to feel about it," Grimes said of the spinoff's premise hinging on Monica's death. "I had to see how she was doing."
Grimes and Asbille "had a great conversation," he said. "In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a pro and totally understood. She’s going to do just fine."
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Marshals creator Spencer Hudnut told the outlet that Monica's death was vital to the spinoff after she and Kayce "had such a beautiful ending [in] Yellowstone."
"We had to shake up his life, to get him off the ranch and into a new position,” Hudnut said.
Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton (left) and Brecken Merrill as Tate Dutton in "Marshals"Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS
Her death is also "about a bigger issue," Hudnut said. "We’re shining a light on an issue. She passes because of cancer. Reservations have a high rate of cancer because of all the toxins that have been dumped on them. We wanted to make her death about a bigger issue. We wanted to be very respectful of that character.”
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Grimes previously told PEOPLE that, because the Yellowstone finale saw Kayce "back to who he really is and his soul" after selling the Dutton land to Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), he was hesitant about signing onto a spinoff about Kayce.
"We definitely wanted to make sure to give it a real story and make it interesting and make it believable," he said. "If it was just like, 'well, he's happy' — we're just going to watch him be happy? That's not very cool. But I'll say this, the idea that was pitched to me is very, very good and very interesting and it really roped me in and I think it will rope the audience in as well."
New episodes of Marshals premiere Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
