He’s getting back in the saddle.
“Yellowstone” star Cole Hauser, 49, who stars in the hit ranch drama as Rip Wheeler, told People that he’s “excited to go back to work” after the Paramount Network series was on a long hiatus.
“It’s been a year and a half,” Hauser told the outlet. “I’m excited to see my castmates.”
Now in its fifth and final season, “Yellowstone” was created by Taylor Sheridan, 53, and follows wealthy and powerful rancher John Dutton (Kevin Costner), and his adult children, including Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Beth (Kelly Reilly), who is married to Rip.
The show went on a long hiatus during the historic writers and actors strikes – and it hasn’t helped matters that behind the scenes, Sheridan has had a rumored feud with first Costner, and then Hauser.
In May, the news broke that Costner would not return to “Yellowstone” after Season 5. (This was before Paramount announced that Season 5 would be the show’s last.) There were also reports that he refused to be on set filming for more than one week for the second half of Season 5, but Costner’s attorney denied that.
“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told the Hollywood Reporter in June, referring to Costner’s epic Western movie, “Horizon,” which Costner put his own money into.
“He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with ‘Yellowstone.’ I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
The showrunner stated that he still respects Costner as an actor, but matters between them have become complicated as other people have gotten involved.
“His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone,” Sheridan said. “But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus.
“I sure hope [the movie is] worth it.”
More recently, Costner revealed that he would be open to finishing out the final episodes of Season 5. “I’d like to be able to do it but we haven’t been able to,” he told “Entertainment Tonight” earlier this month.
“I thought I was going to make seven [seasons of ‘Yellowstone’] but right now we’re at five. So how it works out — and I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on,” he went on. “Maybe it will [work out]. Maybe this will circle back to me.”
Hauser and Sheridan, meanwhile, got into their own drama in November 2023, when Hauser’s coffee brand, Free Rein Coffee Company, got sued by Bosque Ranch — which is owned by Sheridan.
The suit claimed that Free Rein uses “a brand mark strikingly similar to Bosque Ranch’s registered trademark, potentially misleading consumers,” according to San Angelo Live.
Both the caffeine company and the ranch use a similar logo, with the letters B and R intertwining.
Hauser told People that he’s “excited” to see Reilly again, and spoke highly of Sheridan, despite their off camera conflict.
“I think he’s going to direct some [episodes],” Hauser said about Sheridan.
“So I’m excited about that. Just get back up in Montana and go to work.”
Hauser continued with words of appreciation for the audience.
“It’s always amazing to create a character that really transcends. It’s pretty wild that this show has touched so many,” he said.
He said that Rip’s popularity among fans is a “great acknowledgment of what people are looking for in this country,” which, according to him, is “simple, great values” such as “honesty, grit, termination” and “love.”
“That still is something that people want,” Hauser said.
“An American kind of simplicity… a dream of the American man.”
“Yellowstone” will reportedly return in November 2024.
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