‘Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly on Beth vs. Jamie: ‘She Becomes Possessed By Exacting Her Revenge’

Kelly Reilly as Beth in Yellowstone
Spoiler Alert
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Yellowstone Season 4, Episode 3 “All I See Is You.”]

If you ask Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Jamie (Wes Bentley) was responsible for the attacks that nearly killed her, her father John (Kevin Costner), and her brother Kayce (Luke Grimes), and she’s not going to let that go anytime soon.

But that’s not all that’s going on for Beth or the rest of the ranch in Yellowstone Season 4. Beth’s taken in a young kid, Carter (Finn Little), who’s pretty much just like her fiancé Rip (Cole Hauser) was at his age, but that’s not going so well. Also in “All I See Is You,” Jimmy (Jefferson White), after injuring himself by doing exactly what John told him not to, leaves behind the ranch for Texas (for how long remains to be seen). And Monica (Kelsey Asbille) is so angry and wants to leave the ranch so much that she tells Kayce she hates him and wants to go home.

Reilly breaks down “All I See Is You” and teases what’s ahead.

Beth has been trying so hard with Carter. How much is it the fact that she can’t have kids and how much is it that he’s clearly a young Rip?

Kelly Reilly: I don’t think she’s trying to replace the child that she couldn’t have. I don’t think that’s something that she thinks is realistic and I don’t think that’s where her intentions come from. I genuinely believe that she’s trying to help a kid who has nothing and who is literally, like she says to Rip, “This is you 30 years ago.” And with the same options he had, he’s an orphan and without John’s compassion, bringing Rip in as a kid as a barn boy, to turn into the most loyal soldier on the ranch running the place. He started out with absolutely nothing. Beth sees that [Carter] has no options and she wants to give him a shot.

She thinks that it would be good for Rip also, because he would be able to give something back to a kid who was like him. It’s a really beautiful story, more about giving [Rip] something that she can’t give him. Beth doesn’t feel sorry for herself.

Cole Hauser as Rip, Kelly Reilly as Beth in Yellowstone

Paramount Network

How does Beth feel about Carter after everything that happened when she took him to the store? Because that was rough.

Yeah. Like Rip warned her and said, “Treat him like a pet and that’s exactly what he’ll be. Don’t spoil him.” And of course she wants to take care of him. He’s got nothing, and she’s pretty practical. She’s not there to spoil the kid, but if she’s going to take care of him, she’s going to take care of him. She doesn’t do things by halves. She’s gonna buy him a pair of boots and a hat and a pair of jeans. Because he takes advantage of her and basically tries to get more than what she’s willing to give, she suddenly sees that this is not a kid who’s aware of the opportunity that he’s just being given, an opportunity to have a different future.

So she’s a little bit disappointed obviously that he’s not gonna be what she had hoped he might be. She feels that Rip might have been right, that she was giving him too much of herself. And then, Rip says to her, “Let me work on him. Let me see if I can build a man in him and see how that happens.” It’s an interesting storyline for Beth to be confronted with a maternal side, a domestic side. All she’s ever wanted is a family. Is she gonna allow herself to lean into those feelings or not, while she’s trying to be a killer as well? I don’t think the two really go hand in hand.

Speaking of family, Beth has made it very clear how she feels about Jamie and that she thinks he’s behind the attacks. What’s that relationship like this season?

Yes, she does believe that Jamie is part of this somehow. She doesn’t know how or what he’s done exactly, but she feels that he has something to do with it. She doesn’t trust him. He betrayed her father in Season 2 with going to the journalist and taking him down and then she had to fix that, and just the betrayal that he’s not always been honest and their history as well together. She thinks that he’s dangerous and a threat to her father and their existence. He has power to potentially hurt them and she won’t let that happen. She is like a dog with a bone. She really won’t let that go. It gets intense. She becomes sort of possessed by exacting her revenge and finding out what happened.

Wes Bentley as Jamie in Yellowstone

Paramount Network

Can Beth ever forgive Jamie?

I don’t know. I, Kelly, hope she does. But I’m not sure Taylor [Sheridan] wants her to, so we’ll see. I hope for herself she does because that’s a thorn in her heart.

In a trailer, we see Caroline [Jacki Weaver] and Beth talking. So what’s that dynamic like? I just imagine two powerhouses facing off.

Oh my God. Well, she’s amazing. She’s the big boss and I have such a wonderful scene with her in the next episode, I think, where Beth and her meet and Beth is being given an opportunity by her and it’s one that Beth could use to her advantage. That’s a really interesting dynamic between the two of them because this woman has seen everything. She’s really lived her life. She’s seen so many young women and men try and climb the ladders and she’s the top of Market Equities, she’s the big boss. She wants to build Aspen in Montana. She wants to build a resort and she wants airports and restaurants and hotels. That is the biggest threat that the Duttons face and have ever faced. There’s a really interesting dynamic between Beth and how Beth decides to fight her.

How are things with the rest of the Duttons this season? Because after all, Beth, John and Kayce are all healing, and Monica’s had enough of the family. I just imagine tension’s very high at the ranch.

Yeah. It’s not a happy home. It’s so fractured, and they’re all dealing with their own situations and trying to make the best of it. This attack, there are shockwaves. They’re needing to take care of each other and the family and also exact revenge on their enemies. There is a lot of tension in the house because of it, because they all see things differently and where they decide to put their attention, whether it’s Kayce looking after his family or if it’s Beth on the rampage. They’re all doing their own thing, and it’s just ultimately about protecting the kingdom, which is questionable, whether or not the kingdom should stay.

Because of everything that’s going on at the ranch, it seems like Beth and Rip’s relationship is one of the most steady parts of the show right now. So what is coming up with that relationship this season?

They are. After that moment last season where she asked him to marry her — which is one of my favorite scenes — I feel like that’s it, they’re done. I don’t think anything can come between them. What’s interesting about what happens with them — I can’t give some stuff away — but it’s electric is what it is and there’s an insanity that ensues with Beth that Rip has to sort of [deal with]. There’s a question of whether or not Beth is gonna go off the deep end. And is she gonna put him first or is she going to put her own need for revenge first? So there’s all of those questions that get tested in the relationship.

Yellowstone, Sundays, 8/7c, Paramount Network