In a new interview with filminsidenyc, Cole Hauser gets candid about how his experience of filming Dutton Ranch felt starkly different to that of shooting the original Yellowstone series.

Dutton Ranch, which concluded its first season earlier in July, was led by a brand new showrunner, Chad Feehan, with Feehan heading up an entirely separate writing team from the one that worked on Yellowstone. Taylor Sheridan, who created Yellowstone and all its characters, served as an executive producer for Dutton Ranch, but was not in the writing room for any of the latter's episodes.

Hauser, who plays Rip Wheeler, has opened up about the difficulties of making Dutton Ranch without their former leader, Sheridan, the man behind all Yellowstone spin-offs prior to 2026. It's not clear why exactly Sheridan was not involved in Season One, but according to a separate interview with Hauser's co-star, Kelly Reilly - who plays fan-favourite Beth Dutton - Sheridan will be returning to the writers’ room for Season Two. What's more, Feehan has departed from the show.

In his conversation with filminsidenyc, Hauser confirms, “There were challenges, you know? Not having Taylor [Sheridan] there, for us to really kind of be able to work with these new writers, these new directors, these people...Everything had changed. The only normality that we had whatsoever was Carter [played by Finn Little), Christina [Alexandra Voros, the Director], Kelly and myself”.

Hauser emphasises, “I enjoy a challenge, it certainly was a challenge. We worked our asses off this year. And I don't think a lot of the outside noise or the thought of, like, ‘What's the weight of the show?’ was really apparent to me at the time”.

He concludes that, ultimately, he enjoyed the experience and is excited to dive back in at the start of next year, “It was about putting my head down and working my ass off with what I had around me. The writers that we had, the new writers that we had, that we had to figure out on our feet how to really perform and tell a story. So I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I look forward to doing it again”.

In the lead-up to the premiere of Season One of Dutton Ranch, there were widespread reports and rumours that there was off-screen tension between Feehan and the show's stars. Although just conjecture, the fact that Feehan exited the team a matter of days before the start of the first season certainly felt like strange timing.

What's more, Ed Harris - who plays Everett McKinney - launched into a surprisingly full-blooded criticism of the Dutton Ranch production team on the Red Carpet this week, stressing that he felt “underused and inconsequential” to the plot, despite being assured he would be one of the main characters. Harris also expressed his frustration at having a scene in which he sings cut during the final edit.

Harris complained to Variety, “Midway through this first season, I was ready to say, ‘Get me the f*** outta here’, to tell you the truth...I didn't feel I was being used...I felt a little bit misled...Prior to signing on for it, I talked quite a bit about what the season was and what my character was going to do. That I was one of the four main characters. And that wasn't really the case”. Harris went on to claim that he outlined his grievances to the team while filming, but they were relatively unresponsive.

He went on, “We don't start [Season Two] until February. And I'm being told that my character will have a little bit more to do. It just was a little frustrating, to tell you the truth”.

Perhaps Harris’ tentative hope that his experience on Season Two will be better than that of Season One stems from Sheridan's return to the helm. It's a story we've seen before on Sheridan's productions, where a showrunner clashes with the cast or doesn't live up to expectations, and he is forced to swoop in and save the day.

It's undoubtedly a shame to see all of this dirty laundry being aired, especially given how well Dutton Ranch has been received by fans off the back of a disappointing first season of Marshals, another Yellowstone spin-off starring Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton. Dutton Ranch felt like a return to form, with Hauser and Reilly reprising their much-loved on-screen relationship - and we can't wait for Season Two.