The creator and cast of Yellowstone have some creative differences.
Although characters are conceived by writers, it is actors who bring them to life by delving deep into their personalities and adding more color and emotion to the roles. This seems to be a natural process in filmmaking, but sometimes, actors are required to comply with the vision of the project’s creators, who may be very opinionated about how their characters should look and behave.
Taylor Sheridan, the All-Father of the popular neo-Western franchise Yellowstone, is a talented auteur with a strong vision of what his characters should be like and where they’re supposed to be at different points in the story. That’s why some of the cast members don’t always agree with the creator, although they still find his ideas ‘fascinating.’
Kelly Reilly, who plays John Dutton’s daughter, Beth, says she didn’t really have a conflict w ith Sheridan, but his idea for her character’s storyline was different from hers. In the interview on the Blu-ray and DVD release of Season 5 Part 1, the actress talks about how the cast of Yellowstone never knew what was in store for their characters, as the creator would never give them a full script with exhaustive detail.
‘I’m coming to it almost the same as the audience. I mean, I have my hopes and thoughts for the character. Also, as I’ve played her for over five years now, I feel like I know her so well, but I’m still learning,’ the actress shared. ‘There are still things that I read and I didn’t expect, or sometimes I wish for something else for her, but that’s the same as the audience. We’re all sort of beholden to the vision of the storyteller and we serve the story. Who knows what’s going to happen? I find that exciting as an actor.’
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Reilly’s account is fascinating in that it helps to better understand Yellowstone’s creative process. It looks like, although Sheridan has a certain outline for the plot, he is constantly thinking about the characters’ journeys that can take unexpected directions.
Thanks to this approach, he was able to bring out Beth’s dynamic in the best possible way: traumatized by events in her childhood and teenage years, Reilly’s character comes across as spontaneous and her decisions are often rather questionable.
Just like Kelly Reilly and other cast members, fans are excited to see the finale of the iconic series. Season 5 Part 2 will air on CBS beginning September 17, 2023.