There’s no question that fans love Kelly Reilly’s portrayal of Beth Dutton on Yellowstone. Now, the actress is opening up about how she doesn’t always agree with the show’s co-creator about her character’s direction. See what she said about Beth and Rip and learn about Kelly Reilly and Taylor Sheridan’s relationship below.
Yellowstone is Paramount’s successful Western drama that follows the real-life Dutton family, who own and operate the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, the largest ranch in the state of Montana. The fan-favorite series premiered in 2018 and features frontrunner Kevin Costner, who plays the one and only John Dutton III, the six-generation patriarch of the Dutton family. Throughout the series, John and his family are constantly protecting the Yellowstone ranch from those attempting to take their land, including an Indian reservation and wealthy land developers.
Since Season 1, British actress Kelly Reilly has played John’s only daughter Beth Dutton, the brilliant businesswoman and her father’s fierce protector. Beth is in a fan-favorite relationship with Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), her Dad’s right-hand who is also in charge of the cowboys at the ranch. The couple wed in an intimate ceremony on the ranch in Season 4, Episode 10.
In a featurette clip on the Blu-ray and DVD release of Yellowstone Season 5, Part 1, Reilly opened up about some of her character’s storylines since the series’ inception, according to Insider. (Note: This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike, and before it was announced that the Yellowstone was ending after Season 5.)
Reilly revealed that Sheridan doesn’t share storylines ahead of time, which she said makes the process of working on the show “fascinating.” “I’m coming to it almost the same as the audience,” Reilly explained. “I mean, I have my hopes and thoughts for the character. Also, as I’ve played her for over five years now, I feel like I know her so well, but I’m still learning.”
She continued: “There are still things that I read and I didn’t expect, or sometimes I wish for something else for her, but that’s the same as the audience. We’re all sort of beholden to the vision of the storyteller and we serve the story. “Who knows what’s going to happen? I find that exciting as an actor.”
In a separate behind-the-scenes clip, Reilly spoke about where she thinks things are going with Beth and Rip in Season 5, despite their happy union in Season 4. “Beth is haunted by her past. She has a lot of regrets and she has a lot of secrets that he doesn’t know,” she said. “So there is something that is under the surface that will one day, I’m sure, come, and she’s probably certain that she will lose him.”
The actress also noted that Beth feels “immense guilt” that she will never be able to have biological children with Rip. (It was revealed that her adopted brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley), had a doctor give her a hysterectomy when she became pregnant as a teenager, leaving her to be infertile.) “She cannot switch that part of herself off,” Reilly added, “There’s a tremendous sadness in that.”
The interview comes after reports of drama between Kevin Costner and Sheridan. The showrunner broke his silence about the claims when speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023. “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did,” Sheridan explained.
As for the alleged shooting schedule issues with Costner, Sheridan stated that “I didn’t do anything to begin with!” adding that he doesn’t dictate the schedule. “I don’t determine when things start filming.” The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time that there were ongoing conversations to convince Costner to film a few scenes to wrap up his character, but the scripts were not yet completed.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered… His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone,” Sheridan added. “But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie [Horizon] seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
Paramount announced in May 2023 that Yellowstone is ending after Season 5 and there will not be a sixth season of the neo-Western drama. “Yellowstone has been the cornerstone on which we have launched an entire universe of global hits – from 1883 to Tulsa King, and I am confident our Yellowstone sequel will be another big hit, thanks to the brilliant creative mind of Taylor Sheridan and our incredible casts who bring these shows to life,” said Chris McCarthy, president & CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, in a statement.
The network also revealed that the final episodes of Yellowstone Season 5 are scheduled to be released in November 2022 (but the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes may push the timeline back even more). With the uncertainty in television right now, there may be a chance that we might not get a conclusion to Yellowstone at all.
Although Yellowstone is ending, the show will be replaced with a sequel series starring Matthew McConaughey. While previous reports said that the new spin-off will include the same cast of Yellowstone – leaving the possibility for Beth to reprise her role – Sheridan hinted that may not be the case. Instead, it might rely on an entirely new cast and location. “My idea of a spinoff is the same as my idea of a prequel — read into that what you will,” Sheridan said, referring to his Paramount Plus prequels 1883 and 1923 that feature an entirely new cast and storyline.