Cole Hauser Calls Rip Wheeler Throwback to Old-School American Man in Dutton Ranch

Cole Hauser says his character Rip Wheeler in the Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch represents an old-school American man defined by loyalty, honesty and grit.

The actor reprises the role in Paramount+'s new series alongside Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton. Newcomers include Academy Award nominees Ed Harris and Annette Bening. Hauser told Fox News Digital that Rip stands out in a TV world of antiheroes and moral ambiguity.

"There's pieces," Hauser said when asked how much of Rip reflects his real life. "Obviously I don't kill people, which is a good thing."

"What Taylor and I originally wanted to create is kind of a throwback to the old-school American man," he added. "He's extremely loyal. He's honest. He has great honor. He loves, he fights. He is the epitome of a Montana man."

Dutton Ranch picks up after Yellowstone's success. It follows Beth and Rip as they build a future in Texas amid new threats and rivalries.

Hauser's own ties to Montana run deep. His family has been there since 1886. Samuel T. Hauser, the seventh governor of Montana, helped found the state. "Going back there felt like a homecoming for me," the actor said. He splits time between Montana and Florida, where he feels like he's on vacation.

Hauser previously told Havok Journal that a visit to Montana with his son revealed more about his family history and deepened his connection to the state. That bond shaped Rip's authenticity, which helped draw global audiences to Yellowstone.

"Ten years ago when we started this, it was really kind of a grassroots show in Montana," Hauser said. "Now the world. We were just in Europe and it's amazing to watch the Germans dress up as cowboys, the English. I've been to Australia and New Zealand."

He credited creator Taylor Sheridan. "Tremendous writing and storytelling," Hauser said. "He created unbelievable characters and Montana is a character in its own. People forget how beautiful the Old West is."

The series has Beth and Rip leave Montana after the Dutton family sells the Yellowstone ranch. They head to Texas for a new, unpredictable frontier.

"This next iteration has such new challenges," Hauser said. "The landscape of Texas, the heat, the new environment, the new characters, the story."

Beth and Rip stay true to form. "Kelly and I were very cognizant of making sure that those two characters continue to be the same polarizing, strong, loyal characters," he said.

Director and executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros said Texas reshapes the visuals while keeping the emotional core. "You weren't in these soft, green, blue, cloud-topped mountains of Montana," she told Fox News Digital. "You were in this sort of searing heat and dangerous dryness of Texas."

Voros called it "a very classically Western trope of finding your new frontier or building a new legacy."

Actors Marc Menchaca and Juan Pablo Raba said the shift feels fresh. "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 like taking matches to a gasoline party."

Dutton Ranch premieres May 15 on Paramount+ and the Paramount Network.