In Yellowstone, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) work together to improve their family’s standing, even though they are continuously at odds with each other. Apart from being the owners of the largest ranch in Montana, they also keep several secrets that might damage their family’s reputation.
Anyway, though the show was one that viewers truly grew to love, some of the co-stars had issues with it. In an insightful moment of reflection with Entertainment Tonight, Reilly broke ranks with her indomitable character (Beth) to express a painful sentiment about her on-screen sibling, Jamie Dutton, suggesting he might just deserve a sliver of redemption.
Her assessment of Jamie Dutton may not be shared by many, but she might not be entirely off. A deeper examination of Taylor Sheridan’s show leads one to believe that Reilly’s sympathy for Jamie may not be entirely unwarranted.
Kelly Reilly’s Surprising Insights on Jamie Dutton’s Character
In a show like Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, where characters are often painted in shades of gray rather than black and white, it’s easy to see why Kelly Reilly might have a soft spot for her on-screen brother. Jamie Dutton, played by Wes Bentley, is a character who is constantly torn between doing what is right and succumbing to the dark side of his own ambition.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress—who plays Beth Dutton in Yellowstone—discussed how “difficult” it was to play her character’s scenes with Jamie as
They’re so filled with pain, so they’re pretty brutal. It’s hard to talk about it honestly, because when I’m playing her I’m full in… and then I watch it and I don’t even remember doing some of the scenes. I feel really bad for Jamie sometimes.
She was very clear in saying that she puts everything into her performances. She never did, though, truly revisit those scenes. Reilly claimed that her foggy recollections of particular scenes act as a sort of barrier, preventing her from being able to despise Jamie.
On the other hand, Reilly has true sympathy for one of the most detestable Yellowstone characters. As a result, she has high expectations for Bentley’s character to find some redemption in Sheridan’s neo-western drama series.
Jamie is portrayed as someone who ought to be hated due to his conceit and arrogance. His environment growing up was far from smooth. Without being able to fully comprehend his own thoughts, he is lost, filled with guilt, and internally tormented.
What Fans Can Expect from Kelly Reilly’s Comeback as Beth in Yellowstone
Kelly Reilly of Yellowstone will reprise her role as Beth Dutton in the second half of the show’s fifth and final season, which is slated to release in November 2024. In an interview conducted in March with TVLine, the actress was asked about her experience taking on the role again, which she had been playing for a considerable amount of time:
[Doing so is a way of] keeping it alive for myself so that then, when I go back to Yellowstone, I can kind of strap Beth back on, and it feels reinvigorated because I stepped away.
Furthermore, according to Daily Express, Reilly acknowledged that the neo-Western series helmed by Taylor Sheridan will have a bittersweet ending but also hinted that the last episodes will be “beautiful and epic”. The actress, 46, stated:
The main theme of protecting and sustaining this way of life in this land is the bottom of everything. It will probably be beautiful and epic, I’m not sure it will be happy.
Nevertheless, she was uncertain about the future that might await both her character and the show as a whole:
I don’t have any insight into what’s going to happen. We’re all sort of beholden to the vision of the storyteller and we serve the story.
Reilly left open the possibility that the unhappy ending of Yellowstone has something to do with Kevin Costner’s leading character & his struggle to maintain control over the Dutton Ranch.
The second part of Yellowstone Season 5 will air on November 10, 2024.
Yellowstone is available on Paramount+.
