There’s a reason why Cole Hauser looked so natural playing Rip Wheeler in Yellowstone.
The Dutton Ranch star first played the fan-favorite character in the flagship series created by Taylor Sheridan. The ranch’s “fixer” was always willing to get his hands dirty for the Duttons, and that’s continued in the sequel spinoff that focuses on Hauser and Kelly Reilly’s characters.
Dutton Ranch takes place in Texas, but Yellowstone was famously set in the Paradise Valley area of Montana. If you ever thought that Cole Hauser looked awfully comfortable playing Rip Wheeler in Yellowstone, the actor recently revealed to Fox News Digital that he’s actually got family ties in the Treasure State:
“Montana, my family has been there since 1886. So, the Hauser legacy there is huge. I mean, Samuel T. Hauser was the seventh governor of Montana, helped start that state. So, going back there felt like a homecoming for me.”
How cool is that?
Since Hauser was already so familiar with Montana and its rich history (including his own family), he’s thrilled that he got to be a part of the show that really put the state – and its culture – on the map. The Dutton Ranch actor says seeing the rest of the world dress and act like they are from Montana has been the biggest compliment:
“You know, 10 years ago when we started this, it was a really kind of a grassroots show in Montana and then, you know, we grew out to the edges, Los Angeles, now New York and now the world. We were just in Europe, and it’s amazing to watch, you know, the Germans dress up as cowboys, the English. I’ve been to Australia and New Zealand. I mean just how many people have been touched by it (is great to see).”
And if you were to ask Hauser why shows like Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch have connected with the masses, he doesn’t know if there’s one, singular thing that can take the credit. He likes to think that it’s a combination of Taylor Sheridan writing and storytelling, the characters that have come forward because of it, and the state of Montana itself:
“I honestly don’t know other than it’s the tremendous writing and storytelling of Taylor Sheridan. He created unbelievable characters and, you know, Montana is a character in its own, and I think people forget how beautiful the Old West is.”
If you’ve never been out west to see it for yourself, it truly is remarkable.
It’s so gorgeous and pleasant, in fact, that Cole Hauser really missed shooting in Montana. While he was on Yellowstone, the series was primarily shot in Montana and Utah. But with Dutton Ranch taking Rip and Beth down to Texas, and Sheridan shows liking to shoot on location as much as possible, Hauser had to get used to shooting in the Lone Star State.
Though the location changed, the man behind Rip Wheeler says that a lot of other things stayed the same:
“God, this next iteration, I mean, it has such new challenges. Obviously, the landscape of Texas, the heat that was totally different, the new environment, the new characters that come in, the story. What stayed consistent is Beth and Rip. Kelly and I were very cognizant of making sure that those two characters continue to be the same polarizing, strong, loyal characters that they’ve always been.”
Now if only they could find their way back to Montana.
