'Yellowstone' star Cole Hauser hints at possible spinoff after Costner-led show wraps

Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler and Kelly Reilly's Beth Dutton may not be disappearing from the small screen after "Yellowstone" wraps its fifth and final season.

In a new interview with Country Living, Hauser explained that his main priority is finishing the second installment of the fifth season of the hit Taylor Sheridan series.

"I’m so focused on finishing Yellowstone the way it needs to be finished right now — well, just the show itself," Hauser told the outlet. "We’ll see where that leads." 

Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly star as Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton in "Yellowstone." (Paramount)

Hauser shared that Sheridan has a few ideas to continue Rip and Beth's love story. 

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"But I know that there’s some stuff on the horizon when it comes to Taylor’s ideas for Kelly Reilly and myself, and some of the other cast," Cole said. "I’m excited to see where he goes creatively with that. But right now, it’s just: Let’s finish strong; let’s do the best we can."

Over the past year, there have been rumors about spin-off series. And Paramount Media Networks President and CEO Chris McCarthy confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter in April 2023 that Matthew McConaughey will star in the next installment of the "Yellowstone" universe. It was announced that this series will be called "2024."

"Yellowstone" star Cole Hauser teased that his character could be coming back in a spin-off series. (Getty Images)

Kelly Reilly stars as John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) daughter on "Yellowstone." (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Paramount Network)

At the time, the network also announced that a new prequel series, "1944," would also be made.

Sheridan's "Yellowstone" empire already includes prequels "1883" and "1923" as well as the spin-off "Bass Reeves."

In an interview with Radio Times in March, Reilly advised "Yellowstone" fans not to pay attention to everything they read, while also making a subtle hint that Beth Dutton's story is not over.

Kevin Costner is the star of "Yellowstone" and leads the Dutton family as John Dutton. (Paramount Network)

"I just care about finishing [the main show] with as much care and as much passion and as much love as I can muster to put into it," she told the outlet. "That’s what I care about. I’m sort of prepping for that now [and] that’s my tunnel vision thing that I care about most. And what goes on beyond that? There are discussions, you know. Don’t believe everything you read. It’s just nonsense. But we’re gonna, you know, let’s wait and see. I don’t have an answer right now. But we’ll see."

Reps for Hauser, Reilly and Paramount+ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. 

"Yellowstone" has not yet begun production on the second installment of the fifth series, and a release date has not been set.

Taylor Sheridan wrote and appears in "Yellowstone." (Getty Images)

Hauser's character in the hit series quickly became a fan favorite, which was surprising to the star. In an interview with People, Cole explained that the popularity had "surprised the s--- out of [creator] Taylor Sheridan and I, at first."

What scared Hauser the most about his character was that he related to "normal people." 

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"And I think that's what's the scariest part," he said, adding "he is just that kind of animal."

In 2022, Hauser spoke to Fox News Digital about the first moment he realized Rip Wheeler was a heartthrob.

Hauser was "surprised" to learn that "Yellowstone" fans consider him a heartthrob. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

"When did I realize?" the actor chuckled to Fox News Digital. "I think when this old lady grabbed my a-- in Whole Foods."

"This is about four years ago," he shared. "She goes, ‘Are you Rip?’ And she goosed me! I was like, ‘Holy s---, what are you doing? You’re like my mother’s age.’ She’s like, ‘I don’t give a f---.' I was like, ‘OK, fair play.’"

"I told my mother about it. She goes, ‘Get used to it son,’" the 49-year-old added at the time.

The cast of "Yellowstone" season two. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Paramount Network)

Hauser noted there’s a reason why fans can’t get enough of "Yellowstone" – and he insisted it has nothing to do with him making hearts flutter.

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"Well, first of all, it’s not the Western, it’s the Taylor Sheridan writing," he explained about the filmmaker. "That starts with him and the stories that he’s telling, the characters that he’s developed, the actors that he’s hired, the crew. In my opinion, [he’s] one of the great American writers, and he’s telling the stories that he knows well and cares about."

The cast has not begun filming the second installment of the fifth season of "Yellowstone." (Paramount Network)

And the story hits close to home for the actor. Hauser grew up in Santa Barbara, California, and on a ranch in Oregon, where he spent much of his childhood riding horses and "cruising around with cows," he told People in 2020 for his Sexiest Man photo shoot. He noted that he feels completely at ease in the show’s Montana setting.

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"’Yellowstone’ is kind of an extension of [Sheridan’s] love and passion for the West – and I’m that way," said Hauser. "I think that there [are] wonderful stories to be told even in the modern setting of ‘Yellowstone.’"