It’s hard to imagine Cole Hauser playing any other character than Rip Wheeler on Paramount’s hit show, Yellowstone. In a recent interview Hauser revealed that prior to taking on the role of Rip, he was considered for one of the Dutton sons.
The Yellowstone star explained that he had met with his friend John Linson, who co-created the series, and gave Hauser a script for the series’ pilot episode.
“He came to me and said ‘there’s this show, we’ve just got Kevin Costner, take a look at it and see what you think. I think you’d be great in this.’”
After looking over the script, Hauser’s team encouraged him to go for a role playing one of John Dutton’s sons.
“Initially my team wanted me to position myself to play one of his sons. And I just didn’t see it.”
But for Hauser, the role that appealed to him most was the one he inevitably got.
“The one that jumped off the page was Rip, and they were like ‘what are you doing? It’s two scenes in a pilot.’ I said, ‘no this character’s gonna have something really good, I can just feel it.’”
Hauser went on to help create one of the most layered characters on the show by insisting on playing Rip. Before long his chemistry with Kelly Reilly’s character, Beth Dutton started to flourish, and is now arguably one of TV’s favorite couples.
Watch the video below and enjoy some of Rip Wheeler’s best scenes from Yellowstone.