Yellowstone’s Cole Hauser plays one of the show’s most popular characters. Who can’t get enough of tough guy Rip Wheeler, right-hand man to Kevin Costner’s John Dutton and longtime love (and now husband) of Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton?
In the wildly popular neo-western drama series Rip Wheeler is the ultimate cowboy in black. He’s mysterious and loyal. Qualities that make the brooding modern cowboy perfectly fine with committing crimes in the name of preserving the Yellowstone Ranch. To Wheeler, the only law of the land is that of John Dutton.
But, we wonder, does the actor behind the character share the same impressive toughness that we all love in Rip? Well, according to one of Cole Hauser’s younger co-stars, the actor is quite impressive in real life as well.
Cole Hauser Is Just As “Badass” As His Yellowstone Character, His Young Co-star Says
Recently, Tate Dutton actor Brecken Merrill opened up in a podcast about his costars noting that Cole Hauser is just as “badass” as his on-screen counterpart. According to the 14-year-old actor, Cole Hauser is pretty obsessed with the cowboy way even when the cameras are no longer running.
“He’s badass in real life, too,” Brecken Merrill says of Cole Hauser.
“He cowboys,” the 14-year-old actor says. “He cowboys just like he cowboys in Yellowstone.”
The 14-year-old actor does admit that most of his time is spent acting with his immediate Yellowstone family, his father Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and mother Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille). Brecken Merrill is often joining Kevin Costner’s John Dutton on screen as well. So he enjoys the times he does get to join Hauser on the Yellowstone set.
And, while Hauser may reflect some of Hauser’s toughness in real life, Brecken Merrill says that the actress who plays Hauser’s on-screen love, Beth Dutton, is nothing like her character. On-screen, Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton is ruthless and full of contempt for anyone who would pose a danger to her family or the Yellowstone Ranch.
Her nearly venomous nature has put her and those in her orbit into some precarious situations. It’s pretty clear that she will do anything to get her way. Thankfully, Kelly Reilly is not as intense as her on-screen counterpart, Merrill says. In fact, Reilly is usually quite happy, the young actor says. A state of being we rarely see in Beth.
“She’s basically the opposite of Beth,” Brecken Merrill says of the Yellowstone actress. “She’s nice and proper, and just happy all along.”
