Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser on Their ‘Yellowstone’ Future, Always Knowing the Ending and Why Everyone Loves Beth and Rip

[This story contains major spoilers from the Yellowstone season 5B premiere, “Desire is All You Need.”]

Yellowstone returned with its most dramatic episode yet when the season 5B premiere revealed the fate of John Dutton, the character played by departed star Kevin Costner. The episode, which aired on Sunday after a nearly two-year break off the air, answered the looming question right out of the gate, and the hour has already become the most-watched ever in Taylor Sheridan‘s hit Paramount Network series.

Bubbling up under the shocking drama around John’s death seemingly by suicide — though it’s revealed to viewers that it was actually the result of a hitman who was hired by the girlfriend (Dawn Olivieri) of John’s estranged son, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) — are the pulsating heartbeats of John’s other children who are left to pick up the pieces. That includes Luke Grimes‘ Kayce Dutton and Kelly Reilly‘s Beth Dutton who, along with her husband Rip, played by Cole Hauser, will be leading the vengeance tour in the remaining five episodes.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke to the fan-favorite Reilly and Hauser (in a conversation that took place before the show’s premiere) to talk about how her father’s death will be driving “wildcat” Beth, what they can say about how these episodes will end, why everyone loves Beth and Rip (including them), and what would interest them about continuing on with more Yellowstone amid reports that they are in talks for a possible sixth season.

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Kelly, I’ve been wanting to ask you this since the midseason finale: How will finding out about the Dutton family “train station” change Beth?

KELLY REILLY Ooo. I think she’s probably always been aware. She knows that there is some gnarly stuff going on, that there are shadowy aspects. This is not a naïve woman. This is not someone who is not aware of some of the things [Rip] has to do. And she says to him, I think in season two, “There’s no such thing as good and evil.” It’s almost better when there are some blinders on for her to not know everything.

But I think it just makes them [the Duttons] vulnerable because now there’s the potential that their enemies know their history and what they’ve potentially done. And it’s mafia stuff, right? And it could really throw a spanner in the works; John Dutton [was] the Governor of Montana, if they suddenly find out all of the bodies there. So I don’t think Beth is looking at it as a morality thing like, “I can’t believe you did that.” I think it’s much more, “Oh shit. Who knows that? Who is going to hold that against us?”

Now that Beth is in the know, does that change anything with Rip and Beth this season?

REILLY There’s bigger fish here [this season]. There’s a lot more going on. She’s so brilliant in her brain. This is Taylor [Sheridan]’s brain. He gives it to Beth about how she’s going to figure things out and how she manipulates things and turns what is a bullet coming to her back to them. We’ve seen her do it time and time again. And this season, there’s something different going on. She can’t figure it out. There’s something she can’t figure out how to do, and somebody else helps her and… you’ll see.

Your characters were headed for some time apart in the midseason finale. [Editor’s note: Beth and Rip reunite at the end of the season 5B premiere.]

REILLY It’s not been long. There’s a lot of flashback. [Taylor] uses flashbacks all the time throughout the season, and there’s the short flashback of a couple weeks.

COLE HAUSER I [Rip] go down to Texas and I’m running cows down there at Four Sixes [Ranch], and I’ll tease one little thing. There’s a wonderful moment where Beth comes down and surprises Rip. I won’t go into the details, but it’s a really cool, badass moment for her character and our relationship, and we get to have some fun together.

REILLY He was gone three days, and she’s like, “When are you coming home?”

HAUSER It feels like five months to her.

In the midseason finale, Beth and John (Kevin Costner) were firmly on one side, and Jamie (Wes Bentley) was on the other. Now that we know John won’t be around for these season 5B episodes, what does that battle look like for Beth without having her dad by her side?

HAUSER He’s very much [still] there.

REILLY He’s not there physically, but he is still the most central character in all of these other characters’ worlds and minds and hearts. So it doesn’t change the battle to save the ranch. In fact, it expedites it. It becomes something that needs to happen; the urgency needs to happen now. And it’s slipping through their hands. How are they going to save it?

Would you say this ups the intensity for Beth when it comes to what she’s fighting for?

REILLY Yeah, she’s a wildcat. She’s in a very raw emotional phase, and there’s nothing like vengeance that fuels Beth. It’s gonna come to a crescendo, and it’s going to come to a place that is actually incredibly cathartic and beautiful.

In your New York Times profile, you said you indeed filmed “an ending.” But there are reports that you two are in talks for another season, and we all know the Yellowstone-verse continues with opportunities for you to pop into. When it comes to the ending here for Rip and Beth, would say it’s an ending but also one where you could continue?

HAUSER Taylor can figure out how to absolutely continue if he wants to. But that’s just Taylor being a brilliant writer. I’m not telling you that it is continuing, it’s just that he’s smart enough as a writer to do that if that’s something that he is passionate about.

REILLY It’s up to him. We trust him. He’s a master storyteller, and we help him tell these characters’ stories, and it’s been such a ride and so electrifying to play and so invigorating. I trust him. I trust him with wherever he takes her; whether we’re leaving her where we’ve left her, or we’re going to find her somewhere else, I trust him. I really could go either way right now. But the dealbreaker really for me is the writing, the writing has to be from him.

HAUSER What we’re excited about now is the show coming out. I’m excited for our fans to get something they’ve waited almost two years for.

REILLY And we’ll see by the end if they want it. Because they might want to just wrap it up and finish it, so we’ll see. It has to be authentic.

I spoke with your director Christina Voros, and she detailed the protocol in place to keep the plot a secret in service of the fans. She said people on the crew were joking that it was more intense than a Marvel series. But she did say you Dutton core are in the know.

REILLY Yeah.

She described the ending as “beautiful, riveting, unexpected.” When you read it, how did it make you feel?

HAUSER We both were told by Taylor many moons ago what his dream was for the characters and the ending and where they would be, so we kind of had an idea. But to see it on the page and then to be able to shoot it was kind of a beautiful moment for me.

REILLY There’s one scene in the ending, in the last episode, which I obviously haven’t seen yet, that moves me so much. It’s so powerful and like Christina said, unexpected. And I think this scene is a reason why this entire series was made.

HAUSER It’s a beautiful moment, and it’s two people that have gone through a lot.

REILLY That’s not what I mean. That’s not the scene. (Laughs.) There’s a scene without you and me that’s the scene I’m thinking about. (She says to Hauser) We’ll talk about it later (laughs). Our ending is something as well, but the scene I’m talking about that culminates the whole series for me is a scene that has nothing to do with us in it, and it’s in the last episode. I’m looking forward to you seeing that.

This show is coming back right after the election, and it’s a divided country. Something everyone can agree on is Beth and Rip.

REILLY Aw.

HAUSER I saw a shirt the other day that said, “Beth and Rip for president.”

REILLY Oh, God. I don’t think anybody needs that.

HAUSER It used to be John Dutton, now it’s Beth and Rip. (Laughs)

REILLY I don’t think you want Beth as president.

What is it, do you think, that makes everyone watching fall in love with them?

HAUSER We’ve been asked that a lot.

REILLY They risk their lives for one another. We get to be in this heightened story where death is around the corner for all of them very often. Beth has been in situations where Rip has had to save her, and he loves her through the most difficult moments in their life; they’ve been sweethearts since they were children, like 15 years old. There’s such a history. I think people are invested. And I think Taylor writes romance so beautifully. It almost feels old school, old-fashioned. There’s so much edge in his writing except when it comes to love. When he writes love, it’s poetry. There’s something old-fashioned, and there’s something about the devotion of this couple that’s really powerful.

HAUSER I’ve heard from people within the business who are friends of mine that they really love these scenes between the two of us where there really isn’t any dialogue. Where stories, and certainly this story and show, is so driven on words, Taylor has these wonderful moments with Beth and Rip where they just get to stare at each other, or just lay together in silence, staring off thinking, and having those quiet, beautiful moments. I think it’s brilliant that he has the wherewithal to do that for these two.

REILLY It’s those moments in bed before you’ve got to get up before the sun comes up, where the world feels safe with the person you love before you’ve got to go face all the monsters. He captures that with them. They are like each other’s home; they are each other’s sanctuary, and I think everyone wants that.

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Yellowstone releases new episodes in its six-episode season 5B on Sundays at 8 p.m. on Paramount Network, followed by a linear premiere on CBS at 10 p.m. Head here for how to stream Yellowstone and read THR‘s premiere chats with Luke Grimes and Kelsey Asbille, and director Christina Voros.