Deep in the wide expanse of Montana, there lives a fictional character
more terrifying than just about any other figure previously spotted on TV.
The doll from Squid Game? A hoard of zombies from The Walking Dead?
Neither are as intimidating as the physically- and emotionally-scarred force that is Yellowstone‘s Beth Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly. As the fourth season of Paramount Network’s smash hit came to a conclusion, Beth found herself in a menacing place: newly married and with blackmail to collect—or, as Reilly puts it, “the darkest thing she’s ever done.”
For the actress, the events of Season Four had been building towards an inevitable, if still illogical to most, end. While viewers, at times, worried if Beth was going too far, things came to a head in the finale when she was nearly banished from the family she would (quite literally) die for. A decision has to be made, and she makes it.
That doesn’t mean Beth is in the clear, though. With a sure-thing fifth season on the horizon, Reilly joined Esquire to break down the finale and forecast what’s to come for one of television’s fiercest, and, for my money, misunderstood, characters. (And no, she’s not going to apologize for Beth’s crude behavior—she knows you love it as much as you hate it, and yes that means me.)
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Esquire: Yellowstone feels like it has come up from this grassroots, word of mouth spread. Now all of a sudden, if you’re not watching Yellowstone, you’re left out. What’s it been like to be part of this growing phenomenon?Kelly Reilly: Well in my life away from Yellowstone, I live between New York and the middle of the countryside in England. Even in New York, I’m out by the end of the island, by the sea. I’m cut off a lot from the world. When I go out to Texas, or I go out to Montana, or I go out west ever, I really see it. We film it, then you forget about it for eight months, then it comes out and you’re hit with it. It’s a powerful thing to be part of. People have adopted it as their show. I’m really proud of it.
Esquire: And this year, Beth had maybe her most intense season yet.
K.R.: Every year I think it can’t get more intense. Every year I think, okay, next season I’m just going to be gentle. It’ll be much quieter for Beth next season. Then I get the scripts and I’m like, how am I going to do this?
Esquire: I mean, this season literally started with Beth walking out of a fire, burned and scarred, grabbing a cigarette, hellbent on demolishing her adversaries. Do you feel like the attacks from the Season Three finale were more personal for Beth than they were for John or Kayce?
K.R.: Anybody attacking her family is like a red rag to a bull, right? I think Kayce has a more peaceful soul than Beth. I don’t think he’s going to go on the forefront until he’s attacked himself. Whereas Beth? I think you can just feel the fire burning in her the whole time. She cannot understand why her father is not wanting to destroy these people. I do think it grew throughout the season. When she’s walking into that prison [to visit Riggins], I think she thinks she’s going to kill them, right? And it’s going to ruin her life to do it. I do believe everything she says. When she says, “I will die on the wall that is protecting my father.” She means it.
The fact is, it’s not just about her father and protecting the land, which is from Season One. Again she’s not understanding [the resistance to her aggression]. When John is like, “No, Beth, that was way too much”—I think that was a trigger point where she’s just not able to be the assigned soldier and play nice. She finds it impossible to toe the line in that way, which is what makes her so ferocious, because she is willing to do something that I don’t think any other characters are willing to do, which is destroy herself. It’s sort of Machiavellian. But I don’t think she’s doing it for the greater good; she’s just doing it for vengeance.
Esquire: I remember talking to somebody this season and asking, “Do you think Beth is going too far?” Because I thought, especially right at the top of the finale, that she’s so steadfast in her pursuit of revenge, she’s almost willing to give Rip up.
K.R.: 100%. He is always going to be the one that pulls her back, for sure. Her heart is so aligned with him, and as we’ve seen, the one thing Beth holds very dearly is who she is and her loyalty, which can then go too far, right? To death, I think she is loyal to Rip. Unless he doesn’t want that from her anymore. He owns her in that way, for sure. But Rip is teetering on insanity, I think, in this season. There is a moment where I was playing her and you just think, well, she has gone over the edge. Whatever it takes. That takes a special person. Because I think most of us would let the law handle it.
In a way, we get to live out this fantasy with Beth because she says and does things that we would never dream or dare to do because you’re sane, hopefully more socially functional human beings and actually you’re a real person, Beth is fictional, right? We have artistic license. Beth has nine lives. She’s a cockroach. She should never have survived that bomb. She’s like a little superhero without the cape; she’s just never going to die until she’s probably an old lady, hopefully peacefully.
Esquire: It’s certainly made her a fan favorite, I think.
K.R.:There’s something that I think people are responding to, where we’re supposed to be nice all the time, especially women. Right? I’m not talking about female empowerment, but there is that to it, where women are empowered by her. With women, you’re supposed to be the Virgin Mary, or you’re the whore. It’s like this gray area of in-between, which is where all women live—or human beings live—which is the truth. Somewhere in that, there is a primal thing that Beth kind of touches on, which I think is what makes her such a unique character. I love that stuff.
Esquire: I have to ask you about working with Jacki Weaver, because the standoffs between Beth and Caroline this season were electric.
K.R.: I think Beth looks at [Caroline] as a really positive adversary. There’s someone she can actually fight with. I think most of the time Beth knows that everyone’s pretty easy, right? Whereas I think she, this older woman, I think Beth has a little bit of respect for her. And respect for her wisdom and her intelligence and the fact that she sees Beth for what she’s trying to play. I think that that is probably an invigorating fight for Beth. That last scene where she’s like, “You’re going to end up in prison.” I think there’s a minute where Beth’s like, “Yeah, you probably will put me into prison, but not if I put myself there first.”
I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes, in the future. Because I do think that there’s something about this little old lady… she is kind of small but she’s such a giant, Jacki is. Her performance and those eyes? She’s powerful. I love it when I get to work with other women. Other really feisty, smart women on the show. I got to work with Karen Pittman as Willa, I love those scenes. Even though I would love it if Beth could make friends with some of these women. It would be fun if she had a pretty badass friend.
