Dutton Ranch is going through numerous changes in season 2 — including when it comes to Taylor Sheridan‘s involvement.
Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth, reflected on filming season 1 without Sheridan, 56, being as active behind the scenes, telling The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, July 6, “I was very uncertain of what this would be without his words. I didn’t know if it was gonna work. I didn’t know if she was going to work. It was like a part of the character had to die in order for me to begin her again.”
Reilly, 48, was grateful for the challenge. (Off screen, Chad Feehan stepped down as showrunner in season 1 and was replaced with Benjamin Cavell.)
“Everything comes to an end, and his time with these characters as creative leader, it ended. So there was a moment where we were trying to figure out, ‘How do we do this without him?’” she recalled. “That’s what season one of this was, and he’s really proud of us for doing it.”
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Reilly continued: “We talk to him now about what the next season could be, and he wants to be involved. So that feels like we earned this second season from all the work we’ve done before, and that’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
Sheridan, 56, began his TV empire with Yellowstone, which aired from 2018 to 2024. He then created prequels 1883 and 1923, as well as the spinoffs Dutton Ranch and Marshals. Sheridan has also worked on original shows Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness and Tulsa King.
Over the years, Sheridan has become known for writing many seasons of his shows solo. He also hasn’t always relied on showrunners for all of his projects.
“My stories have a very simple plot that is driven by the characters as opposed to characters driven by a plot — the antithesis of the way television is normally modeled,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. “I’m really interested in the dirty of the relationships in literally every scene.”
Sheridan acknowledged his preference for no writers’ rooms, adding, “But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they’re writing — and I give this directive and they’re not feeling it, then they’re going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers rooms, they haven’t worked.”
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At the time, the screenwriter reflected on his decision not to compromise especially when it comes to bringing his vision for the show to life.
“When I quit acting, I decided that I am going to tell my stories my way, period. If you don’t want me to tell them, fine. Give them back and I’ll find someone who does — or I won’t, and then I’ll read them in some freaking dinner theater. But I won’t compromise. There is no compromising,” he continued. “There is compromising on things like budget.”
Sheridan added: “You write a thing and it costs what it costs. I will not change a script to meet a budget. … The freedom of the artist to create must be unfettered. If they tell me, ‘You’re going to have to write a check for $540,000 to four people to sit in a room that you never have to meet,’ then that’s between the studio and the guild. But if I have to check in creatively with others for a story I’ve wholly built in my brain, that would probably be the end of me telling TV stories.”
The outlet noted that Sheridan wrote in a one-room “cabinet” he built in Wyoming. “I’ve written many episodes in eight to 10 hours,” he claimed at the time.
