At this point, it feels like the Paramount Network’s hit drama “Yellowstone” is everywhere. The neo-western drama from the minds of creators Taylor Sheridan and John Linson reached new heights in Season 4. According to Deadline, the season finale “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops” drew 9.3 million total viewers and proved the most-watched cable telecast since AMC’s “The Walking Dead” aired its Season 8 premiere in 2017. Paramount has bet big on the Sheridan-penned world moving forward as it fleshes out the Dutton’s world with spin-offs, including the Paramount+ series “1883” and two upcoming series in “1923,” another prequel that takes place during the Great Depression, and a Texas ranch-based spin-off in “6666” (via Deadline and Entertainment Weekly).
Sheridan isn’t the only name attached to “Yellowstone” who has grown more popular alongside the show’s continued increase in success. Luke Grimes, the actor who plays Kayce Dutton on the series, recently told Awards Daily in a wide-ranging interview about the series that he’s seen a significant increase in how often people recognize him in public just between Season 3 and Season 4. “Yellowstone” started with some significant star power with Kevin Costner starring as lead character John Dutton and reliable character actor Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler, but it does seem the series is helping its lesser-known actors grow into fan-favorites. Between Grimes, Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton, Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton, and Kelsey Asbille as Monica Long Dutton, “Yellowstone” has an arsenal of skilled actors lurking around Sheridan’s fictional Montana.
In the aforementioned AD interview, Grimes also dished on how Reilly defies expectations for fans based on how she plays Beth in the show.
Luke Grimes says Yellowstone fans are always surprised to learn that Kelly Reilly is British
In Grimes’ interview with Awards Daily, Luke Grimes complimented Reilly’s acting abilities, noting that the actress’ personality differs from Beth’s machiavellian methods the character employs in helping her father protect the Yellowstone Dutton ranch. Grimes called his co-star a great person to be around on set and off.
“[Kelly Reilly is] very British, which a lot of people find crazy to hear after hearing her be Beth for so long,” Grimes told Awards Daily. “She is a very lovely Brit, a very hardworking, generous actress.”
Grimes has a point. The American accent Reilly uses in “Yellowstone” doesn’t sound at all out of place for a character who lives in Montana, the site of the Dutton ranch. The role comes as a stark contrast to Reilly’s upbringing in Chessington, part of Greater London in the United Kingdom, as well as her first several acting roles in English productions, including Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” (via The Telegraph).
Grimes noted that his and Reilly’s characters don’t often have many scenes together, and though he did not clarify whether that may happen in “Yellowstone” Season 5, surely fans of the series would like to see the only Dutton daughter and the family’s youngest son interact more often. According to the Wall Street Journal, Season 5 will be the largest yet for “Yellowstone” as it splits into 14 episodes aired in two separate parts. With all that extra screentime available, perhaps Taylor Sheridan will find some time for Kayce and Beth Dutton to appear more often together, moving forward.
