Yellowstone‘s Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are revealing just how involved they were in replacing the Dutton Ranch showrunner after a shocking offscreen exit.
Hauser, 51, told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, July 6, about how he became acquainted with Benjamin Cavell, who is taking over after Chad Feehan stepped down in June.
“I have a dear friend who worked with him on SEAL Team for six or seven seasons. He’s somebody I trust with my life,” Hauser noted. “We went to boot camp together — a lot of time in the jungle together in Louisiana.”
Hauser recalled the moment he realized Cavell was a good fit for the hit show.
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“So it was his recommendation of Ben, and the way creatively that Ben is and the kind of person he is and how his mind works, and we saw a glimpse of it,” he continued “We had a very good meeting with him, and I cannot wait for this new iteration of Ben and his team of guys that he hires, along with David Glasser and the people who are involved, and to really sink our teeth into what this next show is going to be.”
Despite the excitement for season 2, Hauser noted that there’s “not there yet.”
“This is very early in the process,” he concluded. “But I get home, and I know Kelly is chomping at the bit, and we’ll get into it and have some fun.”
Reilly, 48, meanwhile, was on the same page about enjoying their break, adding that she is “looking forward to having a bit of time off.”
“But I’m percolating,” she added. “Christina Voros is our executive producer, director and lighthouse creative. She’s been with us from season 1 of Yellowstone. Everything we do goes through her brain because she’s so brilliant, and she’s going to be working with Ben.”
The actress was excited to experience the “A-team.”
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“I think Taylor [Sheridan] is going to be involved as far as some story ideas as well, which is great. So I feel excited about a season 2 because I want it to be better. I want it to be great,” she continued. “I’m excited to get my hands dirty after a bit of time to digest what we’ve just done. I think time and thought is important. You have to have that. It’s not a machine. We all know that it can be, but I like that we have time to really be thoughtful and go, what could this be?”
Us Weekly previously confirmed that Feehan would not return as showrunner after completing season 1. Puck News previously reported that Feehan stepped away from Dutton Ranch after alleged friction with series stars Hauser and Reilly — who play Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton, respectively — among others.
“Showrunners change all the time. This business is about adapting,” he told The Hollywood Reporter last month. “We’ve been doing this for a long time. Things change. People move on.”
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Reilly had a similar outlook on the shakeup.
“It was a really difficult but really satisfying show to make,” she said. “And so was Yellowstone. So is anything worth making. We’re all creative minds and we all work together and I’m so proud of that.”
Voros, meanwhile, broke her silence about Feehan’s reported firing, telling ScreenRant in May that he did “an exceptional job building a world of adversaries for Rip and Beth” in the Yellowstone spinoff.
Voros noted that when it came to “dynamics behind his departure,” she didn’t have much to add. She went on to say that Dutton Ranch had at that point not “come out into the world yet” so a future without Feehan was “beyond” her knowledge on the subject.
The director expressed gratitude to Feehan and his team for “creating a world for these characters to move into.”
Dutton Ranch returns to Paramount+ in 2027.
