‘Yellowstone’: What Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser Have Said About Beth & Rip’s Bond
Yellowstone‘s Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler are one of TV’s best power couples. Their fiery commitment to each other — and patriarch John Dutton and their family legacy – is unshakable. There’s a softer side to the couple that only comes out in their private moments on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
Kelly Reilly tells us “one of the most gorgeous things about this show” is who Beth and Rip “become when they’re with one another.” Reilly has been playing the red-hot Dutton daughter opposite Cole Hauser’s deadly ranch foreman since Yellowstone began production in 2017. Adds the star, “Beth has always thought that she’s at war, except when she’s with Rip.”
In the brutal war to protect the ranch, Rip is a first lieutenant. Hauser agrees that the couple find rare peace in each other’s company. “Beth is soft with Rip, and vice versa,” says the actor. “Rip is a killer. Beth is as tough as nails. When they’re together, there’s this beautiful, almost childish kind of playfulness.”
Part of that comes from a bond that goes back to the characters’ teenage years. “Beth has been in love with Rip since she was 14 years old!” Reilly exclaims. Adds her costar, “There’s such history; they’ve known each other for so long. They have this wonderful friendship that nobody else has with them.”
To create that believable, one-of-a-kind blend of passion and vulnerability, the actors dug into the work. Hauser tells us, “We kept discovering things and pushing each other in a really positive way of, ‘Let’s try to go further, let’s take more risks.’” Reilly offers, “There is a rawness to how we shoot. We have to be completely prepared.”
Looking ahead to Season 5, marriage is a welcome new stage for both, but it will require some adjustments. “Rip’s life has been lived in darkness, not having love,” Hauser says. “Understanding how to navigate those waters, it’s not normal for him.”
Reilly offers a reminder that this is a partnership of rugged individuals: “There’s something magical for Beth that this is now finally her husband. This is her person forever. Marriage for her is a wonderful thing. But has it tamed her? No, of course not.”
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s Beth & Rip: Yellowstone Collector’s Edition issue, available online and on newsstands now.
Yellowstone, Season 5 Premiere, Sunday, November 13, 8/7c, Paramount Network