Any time of year when Rip Wheeler is laying out skull-bustin’ discipline on our TVs is a good time of year, and the wait is on for Season 2, with a new showrunner stepping in to guide the story after that deadly and kidnap-py season finale. The between-seasons hiatus is where star Cole Hauser gets to look and feel more like himself, without the need to dye his hair to match Rip’s, and without the need to put on any extra weight.
As many Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch fans are possibly aware, Hauser has made it a character priority to add around 25 lbs. to his frame to bring Rip to life (even if Texas heat makes it hard to keep the weight on. But if you think that means he’s downing protein powders and doing cardio between takes, that’s not exactly the kind of weight he’s packing on. Speaking with AwardsDaily about transforming himself into becoming Rip for Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone-verse, Hauser pointed out that being bigger doesn’t necessarily mean being more fit. In his words:
I wanted to be bigger than everybody, but it also makes sense to be country strong. He’s not going to a gym. He’s lifting bales of hay and working, so he’s not skinny and muscular. He’s just a big country strong looking guy. So I put on twenty pounds and most of it, I won’t lie, was weight. It wasn’t tonal muscle.
It would be more than a little disconcerting to throw on a new episode of Dutton Ranch to see Rip shirtless with a six-pack of rock-hard abs and biceps bulging to the point of bursting. That’s just not the specific kind of badass that fans have in mind for Rip. To the actor’s point, Rip’s body is the result of decades of daily ranchwork, peppered with sporadic acts of violence and criminal mischief, without a lick of time spent at the gym or on a weight bench. Nobody got time for reps.
Hauser continued, explaining that Rip’s non-specialized diet also plays into the weight gain, since he isn’t the kind of character who seems to care much about calorie counts and serving sizes. As the actor put it:
I also think the reality of these guys when they get older is, they start to break down. Again, they’re not going to the gym, they’re not taking growth hormones or anything to be shredded. They eat meat and potatoes, and it’s just kind of who they are. I just wanted to be as authentic as possible.
I don't even want to think about the day when Rip Wheeler is too old, weak and frail to get up with the chickens. Hopefully Dutton Ranch doesn't go on for THAT long. Although I guess seeing a Rip cyborg would be pretty cool, if it ever came to that. It probably won't come to that.
Beyond all the meat and potatoes, Cole Hauser shared another go-to meal for adding extra poundage:
Tuna Helper too. Ton of salt in that. You wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and go who’s that guy?
If I ever looked in the mirror and saw Rip Wheeler's face, I might not complain too much. Although if I then had to go and saddle up horses and other break-of-dawn tasks, I might not ever stop complaining.
Dutton Ranch Season 2 will hopefully be as lean and muscular as Season 1 was, and with the added bonus of Ed Harris’ Everett becoming a bigger part of the story after he was left unsatisfied during the first season’s production. It’s unclear exactly when new episodes might be available to get obsessed with, but we’ll definitely be waiting until after the 2026 TV schedule has concluded.
