When it comes to legacy, Luke Grimes is building his one song, one role, and one life lesson at a time. Fresh off the release of his sophomore album, Red Bird, the Marshals star is opening up about the kind of mark he hopes to one day leave behind, not just as an artist and actor, but also as a father.
“I’ve always just said, I think a good way to go is I want to leave this place better than I found it,” Grimes, 42, told Music Mayhem in a recent interview, where he discussed his personal life, new album, and acting career. “I want to make sure that when I leave this world, that I’ve not only picked up after myself, but I’ve left some beautiful things behind.”
Grimes is already thriving in that mindset as his latest life chapter currently serves as one of his biggest. In October 2024, he and his wife, model Bianca Rodrigues Grimes, welcomed their first child, a son named Rigel Randolph Grimes, into the world. Becoming a new father has undoubtedly reshaped the way he thinks about everything from his career choices to the stories he wants to share with the public.
He says a key part of his legacy is that his son sees him as someone who “took a really big swing at life,” embracing risks and showing courage.
“[That] I took chances, and I was brave, and that he can do the same thing,” Grimes said of the example he hopes to set for his little one.
Though he and Rodrigues have largely kept their son out of the spotlight, their growing family is never far from Grimes’ creative process. Whether he’s in the recording studio or on set, fatherhood is now part of the rhythm.
“Whenever I go to Savannah to record, they come with me,” he said, “My wife and my kid, and Dave [his producer] has a wall of polaroids from all the different studio sessions, and my baby boy is all over that wall. So he’s definitely coming.”
Music aside, a family in tow also includes visits to the set of Marshals, where Grimes continues to step into the boots of Kayce Dutton. But while audiences have spent nearly a decade watching him embody the stoic cowboy, Grimes is quick to point out that the man behind the role is a bit different from his real-life figure.
“I guess because I’ve been playing Kayce Dutton for so long, I think that maybe people assume that I’m more like him than I am,” Grimes acknowledged. “And obviously it’s confusing for me too. I don’t blame him. This is going to be year nine of playing the same character, and I moved to Montana, and there are things that are sort of overlapping that are kind of hard to know the difference.”
Still, Grimes reveals he’s not quite as serious as his on-screen counterpart. “I’m definitely much more of a goofball and a lighthearted person than Kayce Dutton is,” he added with a smile.
Marshals airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT via CBS. Episodes are available to stream the same day for Paramount+ Premium subscribers and begin streaming on Mondays for Essential subscribers.
