In a television landscape often defined by antiheroes and moral gray areas, Cole Hauser says Rip Wheeler stands apart.
The longtime actor, who reprises his fan-favorite “Yellowstone” role in Paramount+’s new series “Dutton Ranch,” told Fox News Digital that Rip was always designed to embody an older kind of masculinity rooted in loyalty, honesty and grit.
“I mean, there’s pieces,” Hauser said when asked how much of Rip reflects who he is in real life. “You know, obviously I don’t kill people, which is a good thing.”
“But, you know, I think what Taylor and I originally wanted to create is kind of a throwback to the old-school American man,” he continued. “And I think Rip is that. He’s extremely loyal. He’s honest. He has great honor. He loves, he fights. I mean, he is the epitome of a Montana man.”
WATCH: COLE HAUSER SAYS RIP WHEELER IS A ‘THROWBACK TO THE OLD-SCHOOL AMERICAN MAN’
“Dutton Ranch” marks the next chapter for Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler after the massive success of “Yellowstone,” with Kelly Reilly and Hauser leading the Paramount+ spinoff alongside newcomers including Academy Award nominees Ed Harris and Annette Bening.
The new series follows Beth and Rip as they attempt to build a future together in Texas while facing new threats, rivalries and challenges far from Montana.
For Hauser, the role has always felt personal.
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The actor, who has long split time between Montana and Florida, said his connection to the West runs far deeper than the screen.
“Well, Florida is, I feel like I’m on vacation when I go home, which is what we wanted to create, my wife and I,” Hauser said. “Montana, my family has been there since 1886. So the Hauser legacy there is huge.”
“I mean, Samuel T. Hauser was the seventh governor of Montana, helped start that state,” he continued. “So going back there felt like a homecoming for me.”
Hauser previously told Havok Journal that he discovered more about his family history while visiting Montana with his son and had always felt deeply connected to the state before fully understanding why.
That personal connection helped shape the authenticity audiences came to associate with Rip Wheeler over the years.
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That authenticity, Hauser believes, is part of the reason audiences around the world connected so deeply with “Yellowstone” and Rip Wheeler.
Hauser believes the emotional attachment audiences have to “Yellowstone” and now “Dutton Ranch” goes beyond just cowboys and ranch life.
“You know, it’s interesting, you know, 10 years ago when we started this, it was really kind of a grassroots show in Montana and then, you know, we grew out to the edges, Los Angeles, now New York, and now the world,” Hauser said.
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“I mean, we were just in Europe and it’s amazing to watch, you know, the Germans dress up as cowboys, the English,” he continued. “I’ve been to Australia and New Zealand. I mean just how many people have been touched by it.”
Hauser credited creator Taylor Sheridan’s storytelling and the larger mythology of the American West for the franchise’s worldwide appeal.
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“I honestly don’t know other than the tremendous writing and storytelling of Taylor Sheridan,” he said. “I mean, he created unbelievable characters and Montana is a character in its own.”
“And I think people forget how beautiful the Old West is.”
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“Dutton Ranch” follows Beth and Rip as they leave Montana behind after the Dutton family sells the Yellowstone ranch, setting out to start over in Texas and trade everything they fought to protect for a far more unpredictable and unforgiving new frontier.
“God, this next iteration, I mean, it has such new challenges,” Hauser said. “Obviously the landscape of Texas, the heat, that was totally different, the new environment, the new characters that come in, the story.”
Still, Hauser said one thing remained essential while stepping back into Rip’s boots.
“What stayed consistent is Beth and Rip,” he said. “Kelly and I were very cognizant of making sure that those two characters continue to be the same polarizing, strong, loyal characters that they’ve always been.”
WATCH: ‘DUTTON RANCH’ DIRECTOR EXPLAINS HOW TEXAS TRANSFORMS THE WORLD OF THE SERIES
Director and executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros said the new setting helped reshape the visual identity of the franchise while preserving its emotional core.
“You weren’t in these soft, green, blue, cloud-topped mountains of Montana,” Voros told Fox News Digital. “You were in this sort of searing heat and dangerous dryness of Texas.”
Voros said the series ultimately becomes “a very classically Western trope of finding your new frontier or building a new legacy.”
WATCH: ‘DUTTON RANCH’ STARS CALL TEXAS MOVE ‘LIKE TAKING MATCHES TO A GASOLINE PARTY’
That evolution is also what actors Marc Menchaca and Juan Pablo Raba said makes the new series feel fresh despite remaining tied to the “Yellowstone” universe.
“It’s exciting watching two of their favorite characters, Beth and Rip, stepping into another world,” Raba told Fox News Digital. “Stepping into Texas. It’s got to be exciting, right? It’s like taking matches to a gasoline party.”
“Dutton Ranch” premieres May 15 on Paramount+ and the Paramount Network.
