Exclusive: Dutton Ranch's Cole Hauser talks Rip Wheeler’s return, Landman crossover talks, and making a “badass f*cking show”
Saddle up, TV fans - this is the Western event of the year.
Yellowstone didn’t just revive the cowboy drama, it turned it into must-watch television, spawning an entire empire of dust, danger and Dutton family warfare in the process. At the centre of it all was Rip Wheeler: the black-hatted ranch enforcer with the most gravelly voice on TV and enough swagger to make any man suddenly consider buying a pair of cowboy boots.
Now, two years later, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, who plays wife Beth Dutton, are donning their spurs once again for Dutton Ranch, the hotly anticipated Yellowstone spinoff that finally brings TV’s number one Western power couple back to screens. This time, they’re swapping Montana for the brutal Texas heat, with fan favourites returning and legendary actor Ed Harris joining the Sheridanverse for what Hauser promises is “a badass f*cking show.” We’d expect nothing less.
When Shortlist catches up with Hauser in London, the cowboy cool is very much intact. One minute he’s teaching us the real-life ranch skills he’s spent a decade mastering, the next he’s teasing crossover talks with Billy Bob Thornton’s Landman universe, and opening up about his next big role opposite Sylvester Stallone in upcoming crime drama Blood Aces.
He also gives us his first impressions of London, after finally visiting the capital for the first time — people-watching and all.
So: what really makes a modern cowboy? Could Rip Wheeler survive in Landman? And after ten years in the saddle, what ranching tricks has Cole Hauser actually learned for real? Hold on to your Stetson, it’s time to ride back into the Sheridanverse…
Shortlist: Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton from Yellowstone are back! So, how would you sum up Dutton Ranch in five words or less?
Cole Hauser: A badass f*cking show.
What’s the most badass thing about it?
The idea that we take the leap of faith to go to Texas and try something new. They're so used to Montana and the life that they've been living up there, and the comforts of it, but to take the risk and go to Montana and start new with Carter — I think it's badass, and what happens in the show is pretty cool.
Kelly Riley's returning from Yellowstone as Beth, and Ed Harris joins the cast for this series, too. What are some of your favourite memories from filming this together?
Getting down in the heat and basically watching everybody exist down there in Texas — versus, Kelly and I are so used to the summers in Montana [where Yellowstone is set]. It's beautiful, but when it’s 118 degrees and you're outside trying to remember lines, and the sun's beating down on you… we all looked at each other a couple times, like 'is this your line? Or my line?' But Ed's been great. He was a joy to work with.
How did you cope with that Texas heat? Were you going a bit delirious?
It was a little weird at first. I'm wearing a beaver skin hat and all black, and it was rough to say the least. You get used to it over time.
Maybe it's not the best look for that kind of heat…
There's a reason why they wear straw hats in Texas. But the character, I mean… he wouldn't look right in a straw hat! So I battled through it.
In Dutton Ranch, we've got ranches, we've got rodeos, we've got modern day cowboys. In your experience, what do you think it takes to be a modern day cowboy?
I play such a traditional old school cowboy. I think ultimately it comes down to toughness. They wake up early, they stay late; they do the work that most people don't want to do.
Over the years, have you picked up any kind of rancher training gems that you can share with us?
Oh, yeah — I've been doing this for ten years! We started in Utah, and just being able to cowboy in Utah is different because of the altitude. And then Montana, which means you’re battling all the elements. And then down in Texas, it's basically being able to understand how they survive down there in the heat. It's just totally different topographies and different disciplines, too. When it comes to riding and roping, the stuff that people don't really see on camera is a big deal when it comes to cowboyin’.
And you had to learn that for real?
Oh, yeah, absolutely!
Tell us about riding and roping…
Well, it's the thing that most people don't know about. The job that we do is about saddle time: if you don't put in the work, you're not going to look right. So, one of the things that Taylor Sheridan [Yellowstone co-creator] did immediately with me, because of how great a cowboy Rip is on the show, he put me on every horse, every different saddle, every different discipline — roping, cutting, reining, you name it. He threw me into deep water and said, ‘Hey, you need to swim!’ That's the only way you can do that, by putting in the work.
That’s intense!
Yeah, it was cool, though. I was up for the challenge.
What was your favourite cowboy discipline?
Cutting is great. I love cutting.
Erm, what is cutting?
So if you look at a herd of cows, right? And say, one is sick, or you want a doctor to see one, you'll come up to the herd, you'll cut the cow that's sick — you'll cut it out of the herd. Then, basically, you put your reins down. Then, you move that cow out — eventually you get them out of the herd and you rope them. There’s a lot to it, but it’s fun to do.
Obviously, this is set in South Texas on location — but right now we're chatting worlds away in London. Are you a fan of London?
I've never been here before! I've been here a day and a half, and it's great. I drove around yesterday. We were in Mayfair and Soho. We went across London Bridge and saw that. But I've never really been to England. I've been to Scotland and Ireland, but never here. I like to just take a walk — I love walking around cities. I don't live in big cities, so it's just new and interesting to check out, and to people watch.
With Yellowstone, Tulsa King, Landman and more, it’s fair to say that Taylor Sheridan is the undisputed king of the Western drama right now. If you could film a crossover with any of those other shows, what would you like to see?
I just watched ‘Landman’. I thought Season Two was so great. Billy Bob Thornton's amazing; Ali Larter is amazing. And Sam Elliott! They're in Fort Worth, and we're in Weatherford [a short drive away from each other in Texas]. It'd be kind of cool to do something with them. Or ‘Marshals’, with Luke Grimes… or ‘The Madison’. Any of them, really. I mean, there's talk. We'll see.
What do you think your Dutton Ranch character Rip Wheeler would make of Billy Bob Thorton as Tommy Norris in Landman then?
I think he would probably think he's pretty funny. Obviously he's a totally different beast, Billy Bob's character, but I think Rip and him would be an interesting scene.
Maybe that could be the next Taylor Sheridan spin off…
You never know. He's got ideas, that's for sure.
Aside from the Sheridanverse, is there something you haven't done yet that you'd still like to sink your teeth into?
Oh yeah, there's tonnes of things I haven't done. Next on the horizon is a story that I love, which is about Benny Binion. Benny Binion was the guy who started Binion's casino in Las Vegas. He was this kind of Fort Worth cowboy who ended up starting card rooms and then moved to Vegas and created an empire.
That’s ‘Blood Aces’, with Sylvester Stallone, right? Have you already been hanging out?
Yeah, we've, we've met a couple times, and Zoomed a bunch. He's obviously an extraordinary talent, but also a wonderful person.
Dutton Ranch premieres premieres globally on Paramount+ on 15th May with 2 episodes, with new episodes following weekly.
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