Taylor Sheridan May Have Killed Dave Annable Off ‘Yellowstone’ in the Pilot, But He Apparently Gave Him an ‘IOU’

There’s little doubt that Yellowstone fans would have liked to see more of Dave Annable’s Lee Dutton. But for viewers still nursing the shock from Lee’s unexpected death in the pilot, they should be heartened to know that Taylor Sheridan compensated for Annable’s abrupt exit.

Annable now portrays the physician-spouse of Zoe Saldana in Sheridan’s most recent series, Special Ops: Lioness. Sheridan orchestrated this to balance out Annable’s short-lived role in Yellowstone, referring to it as an ‘IOU.’

Taylor Sheridan gave Dave Annable an ‘IOU’ for killing him off in the pilot

The unexpected demise of Lee in the very first episode of Yellowstone is still a bitter pill to swallow for many fans. Though Annable’s tenure in the popular series was fleeting, he later teamed up again with Sheridan for the show Lioness.

Turns out there may be more to that story. Sheridan may have cast Annable in Lioness because of how his character met his end in the pilot episode of Yellowstone.

As reported by Yahoo, Annable recently offered insights into his collaboration with Sheridan on Yellowstone. Despite how things turned out, the actor expressed gratitude for the experience.

Annable revealed that Sheridan approached him about taking on the character of Neil in Lioness. The actor felt confident that he was the right choice for the part. Still, he also hinted that Sheridan might have felt obligated to him following the events in Yellowstone. 

“When it came back Taylor asked me if I was still interested. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. There might have been some version of an IOU in there, you know, his feeling bad,” Annable explained.

The ‘Lioness’ star opens up about how he landed a part in Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’

Annable and Sheridan’s friendship goes way back, long before he got in the saddle as Lee Dutton.

In his candid interview, Annable disclosed that he and Sheridan were once coaching colleagues. Nevertheless, they had drifted apart when Annable first came across the Yellowstone script.

Blown away by the script, Annable still harbored doubts about his suitability for a cowboy role, being a native New Yorker. After Sheridan got wind of his apprehension, he promptly rang Annable up. That call served as the nudge Annable required to commit to the role, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Then my wife gets a call ‘cuz she was the one who introduced me to Taylor, and it was from Taylor. And he is like, ‘I heard your boy just passed on my show. What is he thinking?” Annable shared. “Tell him to put his ass on tape tomorrow.’”

Annable continued to share that he auditioned for the role and attended a cowboy training camp to master horse riding. He was smitten by the experience and developed a profound affection for every facet of the show.

Dave Annable reveals that he fought to keep Lee Dutton alive

Annable’s depiction of Lee Dutton was short-lived, ending with the pilot episode of Yellowstone. The unexpected death of Lee, who was earmarked as the successor to John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) ranch, took viewers by surprise.

Interestingly, Annable had hoped that Lee’s character would survive beyond the first episode.

In a conversation about his Yellowstone experience, Annable admitted trying to persuade Sheridan to let Lee live. Despite his efforts, Sheridan chose to stick with the original script.

“So when we were shooting my death scene, during the second or third take I was like, ‘I’m okay. this is just makeup. Like, you don’t have to kill me.’ I really started a whole Save Dave Annable campaign, not knowing what would then happen with the show becoming the number one show on the planet.”

It’s intriguing to imagine how the show’s trajectory might have changed had Lee made it past the pilot. Nonetheless, everything panned out well for Annable, and we’re eager to see what he contributes to Lioness.

The first half of Yellowstone’s fifth season wrapped up recently, and the series will conclude with the second half on Paramount+.