- Yellowstone stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly were hired without a screen test.
- Hauser was already friends with creator Taylor Sheridan and Reilly was on casting director John Papsidera’s shortlist.
- After one early scene left Sheridan “glued to the monitor” Rip and Beth became a major storyline.
Yellowstone stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly have become one of television’s hottest couples. As Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton, the duo has captured the attention of viewers during the western’s first four seasons thanks to their insane on-screen chemistry. But as it turns out, the pairing was a lucky move for series creator Taylor Sheridan because Hauser and Reilly were hired without a screen test.
Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly’s insane chemistry was pure luck
Sheridan had always planned for Beth and Rip to have an on-again, off-again relationship. But it wasn’t until he noticed their on-screen chemistry that he started to give the relationship more focus.
“Initially there was a scene where we were having sex in her bedroom on the dresser, and she slaps me, and the way I reacted. I remember walking out of that scene and everybody was just kind of glued to the monitors, and I saw John and Taylor and the producers and the D.P. and so on. And I looked at them and they just all looked up, like, a ‘Wow, that was amazing’ kind of feeling,” Hauser recalled.
The ‘Yellowstone’ stars have become close friends
Reilly told Looper that she and Hauser are “such good friends.” And she admits they are “so lucky to have found each other.”
“We get to go on this journey with these two incredible characters with each other. We’re both really protective of them, and we’re really passionate about the work,” Reilly said. “We’re both at a point in our careers where we found roles that we could put our soul and heart into. We really feel blessed. We don’t take it for granted. And we support each other and have fun.”
