John Dutton Keeps Jamie Around Out Of 'Necessity,' According To Yellowstone's Wes Bentley - Exclusive
On "Yellowstone," John and Jamie Dutton have a complicated relationship, where both have done questionable things to each other. It's clear that John, the Dutton family patriarch portrayed by Kevin Costner, favors his other two children, Beth and Kayce, over adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley). Yet no matter what, John never actually cuts ties with Jamie.
At the end of Season 4, John has Jamie over a barrel after he and Beth learn the truth about Jamie's involvement in the attempted assassinations that took place on the Dutton clan the previous season. In retaliation, Beth forces Jamie to kill his biological father and captures the aftermath on camera, giving her and John what they need to keep Jamie seemingly under their control in Season 5 of "Yellowstone."
Despite all this, John and Jamie still appear to rely on each other — though according to Bentley, who exclusively spoke to Looper, John keeps Jamie around out of "necessity" rather than any kind of paternal love.
John likes that Jamie helps do his 'dirty work'
On Season 5 of "Yellowstone," John and Jamie are in constant contact due to their political alliance, with John now being governor of Montana and Jamie his attorney. It seems as though John still leans heavily on his son, but it's not because he feels any fondness for his dependent.
"You want to believe it's because John has some love for Jamie," Wes Bentley told us. "But the more you understand John, the more you realize it's probably just that he needs Jamie. Jamie is what he wanted him to be: the law, the protection, the guy that does the dirty work with the people he doesn't think should be there, the politicians and the lawyers. I think it's more of a necessity to keep him around than it is that he cares for him, or cares to have him be a part of the family and anywhere near the land. It's complicated like that."
You can watch the strained father-son relationship unfold on Season 5 of "Yellowstone," which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Paramount Network.