The smell of hay lingers in the air, but horses are nowhere to be found. Instead,Kelly Reilly, clad in a denim-on-denim look with Saint Laurent boots that have no place in a barn, is leaning over a photo monitor to sneak a peek at herPeopleshoot in a Manhattan studio. She’s joined by a familiar face. “It’s so nice to get to do this as Kelly and Cole,” says Reilly. “Usually it’s Beth and Rip.” When the costars sit down for an interview a little while later,Cole Hauserconcurs: “It’s a big difference, isn’t it?”
Reilly, 48, and Hauser, 51, are coming up on a decade as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, first introduced at the beginning ofYellowstonein 2018 and now about to launchtheir own spinoff,Dutton Ranch, May 15 onParamount+.
Beth, the daughter ofthe late John Dutton(Kevin Costner), and Rip, John’s longtime ranch foreman and fixer, were in an unforgettable sort of fiery, messy love from the show’s beginning and tied the knot in the season 4 finale. Both characters are fiercely loyal to the very few people they trust—and not afraid of a little violence in order to protect them.
In real life the actors are far more affable. The ease between them is palpable as they finish each other’s sentences while describing being reunited for the first time since they wrapped filming in early March:
KELLY REILLY: When we’re in character and we’re on-set, there’s such a level of concentration…COLE HAUSER: It’s intense.REILLY: And we’ve got a really big job to do.HAUSER: Especially this year.REILLY: We both care a lot, and we both are slightly obsessive about it. So we are both in our own world and very rarely get to just…HAUSER: Hang out…REILLY: And just be together.HAUSER: It’s true.REILLY: I feel so comfortable. This is just nice.
"THE BETH-RIP RELATIONSHIP, IT'S SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER RELATIONSHIP I'VE EVER HAD ON CAMERA. IT'S HOT, IT'S COLD, IT'S BEAUTIFUL"
Cole Hauser
WHERE WE LEFT OFF
As thesun set onYellowstone, John Dutton was dead, killed at the hands of an assassin hired by Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) girlfriend, and his remaining children, Beth and Kayce (Luke Grimes), sold the massive Yellowstone Ranch back to the Broken Rock Reservation.
At the beginning ofDutton Ranch, set about a year later, a more mature Beth, Rip and Carter (Finn Little), their adoptive teenage son, have left Montana and are settling into a new home in small-town Texas.
“Beth and Rip were always such warriors, and they’re hoping that they may not have to be warriors,” says Reilly. “They're always going to protect each other. They were protecting a place and a dream of John Dutton’s for five seasons. Now that cycle, that burden is over. It's dead. And so, who are they together now?”
The move to a new state and a new landscape will mean new challenges for the family. In Montana “they were the top dogs,” Reilly says. “Now they’re the strangers.”
“It’s like going to the moon for these characters,” says Hauser, noting that Rip will face a significant language barrier as his workers all speak Spanish. “They don't know the land or the people or the environment.”
Reilly quickly adds, “And they don't know them. They don't know who these guys are. They don't know what they're dealing with.”
Among the unsuspecting locals are Beth and Rip’s new neighbors, a grizzled veterinarian and Navy veteran who befriends Beth (played byEd Harris), and the boss at the town’s big ranch (Annette Bening).
“We needed some heavyweights alongside us to tell a new story,” Reilly says of Harris and Bening. “We’re deeply flattered that they wanted to come on to a show with us.”
“The opportunity and honor to work with Ed was a dream come true,” adds Hauser. “He's just as good of a person, as he is an actor. And Annette is wild and fun and smart.”
Related:The Dutton Family Tree: See How Every Character from theYellowstoneShows Are Related
The actors’ affection for Little, 19, is also evident every time Carter comes up. “He's just grown with us, and we love him,” says Reilly.
“We've been a part of his most formidable years as a young man,” says Hauser. “And so, to see him grow not only off the screen, but on the screen as an actor, he has so much talent, and it's just oozing out of him.”
THE LOVE STORY
WhenYellowstonedebuted, the characters of Beth and Rip were single, and, in a rare move on television today, they’ve only ever had eyes for each other.
“There was such a history of Beth and Rip and what they meant to each other,” Reilly says of the characters whose romance first began when they were teens. “But she was pretty awful to him at the beginning [of the show].”
“I actually thought it was funny. I'm a little sick that way,” Hauser responds with a laugh. “I thought the relationship was so bizarre, and [creator]Taylor Sheridantook such a great risk with starting the characters the way that he did. That gave room for Kelly and me to be able to take even more risks with them and play."
"And that's the thing that Taylor does as a writer is that he gives you this freedom, whether you know it or not, to actually really be creative and try new things," Hauser adds. "The Beth-Rip relationship, it's so much different than any other relationship I've ever had on camera. It's hot, it's cold, it's beautiful, it's angry, it's passionate.”
"WE'VE LIVED WITH THESE CHARACTERS... SO WE FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY TO HONOR THEM AND BRING THEM FORWARD"
Kelly Reilly
The characters later found a rhythm and a steadiness within each other that will carry them into the new series. “He allows her to be who she is, and she just will do anything for him,” says Reilly.
Adds Hauser: “And when they're hurting, they're there for each other, which is so beautiful. I can tell when she's not doing well. She can tell when I'm hurting.”
As the actors finished filmingYellowstone, Hauser says, they “didn’t know” if there would be a future for Beth and Rip onscreen, but “there were hopes.”
“It's an honor to be in a show that was so loved and play characters that were so loved,” Reilly says. “You could end it where it ended withYellowstone. It did end.”
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But after what had been a tumultuous season 5—which saw along pause in filmingbecause of Costner’s departure and the Hollywood strikes—Reilly and Hauser didn’t have much of an extended break before putting Beth’s and Rip’s boots back on.
“The last season ofYellowstonewas such an emotional thing," says Reilly. "We finished filming in, I think, September 2024, and then we started up again in June or July and were talking about it all the time. So it didn't really feel like a big break.… The train was going, and we had to be on it.”
THE TAYLOR SHERIDAN EFFECT
Reilly and Hauser aren’t just the first names on the call sheet forDutton Ranch: They’re also executive producers. Sheridan, who createdYellowstoneand wrote every episode, remains an executive producer on the new series, but the two actors have taken a stronger leadership position.
“It was more responsibility, to be quite honest, which I think Kelly and I took on and enjoyed, for the most part,” says Hauser. “We put a lot of work into the continuation of the show with [director, cinematographer and executive producer] Christina Alexandra Voros, with [showrunner] Chad Feehan and everybody else that was part of it.”
“We've lived with these characters. It doesn't mean we know everything about them, but there was a handing over the reins to us, to a certain extent, which lends us to find our own voice and opinion about them and where they are now,” says Reilly. “So we feel a responsibility to honor them and bring them forward.”
While Sheridan may not have a hand in the day-to-day work onDutton, he certainly still looms large.
“Taylor Sheridan is one of the best writers in this country right now, and we are his characters,” says Reilly. “He's always in our minds as we're making this, and they are big boots to fill. It's because of him that we're here.”
Dutton Ranch’s Beth and Rip are in Texas, but it’s unclear if they’ll cross paths with the Four Sixes Ranch featured inYellowstone—or Jimmy (Jefferson White) and Teeter (Jennifer Landon), who were working there at the end of the series.
What about Grimes’s Kayce Dutton who stars in the otherYellowstonespinoffMarshals?
“I'm so proud of Luke, and we love him so much, and I miss him,” says Reilly before teasing, “I wish we had a crossover. Maybe we will in the future.”
A few staples youcancount on returning toDutton Ranch? “I haven't changed my hat in almost 10 years or my jacket,” says Hauser. “The jeans, they fall apart, obviously. And I've gone through a couple boots, but Rip ain't changing for nobody.”
THEIR OWN RIDE OR DIES
With new pressures at work, Hauser and Reilly are both grateful to have support at home. Reilly has been married to financierKyle Baugherfor nearly 14 years. Hauser and actressCynthia Danielhave been married for 19 and share three children.
“My wife is very proud of us,” Hauser says. “She knows how difficult I can be at times—I'm a pretty hardheaded guy—so she loves to see the softer side of me in acting. And I think Taylor [Sheridan] did a great job of opening that side up for me early on with Beth and with Kelly, and she loves seeing that.” Oh and “she f---ing thinks Kelly's a badass.”
Related:Annette Bening Hopes Beth and Rip Are 'Corruptible' as She Plays Rival Ranch Owner inDutton RanchOfficial Trailer
ShootingDutton Ranchmeant the actors were away from their families for eight months.
“There's an extreme amount of dedication that we've put into the last 10 years,” says Hauser. “Nothing is ever smooth. You're always going to have challenges, and Cynthia and Kyle have been there for that and been supportive.”
Dutton Ranchpremieres Friday, May 15 on Paramount+ and Paramount Network.
CREDITS
Photographer/director:Eric Michael Roy
Motion DP:Tommy Agriodimas
Interview DP:Eric Brouse
Set Design:Brian Crumbley/Rob Strauss Studio
Hair:Tim Muir
Groomer (for Hauser):Bern Kubiak
Stylist (for Hauser):Dolly Lanvin/ Forward Artists
Makeup (for Reilly):Tyron Machhausen/ Chanel / The Wall Group
Stylist (for Reilly):Eliza Yerry/ Forward Artists
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