After playing Beth Dutton for 5 seasons of Yellowstone, Kelly Reilly was ready to reprise her iconic character for her next chapter. Dutton Ranch follows Beth Dutton, her husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), and their adopted son (Carter) as they start afresh with a new ranch in Rio Paloma, Texas, after their Montana home was destroyed in a wildfire. Reilly felt a “responsibility to take care” of her beloved Beth and to “protect the things that are important about her.” As Reilly serviced the legacy of her character, she knew she had to “try to keep an open mind and heart about who she could be in these new areas of her life that she’s exploring.”

As an EP on the series along with Hauser, Reilly “wanted everyone to have a voice” as they crafted this new world full of exciting new characters. Most notable among these new characters is Beulah Jackson, played by the incomparable Annette Bening, who heads the Jackson family, Beth’s new neighbors who own the abutting 10 Petal ranch. After tangling with the shrewd Beluah, Beth describes her as a “Grizzly in Gucci.”

“Annette and Ed [Harris, who plays large animal vet Everett McKinney] coming on made us feel like we were legit,” remembered Reilly, noting that the series immediately felt more “elevated” by having these legends present. “It was such an honor for Cole and me to have them come on board. It made me care even more about what stories we were telling.”

One of the prominent themes in the extended Taylor Sheridan Universe is stewardship, a duty that both Reilly and Hauser hold dear. As a newcomer into the space, Bening appreciated how much Reilly and Hauser cared about sharing Beth’s and Rip’s world with others. “Kelly and Cole being executive producers meant a lot to me,” said Bening. “Having actors who really have a sense of the entire story and the entire narrative is part of what made Yellowstone what it was.”

Bening felt she “worked together very well” with Reilly. As two alpha females, Beth and Beluah are shrewd business women who love fiercely and suffer no fools. It’s only natural that these characters would be wary of—and yet drawn to—each other. “Between these two women, there’s so much admiration. There’s also suspicion. There’s also attraction. There’s also jealousy. It’s all there,” said Bening.

While Beluah is working to maintain her empire, Beth is struggling to build a place where her family can thrive. “What Beluah sees in Beth is something, a drive, that she wishes that she still had,” said Bening. While Beluah feels “competitive” with Beth, she feels “admiration” as well.

Reilly agreed with Bening, on the mutual “admiration and respect” between their characters, noting that these feelings only “grow” throughout the series. “Beth and Beluah begin to need each other more and need what the other one has from a business standpoint too,” teased Bening. “”We get to see them work together, and that’s when we really start to power up,” confirmed Reilly.

The first two episode of Dutton Ranch are now streaming on Paramount+