Impressive Pilot Script
Unlike Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly didn’t hesitate one bit when offered the role of Beth Dutton. As soon as the pilot script reached her desk, she was impressed by how “powerful and broken and human” her character was, and saying no simply wasn’t an option.
“Every single line of hers in that first pilot I read, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I have the same reaction that the audience has when she comes out with some of the things she says,” Reilly told Elle.
No Audition for Hauser
It’s impossible to imagine anyone but Cole Hauser playing John Dutton’s right-hand man Rip Wheeler and it turns out co-creator Taylor Sheridan felt the same way.
“I knew that’s who I wanted, from the beginning. He didn’t audition. I wanted him from day one. There were some things he had done that I saw, where there was an intensity and clarity of what that character wanted,” Sheridan told Deadline.