Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly, who stars as the fearsome Beth Dutton in the Yellowstone cast, thinks fans would much rather meet her Yellowstone character than her. And, we’ll be honest: she’s probably right.
From the very start, Reilly’s Beth Dutton is a complete force of nature, prowling the Yellowstone ranch as her father’s loyal enforcer. From intimidating businessmen into deals that suit her to physically confronting wolves, Beth is as irrepressible as she is damaged, and stands out as one of the best Yellowstone characters in the whole franchise.
Speaking with Newsweek, Reilly reflected on how the fame from the show has changed her life, and how she thinks she might sometimes leave fans underwhelmed. “We have a huge audience, so as much as I like to go live around the world, quietly, and without being recognized, I can’t help but get recognized a lot more than I used to. So, in that I have felt a shift, at least in certain places in the country,” she says.
Reilly continued, “People are very vocal about their feelings towards the show and Beth and it’s wonderful. But also, I’m personally quite shy. I think I always feel like they would want to meet Beth, and not Kelly Reilly. But that’s good because that means that I’ve fooled them.”
As well as being rather shy, Reilly also happens to be British. So when fans do meet her in the wild, they’re very much presented with someone who is entirely different to Beth Dutton. It’s all a testament to Reilly’s performance, in a series that’s brimming with great performances.
Yellowstone is currently one of the best TV series around, but the future of the neo-Western remains uncertain with the recent confirmation that Kevin Costner will be departing the series. Due to this, the Yellowstone season 5 part 2 release date will be the end of the show, before it’s continued by a Matthew McConaughey-led sequel series, as well as 1923 season 2, 6666, and more.
Whether or not Reilly will star in any of these remaining series is unclear (though, she won’t be going back in time through the Yellowstone timeline to 1923) and will depend on Beth’s fate as Yellowstone draws to its end.
For more from the ranch, check out our guide to the 6666 release date, and read our feature on how Dallas ran so Yellowstone could fly. Or, find out more about Kevin Costner’s new movie with our explainer on the Horizon release date.