What Cole Hauser Really Thinks About His Role On Yellowstone

With the fifth and final season of "Yellowstone" airing back in December 2024, some cast members of the beloved neo-Western drama are reflecting about their time on the series, and looking forward to the future of the franchise. For Cole Hauser, who starred as Rip Wheeler on the hit Paramount series, the experience of being part of such a close-knit cast and exciting production was really something special. Hauser discussed the show's conclusion and legacy in a behind-the-scenes video posted to Instagram back in January.

"It's been such an honor to play this character, and this year is a lot about picking up the pieces," Hauser says, looking back at the tumultuous fifth season, which was marred by drama between series lead Kevin Costner and co-creator Taylor Sheridan. The dispute led to Costner's character getting killed mid-season, throwing the ranch and the family into chaos. Regardless of any reported rumors of discontent from Costner amid production, the rest of the cast seemed to still be having a great time making the beloved drama series.

"There's a real sadness to having to just wrap everything up," Hauser explained. "But everything has to move on, and that seven years that we spent there has a special place in a lot of people's hearts."

In the series finale of "Yellowstone," Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler left the Dutton Ranch with wife Beth Dutton-Wheeler (played brilliantly by Kelly Reilly) and their adopted son Carter (Finn Little), and moved out to another part of rural Montana to set up their own new ranch, which Beth bought as a surprise for her husband. As it turns out, Hauser and Reilly finalized and signed deals to star in a as-of-yet untitled "Yellowstone" spin-off series back in December, according to Deadline. So Hauser's time as Rip has likely not yet ended.

Ahead of the series premiere of the second half of season 5, Hauser and Reilly explained to The Hollywood Reporter, "We both were told by Taylor many moons ago what his dream was for the characters and the ending and where they would be, so we kind of had an idea. But to see it on the page and then to be able to shoot it was kind of a beautiful moment for me."

As for the reports of a spin-off, Hauser played coy, to be cautious of spoilers. However, Reilly expressed interest in the possibility, sharing, "It's up to [Sheridan]. We trust him." Reilly added that the only potential roadblock for a spin-off relates to Sheridan's involvement, explaining, "the dealbreaker really for me is the writing — the writing has to be from him."