Cole Hauser on the Sexy Side of ‘Yellowstone:’ The Love Affair Between Rip and Beth

Season 5 of 'Yellowstone will continue Rip and Beth's love story following their unorthodox wedding.

The driving force behind all four seasons of Yellowstone—and it looks as if season five will continue in the same vein—is John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) battle to maintain the Montana real estate that he calls home, the Yellowstone Ranch.

But what makes the show eminently watchable is the relationships and family dynamics. Among those is the epic love affair between John’s daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) and ranch hand Rip (Cole Hauser), which began when the two were teenagers and culminated in their spur-of-moment wedding ceremony at the end of season 4. It was as unorthodox as the couple, especially with Beth kidnapping a priest to oversee their vows.

But, according to Hauser, the change in their legal status won’t change the relationship, even though Rip will have to get used to living in the main house now that he’s a married man.

“I still feel like they’re there for each other in every way possible,” Hauser told Parade in this exclusive interview. “Certainly, with what’s going on this year with some of the past that’s creeping into Beth’s mind and what’s going on personally with her, he’s just that rock that he’s always been.”

And we get the opportunity to see how Rip has been there for Beth since the beginning with a flashback to their first date at the beginning of Season 5. But Hauser says that reading that scene – they had to cast a younger actor as both Rip and Beth for that time travel moment – didn’t hold any unexpected revelations.

“Taylor Sheridan and I, we spoke in detail about the past and getting to the present,” Hauser explained. “This was year one and two. To see some of what he had talked about get put on camera wasn’t a surprise, it was more of like, ‘Oh, great, wonderful, I’m glad you’re showing that.’”

Related: Get Ready to Binge-Watch—Here Are the 55 Best Yellowstone Lines and Quotes!

But, of course, what makes it work is the special understanding between Hauser and Reilly that has made us believe their love story from day one. It was actually a lucky happenstance since Hauser was cast as Rip before Reilly landed the role of Beth.

“We’re there for each other,” Hauser said when asked what makes the magic happen. “It’s the freedom to play, to take risks. You can’t fail. I think when you have that chemistry together, you’re allowed to take risks and not really worry about the potential outcome like you would if you went and did a movie with somebody and didn’t know them. We’ve been together for five years now and she’s, obviously, a dear friend of mine and I help her where I can, and she does the same for me.”

In our interview, Hauser also talked about how Rip will have more responsibility this year with John Dutton in the state capital now that he’s governor of Montana, the lengths he would go to for his mentor, Rip’s belief that John may lose the land, and his relationship with Carter (Finn Little).

With John and Beth at the state capitol for the next four years and Kayce (Luke Grimes) being the livestock commissioner, Rip is going to be in charge of the ranch. Is he ready for that responsibility?

Well, first of all, John is still in charge of the ranch. It’s not Rip. He’s the foreman. I think this year Taylor wrote it that way where John comes and gives Rip little diamonds along the way to help navigate a bigger job. But there is a lot more responsibility on him. It’s not just the bunkhouse boys anymore, it’s the whole picture. But, same time, too, John’s still very present and aware of what’s going on.

Related: Kevin Costner Teases Season 5 of Yellowstone: ‘The Foot’s on the Gas and We’re Not Slowing Down’

So, we’ve seen that Rip will do anything for Beth. But will he do anything for John?

Of course, yeah. His loyalty to John and to the family is everything to him. Beth is part of John and John’s a part of Beth, and the ranch is where he lives and he’ll do anything for the family and for the ranch.

There’s an interesting moment where Rip and Beth are up on the hill overlooking the party at the ranch. Rip indicates that he thinks that John is going to lose the ranch. Why do you think he has that thought?

I think it’s upsetting for Rip to see a bunch of people in his backyard. I don’t think he likes it. I don’t think he likes the public being in that sacred place on the ranch. It’s not normal for him and I think it’s a knee jerk reaction to what he potentially sees in the future. We’ll see what happens. That’s Taylor’s [Sheridan] writing and all I can do is act it.

What would he do if he wasn’t at Yellowstone?

Yeah. I don’t know what he would do. He definitely wouldn’t be in New York City like I am right now.

I also like watching Rip with Carter (Finn Little). He’s grown, my goodness.

Grown? He’s huge. He’s looking me in the eye all of a sudden. He’s going to start smacking me around.

Related: Where Is Yellowstone filmed? See Inside the Real-Life Ranch

Talk a little bit about that relationship. Rip really didn’t want him there in the beginning. I’m thinking he really sees a little of himself in Carter, but, again, this is something maybe he’s doing for Beth?

No, definitely not. It’s not for Beth, it’s for him. Obviously, in Season 4, there was tough love with him. But the great thing about this year with Finn and me, the relationship growing is that Carter’s stepping up. He’s becoming the man that Rip wants him to be and what he needs to be. And responsibility is a big thing. There’s a responsibility on me from John and from Rip to Carter. And so, there’s a real growth throughout the year. It was wonderful working with Finn. He’s such a wonderful kid and I look at him like my own sons. I have 18, 14, and 9-year-olds, and so when I talk to him, it's like looking at my own kids.

Rip is such an intense character. Do you have any of that? Or that’s all acting?

Do I have any of it? Yeah, I have some of it. I save a lot of it for the character. I try to, at least. My wife says, “You put that on screen, don’t do that here.”

I understand that originally, you were reading for one of John’s sons…

I never read for one of the sons. The story goes like this: I talked to Taylor and John Linson, who’s the co-creator, who was a dear friend of mine for 25 years. He slipped me the script and he said, “Take a look at this.” Initially they were interested in me as one of the sons and then I saw Rip in the pilot. He didn’t have a bunch to do but I just thought, “Wow, that’s the character that I’m interested in.” Then I got on the phone with Taylor and talked to him. He and I, we ended up talking for an hour or hour and a half about the growth and potential storyline for him. I just thought, “Wow, this is it,” and I said, “This is who I want to play.” He said, “Man, it’s yours.” I was like, “Great, thank you.”

This is your fifth season. Are you still doing cowboy camp at the beginning of each year? Has it gotten any easier?

Listen, there’s nothing easy about the level of cowboying that Taylor and Jake Ream and J. Rod [know]. When it comes to roping and cutting, it’s a discipline that you have to do all the time to be great at. So, there’s nothing more than just putting in saddle time. I’ve definitely gotten better, but there’s levels to the game. I’m going to continue to push myself to be even better.

With your family background did you ever have any choice but to be an actor?

Oh, yeah. My mom didn’t necessarily push me in any way. My father could care less. My dreams were not early on to be an actor. It was to be an athlete and potentially be an astronaut. That was what I wanted to do.

Yellowstone season 5 premieres Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network.

Next, Everything You Need To Know About the New Season of Yellowstone!