‘Yellowstone’ season 3 returned June 21 and picked up in the fallout of Tate’s kidnapping. HL spoke with Kelly Reilly about the aftermath of Beth’s attack, Rip and Beth, the hate between Beth and Jamie, and more.
The Duttons managed to get out of Yellowstone season 2 mostly unscathed. The Beck brothers are now six feet under, but Beth is still bearing the scars of the brutal attack planned by Malcolm Beck. Tate is back safe and sound, but he’s still trying to deal with the trauma he experienced at the hands of his kidnappers. In season 3 premiere, John resigned as livestock commissioner and had Jamie fill that position for the family. Beth had an interesting first meeting with Roarke, a new character played by Josh Holloway.
HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Kelly Reilly about how fans will see a more sensitive side of Beth in season 3 as she really embraces the “safety” of her “love with Rip.” Despite Roarke flirting with Beth, Kelly was adamant that there won’t be a love triangle between Roarke, Beth, and Rip. She also admitted that the root of Beth’s “hatred” for Jamie will be revealed, and it’s ultimately something that “broke both their hearts.”
The attack on Beth last season was absolutely brutal. She could have died. I feel like Beth has always put up such a strong face about it. Do you think she has fully come to terms with that attack?
Kelly Reilly: I don’t think Beth has come to terms with much in her life. That’s kind of what’s interesting about this beginning of the season. Before we start getting back into attack mode, and they’re going to have to, there is a little bit of a moment of where they’re all kind of licking their wounds and taking a beat before life hits them again. I feel like for Beth it’s only been maybe a couple of weeks since the attack. She’s still bruised up, and she’s still bearing the scars of it. And you’re absolutely right. Who wouldn’t feel the emotional resonance of that? But with that, she hides her vulnerabilities so deep and so well because she has such a fear of being fearful. She doesn’t necessarily allow herself that, and I think Taylor Sheridan, who created Beth and writes every episode, wanted to just see what happens when those barriers are sort of taken down a little bit, especially in the mirror and in the safety of love with Rip. Suddenly, there’s this weird, domestic quietness that I know for certain Beth has never allowed herself to settle into. Remember the episode where he makes her breakfast? She’s almost like a little girl, so I just feel like there is something about this moment of self-consciousness. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Beth self-conscious throughout this entire thing, and she shows him. There’s a little bit of tenderness underneath this… I don’t think it’s a bravado. I think that’s who she is. I think there’s such a warrior aspect to Beth, but we’re getting to see maybe just some undercurrent colors that can only come out with certain characters and in certain times. In this moment of healing and recovering, there’s just a slight window into that that we didn’t get to see at any other time.
I felt like over the past 2 seasons the only time we really ever see a sensitive or vulnerable side of Beth is when she’s with Rip.
Kelly Reilly: Right. There were the tears on the horse in season 1 as she revisited being on a horse after never being on a horse again after what happened with her mom. When she’s close to touching those wounds is when you see it. Usually, it comes out as fierceness. But there’s a tenderness and a softness to Beth that we know she’s capable of when she loves someone. When she loves someone, she loves them. She’ll die for them. She’ll kill for them. When she hates someone, she will kill them for you.
Are we going to see Beth and Rip in a full-fledged relationship this season? It’s about time.
Kelly Reilly: It was really fun to play these characters where they’ve known each other and been in love with each other since they were teenagers. We got that great flashback in season 2 when they met and she said to him, “I killed my mom.” They’re just so honest with each other. I love those flashbacks because you really get a sense of what made them who they are today. I’ve needed that playing Beth because, if I didn’t have that, you could just write her off as just a maniac or someone so hard where you wonder how we soften our hearts or have any understanding of her. I try and veer away from anything too sickening or sweet, sentimental stuff. I’m not really into it with Beth. It has to be really earned, and I think after the 2-3 seasons of seeing her survive — because that’s what she’s doing — we’re getting to see what the underpinnings are. What is it she’s running from? I’m so aware of the pain she’s in playing her. As an audience member, we can just go, yeah, she’s so tough. She’s great. I love the aspects she brings out in people, but as an actor, I’m really interested in what made her this way. What happened to her? So it’s really exciting to play that no-holds-barred, tough stuff, but what moves me the most is her heart.
In the premiere, we get a glimpse of Josh Holloway’s character for the first time. Roarke is very flirtatious with Beth right off the bat. What can you tease about their dynamic going forward?
Kelly Reilly: Taylor always creates these unique twists on characters to have a charismatic, quote-unquote, bad guy. He’s a bad guy to them, but he might be kind of cool in your life. To see him walk into the Beth Dutton lair and not know who he’s dealing with is entertaining for the audience who knows who she is. The idea is that its easy pickings for her. She says that great line in the trailer, “You are the trailer park. I am the tornado.” It’s like, you have no idea what I will do. But at the beginning, she’s just taking him in. She doesn’t know who he is to begin with. They meet by chance. I think it’s interesting that there’s this charisma. It’s interesting that they have these conversations and you would think — is he going to be a love rival? I don’t want to ruin it for anybody, but he’s not. I think Beth has an innate sensuality to her anyway, so I enjoy that aspect of her. It’s not like she’s using her sexuality with him at all. Taylor’s always having fun with these characters. He’s always putting them in positions where they can have to overcome something. As actors, it’s fun.
Okay, we have to talk Beth and Jamie. Those characters have the most hostile and tense sibling relationship. Given what we’ve seen in the first 2 seasons, do you think Beth will ever fully trust her brother?
Kelly Reilly: No. She knows who he is. Look, I can’t wait for the time where I can actually speak to journalists and people who are into the show and have conversations about what took place that we’re going to find out in season 3. It almost feels like some Shakespearean situation with these characters. Something happened that broke both their hearts almost. It’s almost like there was a breaking of the relationship that I don’t know how you heal from something like this. I certainly know that Beth is not in any position to want to heal that. She’s still in the real pain and rage of that. I mean, every time something happens with him, she’s right back there. It lives in her and, as a character, that’s a hard thing to hold in her, but it makes a great drama. It’s such a motivation for taut tension, and the dynamic between them is not indifference. This is not a sibling rivalry. This is deep love that has turned into deep hatred. It’s just so powerful. Wes [Bentley] and I, we really love each other. We do scenes that are really hard to play. They’re really hard. Some of them in season 1 was just fun. But as we started to find out really what was going on and what had taken place by the end of season 2, like in the barn when she tells him to go kill himself, that was hard for me to read. That was hard to say. What must have taken place in someone’s soul to be able to say that?
There’s a lot of business on the show when it comes to the Duttons, and Beth plays very heavily into that. Things are constantly changing with the Dutton family business, what can you say about the challenges on the business side this season?
Kelly Reilly: The truth remains is that they are vulnerable to attack because they have the prime spot. It was only going to be a matter of time before the next enemy, the next group of people who wanted to come claim it. Beth is not out fighting them with her hands, but she can hurt them very seriously with her intelligence, her power, and her knowledge of the financial industry in the world that she was working in. She was a real hedge fund ballbreaker and really knew how to destroy companies to make money, so she uses that to her advantage this season. But it’s whether or not even she is capable of outsmarting this level of power. And by power, I mean money. There’s a lot of money, and we’re sort of reduced to a small chip when it comes to this situation. So they have to kind of think sideways. Beth is sort of the queen of that. I don’t know what John Dutton would do without Beth. I don’t think he’s aware of some of the things that she does. There’s almost like a weight on her shoulders this season of she’s got to try and fix it because she’s the only one that can with these people specifically.