The Real Reason Cole Hauser Agreed To Join Kevin Costner On Yellowstone

Over the course of the first two seasons of Yellowstone, Cole Hauser’s ranch-hand-slash-henchman Rip Wheeler has served as a loyal ally to Kevin Costner’s ranching magnate John Dutton. And to hear Hauser tell it, the possibility of working with a big-name, big-money-making star like Kevin Costner is just one reason why the actor decided to join Yellowstone.

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan told Deadline that Hauser was his first choice to portray Rip Wheeler on the series, but it seems it “took a little convincing” to get the actor on board for the Montana-set Western even with Costner’s name attached. However, the chance to work with Costner on Yellowstone was clearly still a deciding factor in Hauser taking the role. Hauser himself admitted as much in an interview with CinemaBlend, saying of Costner, “I have always watched him from afar and think the world of him as an actor and a storyteller and a director, for that matter.”

But Hauser’s adoration for his famous co-star wasn’t the only reason he saddled up for his bloody trip through Big Sky Country. The actor had even more respect for Sheridan’s work, and most importantly for the character the Yellowstone creator had scripted with Hauser in mind.

“Well, he’s a big reason, obviously. Ultimately it was what he wrote for Rip — and it wasn’t a lot in the beginning, in the pilot, in the first couple of episodes. But I think over time, him and I talked a lot, and brainstormed and sat together and kind of laid out what Rip was to him [and] what I thought Rip was to me,” Hauser said. “We both came to this kind of place where we’re like god d**** it, we see totally eye-to-eye, and let’s create this really kind of amazing but also dark kind of figure that has the ability to show an extreme anger and also love.”

The actor further said of Rip Wheeler, “He’s got a lot of colors and I think that’s why — I hope that’s why — the audience has really enjoyed him as a character on Yellowstone.”

Though Hauser’s decision to appear on a project with talents like Costner and Sheridan already on board seems like a no-brainer, it was always a bit more of a gamble than you’d think. That has a lot to do with Yellowstone being a full-on cowboy-centric Western — the likes of which haven’t exactly played well on the small screen in recent years (HBO’s marvelous Western series Deadwood is the one true exception). Yellowstone sets itself apart by being set in the present rather than the far-away part, and sees its cowpokes facing decidedly modern-day problems. No matter the setting, though, it was still a tough sell to get A-list talent to sign onto a Western series that was slated to air on the then-fledgling cable channel Paramount Network. (Costner himself has even admitted that he sometimes doesn’t like filming Yellowstone.)

That gamble has, of course, paid off in spades for everyone involved. In just two seasons on air, Yellowstone has become a become a breakout hit for Paramount Network, and currently ranks as one of the most-watched shows on television.