Kevin Costner's Subtle Role In New Yellowstone Spinoff Explained By Star

Kevin Costner’s subtle role and impact as John Dutton in Dutton Ranch is addressed by star Cole Hauser. Executive produced by Taylor Sheridan and created by Chad Feehan, Dutton Ranch premieres with two episodes on Friday, May 15, on Paramount+.

Dutton Ranch continues the story of Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) a year after Yellowstone. Starting a new life in the Rio Paloma region of South Texas, Beth, Rip, and their adopted son, Carter (Finn Little), find new allies and enemies, chiefly, the powerful ranch owner Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening).

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Cole Hauser discusses how Kevin Costner’s lasting influence as John Dutton carries over into Dutton Ranch. Hauser is reverential towards Costner and his years working alongside the Academy Award winner in Yellowstone, and Cole also knows what John Dutton meant to Rip Wheeler. Read Hauser’s quotes below:

ScreenRant: I want to start out by asking the hot button question. It’s Dutton Ranch and not Wheeler Ranch. Why is that?
Cole Hauser: Well, in honor of John Dutton. There’s not a scene that we were able to do this year. There’s so much going on, with the moving of Texas and the pace of the show. So, we saved it for maybe another time, but it’s in honor of John Dutton, and the love that they both have for him.
ScreenRant: Wow. Well, that’s a beautiful segue to my next question, because Kevin Costner’s character of John Dutton obviously is a huge part of the Yellowstone legacy. I feel like, based on the episodes I watched, his presence is felt in this show. He was a big part of Rip’s legacy, and what he wanted to continue building. I was hoping you could color that in for me a little bit there.
Cole Hauser: I mean, God, without John Dutton, where would Rip Wheeler be? I mean, he’d probably be in jail. He wasn’t doing so well when we met him. He gave him a great opportunity to come and be a part of an amazing ranch, and learn from him his knowledge, his wisdom of cowboying, and the way of life, and taught him everything. So, working with Kevin over the years — and in a weird way, I grew up watching Kevin in real life. So, the relationship was — I wouldn’t say easy, because Taylor never makes it easy when he writes. He wants to create drama, but it was wonderful to be able to work with a guy who you’ve respected your whole career.

As Yellowstone explained throughout its five seasons, John Dutton was the father figure Rip Wheeler never had. John brought Rip into the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and Wheeler owes everything to the Dutton patriarch. While they had a difficult relationship at times, Rip’s loyalty to John was absolute, and the elder Dutton helped define Rip’s life.

A fascinating tidbit from Cole Hauser is that there was a tribute to John Dutton that Dutton Ranch was unable to work into season 1. Dutton Ranch‘s trailer shows Beth and Rip acknowledging that they “brought the best part” of John with them to South Texas. Hopefully, Dutton Ranch season 2, if it happens, can work in that homage to Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.

Although she is a very different character, Dutton Ranch‘s primary antagonist, Beulah Jackson, is the spinoff’s twist on John Dutton. Like Kevin Costner’s late cowboy, Beulah is a generational rancher whose mission in life is to protect her family’s legacy in Rio Paloma and pass the 190-year-old 10-Petals Ranch to her children and grandchildren.

John Dutton’s sole purpose in Yellowstone was to protect the Dutton Ranch and its vast Montana land. John went to extreme and often illegal means to preserve the Dutton legacy, but Yellowstone always painted John and the Duttons as protagonists. Dutton Ranch now pits Beth and Rip against South Texas’ villainous female version of John Dutton.

Cole Hauser is right, of course, that without John Dutton, there is no Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton. Dutton Ranch moves Yellowstone‘s saga forward, but the spirit of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton will always be felt, even hundreds of miles from the Yellowstone.