Though Kevin Costner’s exit no doubt had a major impact on the Yellowstone franchise’s fandom, Taylor Sheridan isn’t letting it hinder his goals to continue expanding the Dutton family’s narrative lineage. With 1923 wrapping its second season early on in the 2025 TV schedule, followed by a general lack of updates for the next prequel 1944, the future is tethered to the impending Beth and Rip spinoff, which is set to debut in November.
Taylor Sheridan definitely isn’t the only connective tissue between the various projects, as veteran stunt coordinator Jason Rodriguez has been involved with each Dutton-centric series so far, while also teaming with the co-creator for Billy Bob Thornton’s Landman. And he’ll also be handling a lot of the action when Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser’s Rip are back in our lives. When I talked to Rodriguez about his stellar work in the western dramas, I asked what excites him the most about seeing Taylor’s scripts, and he told me:
What excites me most about Taylor is he writes such real, raw action scenes that we do, for the most part, all practically. So we don't rely a lot on visual effects and things like that. Coming from a cowboy background, or a Western background, of course, I like when he writes the horse stunts in and and things like that. Which is a little more conducive when you're talking about 1883 or 1923, because that's the period, but [in] Yellowstone, he works some really good ones in, too, in all of our seasons, and those excite me probably the most.
For someone who enjoys working on horse stunts, I can't imagine any other series on TV or streaming would be a better fit for Jason Rodriguez than Yellowstone and its prequels. From the riding sequences (often set to a mournful country song) to the roping sequences (which tend to use a more jaunty tune) to one-off moments such as that horse-caused death in Season 5.
Considering both Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly are well-versed in horseriding, the chances already seem high that we'll be seeing more horse-favoring stunt sequences in the upcoming follow-up series, which Hauser confirmed is not titled Dutton Ranch, which was first revealed as a working title.
Speaking to the difference between how stunts are handled from the more historically set prequels to Yellowstone's more contemporary setting, Rodriguez said:
Like, in 1883, it's a little more built [around stunts]. It was like all action, you know? We did lots of action on that, all of it practical, all of it with tons of stunt guys that are also cowboys. It was constant gunfire, just constant action-action, whereas Yellowstone is a little more [varied]. You go back and forth between some horse stunts, and then you have some car stuff, and then you have some fights, so it's a little more well-rounded show to do a lot of different action pieces on.
Indeed, 1883 featured several hectic action sequences on horseback, with my own favorite being the fateful battle that bookended the season for Isabel May's Elsa Dutton. (Not because it ended in tragedy for the Dutton family, of course, but for being handled so well.) And the closer to the present time the shows get, the wider a variety of stunt sequences are available for Rodriguez to utilize. Can't exactly have a drive-by shooting before cars and roads exist.
The stunt coordinator further stoked my excitement for the upcoming Beth and Rip series when I asked about which cast members he worked with the most, and which appeared to be the most enthused about tackling fight scenes and other stunts. It just so happens those answered largely coincided, as he said:
I love working with everybody, all the cast members. Probably Cole is the one I get to work with the most, because he usually generates the most action. . . . Kelly Reilly is great, too. I love working with Kelly. In the last few seasons, we've been able to do some really nice fight pieces with her. And she's always so into it, and such a great person to work with. She cares about how it's going to look as far as the character's involved, and always wants to stay true to the character.
Rodriguez gave both Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly props for always wanting to be as heavily involved with their characters' stunts as possible. To the point where he gave me a full rundown for how Beth and Jamie’s deadly finale fight was filmed with a minimal use of stunt doubles and edits. Considering that duo will be front and center of the new spinoff, I can only imagine how many new ways Sheridan & Co. will showcase Rip kicking someone in the face.
To be fair, Rodriguez also namechecked Jen Landon as another cast member he loves to work with, championing her willingness to try just about anything for a scene. And he also gave props to Luke Grimes for handling Kayce's stunts on Yellowstone with aplomb.
I talked to Rodriquez around the time CBS confirmed the Grimes-starring spinoff would be a midseason arrival, and I asked then if he knew already whether he'd be handling stunts for the franchise's first broadcast series as well, and he noted potential scheduling issues in saying:
I don't know yet, because I'm doing some other shows for Taylor, and it'll just be whenever that show gets slated to to go, compared to Dutton Ranch and the other shows that I'm working on for him.
It looks like Rodriguez is handling Landman Season 2, but he hedged a little when it came to the specific projects he had lined up, without making any clear comments about the Michele Pfeiffer-starring spinoff The Madison. I'm hoping he gets to show off his talents in every Yellowstone project under the sun, since the franchise's horse-riding and bitter brawls are always as memorable as anything else in the episodes.
Fans will need to keeps all eyes and ears peeled for more details about when Beth and Rip's spinoff will be premiering, so don't pull those cowboy hats down too far.
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