Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Co-Stars Confessed What The Actor Is Really Like When The Cameras Are Off

Cole Hauser has been Costner's co-star since the very beginning of Yellowstone in 2018. But it was only at the very end of season four that Hauser’s Rip Wheeler character finally became an official member of the Dutton family. So as the ultra-popular show premiered its fifth season in November 2022, people were naturally curious about the real-life relationship between this fictional father and son.

"[What surprised me about Costner is] just what kind of human being he is," Hauser told Fox News in November 2022. "Before an actor or as a creative soul is just him as a person. He’s from the kind of area in California [that I’m from]. He’s from Ventura. I’m from Santa Barbara." And it seems these common bonds have led to the pair becoming close during their time working together.

"Getting to know [Costner] over the last five years, I mean I’ve learned a lot about just being a gentleman on set and just a class act," Hauser continued. "He’s got [a] family. I have three kids, a wonderful wife. And he’s just someone to look up to in my opinion." Even then, Hauser wasn't done singing his co-star's praises.

"And then creatively, his storytelling, his want and desire to continue to push the envelope as a… creator… it’s inspiring," Hauser said. That's reflected in what Costner has said about his attitude to Yellowstone as well. "I give everything I can to what I'm doing," he told Fox News. And the star certainly seems to inspire his co-stars to talk about his on-set behavior.

In 2019 Hauser even revealed that the star played a big part in convincing him to come on board Yellowstone. He told Cinema Blend, “I have always watched him from afar and think the world of him as an actor and a storyteller and a director, for that matter.” But co-star Gil Birmingham had a different experience with Costner.

Gil Birmingham — a.k.a the Confederated Tribe of Broken Rock Reservation’s chairman, Tom Rainwater — was asked by Indian Country Today in 2018 about the ups and downs of sharing the screen with Costner. He replied, “The few scenes that I’ve had... I haven’t had that many scenes with [him], but he’s really a lot of fun to work with.”

Birmingham then continued, “[Costner is] a very intense individual. He’s very prepared, and he loves to rehearse. But carrying the lead of a show, where you’re working practically every single day is so exhausting. I just try to give the actors [who have] got that kind of workload the space they need.” Yet some of the other stars of the show have gotten much closer to the Hollywood legend.

Kelly Reilly has enjoyed her most prominent role to date as Beth Dutton — Costner's on-screen daughter in Yellowstone. The character is adored by fans for her fierce attitude, typified by her iconic "I am the tornado" line from an earlier season. But it's Beth's devotion to her father that seems to resonate most with fans as well as Reilly.

"When I first read the script, the strongest thing that stood out was [Beth's] devotion to her father," Reilly told the Los Angeles Times about her character in November 2022. "She’s a warrior for him, and there’s a righteousness to that. I find that really beautiful and tragic." And that begs the question: is that the way the actor feels about Kevin Costner in real life?

"It’s not difficult with Kevin — he really is that patriarchal all-American," she said. "He is iconic in playing that figure. I adore my scenes with him." And that is especially telling considering how much time the pair have spent together. “I said to Kevin the other day, ‘I’ve never worked with one actor as much as we have,’” the actor told The Independent in August 2022.

Reilly was equally as complimentary about Costner when asked what it was like to work with the star by Parade in 2018. She replied, “He’s just such a sweet man and so brilliant. He’s such a brilliant actor, and he’s honestly, the kindest, most humble, relaxed, sweetheart. I feel so lucky to work with him. He’s the one character that Beth is really tethered to.” But there's one actor who has spoken more in-depth — and more openly — about his relationship with Costner.

Josh Holloway was best known for playing Lost’s rugged anti-hero Sawyer before joining Yellowstone. He only played Roarke Morris in the show’s third season (and one episode of the fourth) — but that didn’t stop the actor from making an instant impression. Of course, that’s because his “hedge-fund baller” character was thrown into the mix to stir up trouble for Costner’s leading man.

In an interview with Good Housekeeping in June 2020, though, Holloway explained that he didn’t consider Roarke to be villainous. “Think of him as the inevitable hammer,” he said. “He’s not coming at you with bravado or violent energy, but he’s just slowly going to keep rolling over you until you’re done.” But then he was going up against Costner’s Dutton — the man the fans have come to see.

“Okay, I guess he’s a villain, but no more of a villain than John Dutton,” Holloway conceded. “It’s just two opposing forces coming together, which, of course, causes a clash.” But even though Holloway’s character is a brash and bold presence on the screen, he admitted that he didn’t always share those feelings before the cameras started rolling.

Holloway admitted to Good Housekeeping that — unlike Hauser — Costner’s presence in the cast initially made him apprehensive about joining the show. He said, “I was nervous about joining the show because Kevin Costner is a legend, and I love his work.” The situation apparently became even more stressful due to the amount of dialogue that Holloway had in his first scene with Costner.

The actor told the magazine that he “had to do all the talking” in the scene and “didn’t want to screw it up.” In the end, though, it seems everything went okay — and Holloway was left inspired by his co-star’s presence. The actor said, “This guy at this level is still trying to do his best work, and that’s impressive.” He wasn’t done talking about Costner in the press, though.

In a chat with Collider in 2020, Holloway shed light on what it was like to share the screen with a star as big as Costner. He said, “I love working with legends ’cause it’s just so intimidating. Strangely enough, I’ve [become] comfortable being uncomfortable in this business.” And for those of you wondering, Holloway also confirmed that the characters’ on-screen feud definitely doesn’t extend behind the cameras.

He said, “When you work with a legend, you’re shaking in your boots for the first 15 minutes. I’m like, ‘Damn, I hope I don’t [mess] this up!’ Kevin Costner is a legend, and I’m one of his biggest fans.” Evidently, Holloway is happy to sing his co-star’s praises out of his earshot, but the star seems to want to keep his cool when he’s fully in it.

Holloway said, “You don’t wanna be a fanboy. You wanna be professional and kick some ass. It was wonderful working with him because he was very present, very humble, and still doing the work and not phoning it in. I just have huge respect for that. I had respect for him already, but this is TV and not even a big movie, and he’s doing the work and [is] very present.”

In fact, Holloway claimed that the experience of working alongside such a favorite of his couldn’t have gone any better. He added, “When you meet a legend who just blows you off, and if they don’t care about the work, it’s disappointing, but this was not that. [Costner] was awesome, and on fire.” But their relationship wasn't totally conventional.

Costner may have gotten on with Holloway while shooting the drama, but it seems that the pair had an unusual way of relating to each other. After all, Holloway revealed that he was friends with Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan and was always a fan of outdoor adventures. He’s particularly fond of fly-fishing — and this led to his strange bonding experience with Costner.

“We exchanged what I like to call ‘trout porn,’” Holloway explained to Extra in 2020. And don’t worry if that’s not a phrase you know — Holloway would go on to explain what he meant. “We showed pictures of trout we’ve caught,” he said. “So, we did share some trout porn, and I feel closer to him now after that.”

Costner has yet to discuss his experience working with Holloway, but several of his Yellowstone castmates have. And Kelly Reilly seemed particularly pleased with the choice for her new love interest. She told Entertainment Weekly in July 2020, “Maybe some of that freshness has rubbed off. [Holloway] just comes in and doesn’t play the character the way you would imagine. He takes an interesting approach to the role. He was awesome.”

Like their on-screen characters, though, Holloway and Costner don’t appear to have that much in common. The Lost actor only came on the scene in the early ’00s, but his Yellowstone co-star has been a screen fixture since the mid-1980s. The then-budding actor’s rise to fame continued when he appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Sean Connery as Eliot Ness in the gangster classic The Untouchables.

Of course, we can’t forget how Costner’s role in Yellowstone made him a regular face on our TV screens back in the late 2010s. And even though the actor admitted to IndieWire that he found the different medium of storytelling a challenge, critics have continued to be impressed with his performance as a brooding rancher.

Costner was asked in the same interview if he knew much about his character’s backstory, and the actor replied, “I would like to, but I’m not always privy to it, no. Sometimes with [John’s] sons or wife or whatever, that’s been really kept in a creative ball. That’s a more vulnerable way to go through life as an actor.” And when referring to his transition to TV, he confessed, “It hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me. I don’t like it too much.”

Costner admitted that he’s worried about Yellowstone outstaying its welcome, too. The star said, “Something can run quite a while if the architecture of it is careful — not explosive, but careful. You can run a long time if you make things really compelling, but that’s a really hard thing to do. It takes a lot of thought. It’s not impulsive writing. It’s writing with a lot of extended thought.”

And Costner also revealed that he’s under no illusions about the man he plays. He said, “I have to look at John and understand — outside the character — ‘Hey, you just crossed a line. There’s no going back from that. You sanctioned a killing.’ You can inform the storytellers, the creators, that, ‘Look, we’ve just done that, and now we have to make sure we deal with it honestly.’”

Costner doesn’t seem to like to take too much time away from storytelling. And the star has already made plans for the day his time in Yellowstone comes to an end. He told IndieWire, “I’m going to play the second half of my career out directing, but it could very well be in television. But it won’t be making it up as you go... Listen, a lot of my movies are long. I like the subplots. I like it when it all comes together — [but not when] it’s made up on the fly. I don’t trust that.”

Of course, there is one thing that Costner values even more than his career, and that’s his family. The star first walked down the aisle with a fellow alum of California State University Fullerton Cindy Silva at the age of just 22. Then, in 1984, the pair welcomed a daughter into the world. Annie Clayton went on to join her father in the entertainment industry, too — co-founding the production company Sound Off Films.

Costner and Silva then became parents for the second time in 1986. And the multi-talented Lily McCall has often performed alongside her famous father in his country band, Kevin Costner & Modern West. She even shared the screen with him in the 2014 family drama Black or White. The actor’s son, Joseph was born in 1988 and has gone on to form his own mobile studio firm known as Spartan Recording.

Sadly, Costner and Silva ended up going their separate ways amicably in 1994. The Hollywood star became a father for the fourth time when his girlfriend Bridget Rooney gave birth to son Liam two years later. Even though the couple then split shortly after, it wasn’t the end of the Costner brood.

In 2004 Costner married again — this time to handbag designer and former model Christine Baumgartner. Apparently, the couple had actually split up before getting hitched due to their different views about having kids. Three years on from their wedding, they welcomed their first child, Cayden, with Hayes arriving in 2009 and then Grace completing the family unit a year later.

Costner confirmed just how much his seven kids mean to him when he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. He told the audience, “My children have always been bigger than the movies. They’ve always been more important. It’s because of them that I’ve been able to do what I love.”

Costner is thriving on the small screen now, but he hasn’t given up his film career just yet. In November 2020 he starred alongside Diane Lane in the movie adaptation of Larry Watson’s Let Him Go. This isn’t the first time the two leads have appeared opposite each other, either. Lane and Costner also showed up as Superman’s parents in 2013’s Man of Steel.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lane was nothing but effusive when she was asked by People magazine about playing the wife of Costner on the big screen once again. She said, “[Costner] is both a great team player and an encouraging leader. He is fully invested in making things as good as possible.” Outside of Yellowstone, Costner will next write, direct, and star in the Western Horizon.