When the Dutton family parted ways after Yellowstone ended, two new shows were born: Kayce’s CBS spinoff, Marshals, and Rip and Beth’s Paramount+ show, Dutton Ranch. Now, we’re learning more about what it was like to continue these characters’ stories after the flagship show ended. In terms of Rip and Beth’s project, Cole Hauser opened up about why “everything changed” after Yellowstone ended and they started working on this Texas-set show.
Now, Kelly Reilly has shared her thoughts on how Beth changed between Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch. Ed Harris has also shared his grievances about working on the show. Plus, with a change in showrunner after Season 1, it was clear that this production wasn’t all smooth sailing. Cole Hauser also admitted that returning to Rip and his story was a “challenge.” He laid out the reasons why too, telling FilmInside:
There were challenges. You know, not having Taylor [Sheridan] there for us to kind of really be able to work with these new writers, these new directors, these people -- you know, everything changed. The only kind of normality that we had whatsoever was [Finn Little’s] Carter, [director and executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros], Kelly [Reilly] and myself. And so I enjoy a challenge; it certainly was a challenge.
Kelly Reilly has also spoken about how not having Taylor Sheridan captaining the spinoff impacted her too. He was the driving force of Yellowstone, so of course, new creatives mean change is bound to happen.
Plus, with the only major returning players being Hauser, Reilly, Finn Little and Christina Alexandra Voros, who has directed episodes for a lot of Sheridan’s shows, including Yellowstone, it’s not like they could work like this was Yellowstone Season 6. No, there was a whole new team they had to collaborate with, which meant they all had to learn how to work together for essentially the first time.
On top of that, over the last few months, there have been reports about alleged tension between the cast and creator/former showrunner Chad Feehan. While we don’t know exactly what led to his departure, it has been alleged that Ed Harris’ complaints about his character and the show had an impact on Feehan’s exit and the hiring of Benjamin Cavell as the showrunner for Season 2.
Alleged drama aside, Hauser did confirm that working with a different team and only having a few returning players made working on Dutton Ranch difficult. However, he still enjoyed his time, and he’s also excited to start working on Season 2. To that point, he said:
We worked our asses off this year. And I don't think a lot of the outside noise or the thought of 'What's the weight of this show?' was really apparent to me at the time. It was about putting my head down and working my ass off with what I had around me, the writers that we had, the new writers that we had. We had to figure out on our feet how to really perform and tell a story. I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I'm looking forward to doing it again.
I’m also looking forward to them doing this again. However, this time, I hope it’s a bit easier for all of them.
I also hope we’ll get to see new episodes sooner rather than later, too. Dutton Ranch was renewed for Season 2 a few weeks before Season 1’s finale, and we know production is set to start in early 2027. So, here’s hoping the cast and crew have an easier time making this series, and we’ll get to see this Yellowstone continuation thrive as it gets back in the saddle for its sophomore season.
