Annette Bening has revealed she hasn’t spoken to her former co-star Kevin Costner about her new role in the Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch, despite him being the lead of the original series.
The 67-year-old Oscar nominee, who previously worked with Costner on the 2003 Western Open Range, has landed a plum role in the show, which premiered Thursday, playing Beulah Jackson – a rival ranch owner to Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser).
Yellowstone wrapped in 2025 after Costner’s character, John Dutton, was killed off, following the 71-year-old star’s exit amid a rift with showrunner Taylor Sheridan and other whispered controversies.
On Friday, Bening revealed she has yet to tell the Field of Dreams star about her new Sheridan-produced part.
‘I haven’t let him know,’ Bening admitted to People on Friday. ‘But we have stayed in touch over the years, and our paths have crossed many times.’
She added, ‘We made a Western in Southern Alberta in 2003. I’m very proud of that movie.’
Annette Bening has revealed she hasn’t spoken to her former co-star Kevin Costner about her new role in the Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch; Above, Bening with Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly at Dutton Ranch premiere on Wednesday
Yellowstone wrapped in 2025 after Costner’s character John Dutton was killed off, following the 71-year-old star’s exit amid a rift with showrunner Taylor Sheridan and other whispered controversies
Bening then reflected on how much Open Range meant to her late father.
‘My father just died a few years ago. Some of my movies, my father would not watch, but that one, he watched it over and over.’
‘I love that film. I’m very proud of it,’ she said. ‘And I got to work with Kevin and Robert DuVall, and it was a joy. My kids were with me. They were little. It was all amazing.’
Bening admits part of the reason she signed on to Dutton Ranch was her admiration for Reilly’s work on Yellowstone.
She teased the tangled relationship her character Beulah shares with Beth – a woman she describes as ‘incredibly gutsy and intriguing.’
‘There’s a kind of mutual attraction and a mutual intrigue, let’s say, between these two women,’ Bening explained.
‘But that’s the fun of it. It’s just really a joy to have that dynamic going on.’
Bening also praised her star-studded cast, including Ed Harris, for bringing the spinoff to life.
The 67-year-old Oscar nominee, who previously worked with Costner on the 2003 Western Open Range, has landed a plum role in the show, which premiered Thursday, playing Beulah Jackson – a rival ranch owner to Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser)
‘You’re really only as good as who you’re acting with,’ she said, adding that working with such talent is all about ‘listening… picking up on their energy’ and the thrill of seeing what might happen in each scene.
‘That’s the fun of it – the exchange, the uncertainty, the surprises,’ she added.
But while Bening is settling into her new role, Costner’s departure from Yellowstone continues to make headlines.
Reports suggest his exit was far messier than fans ever knew, with one explosive on-set clash reportedly halting production temporarily.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, multiple insiders claimed tensions reached a breaking point when Costner allegedly ‘lunged’ at Wes Bentley during a heated dispute.
The father-of-seven is said to have lost his temper after Bentley refused to ‘ditch Taylor Sheridan’s script’ and do the scene ‘his way.’
One insider claimed Bentley ‘told Costner that he had signed up for a Taylor Sheridan show, not a Kevin Costner production.’
‘Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him,’ a source present said. ‘No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.’
‘I haven’t let him know,’ Bening said of Costner to People on Friday, adding,’But we have stayed in touch over the years, and our paths have crossed many times;’ Above, Costner in 2016
The clash reportedly left Reilly in tears and forced production to briefly halt. Sources described the incident as ‘a tipping point on a set already cracking from creative power struggles and bruised egos.’
Insiders alleged the dispute was just another example of Costner being ‘impossible.’ ‘There’s a long list of people in Hollywood who swear they’ll never work with Costner again,’ the outlet claimed.
In December 2024, Luke Grimes admitted to Esquire that Costner’s absence from the second half of Season 5 actually made filming easier.
‘To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone,’ Grimes explained. ‘Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.’
Other complaints over the years included Costner’s alleged habit of rewriting scripts without warning, clashing with co-stars, and difficulty following directions.
However, his former agent Rick Nicita, who represented him from 2002 to 2008, pushed back.
‘The word difficult gets used a lot,’ Nicita said. ‘It can mean someone who won’t come out of their trailer, or someone who doesn’t know their lines, or is rude. That’s not Kevin.’
Rumors of Costner leaving Yellowstone first surfaced in 2023, but his attorney Marty Singer denied claims he refused to film more than one week of Season 5 Part 2.
Sheridan9pictured) told The Hollywood Reporter he was ‘disappointed’ by Costner’s departure, saying it affected the show creatively.
‘The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of Season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie,’ Singer said. ‘It’s ridiculous – and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second.’
Filming conflicted with Costner’s plans to direct Horizon, the first in a planned four-part Western movie series.
In June 2024, Costner confirmed via Instagram that he would not appear at all in Season 5 Part 2.
Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter he was ‘disappointed’ by Costner’s departure, saying it affected the show creatively.
‘It truncates the closure of his character,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.’
Sheridan insisted his opinion of Costner as an actor remains unchanged, calling his portrayal of John Dutton ‘symbolic and powerful.’
On the alleged tension, he added: ‘I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting.’
He concluded: ‘He took a lot of this on the chin in terms of the saga playing out publicly, I don’t know that anyone deserves it.’
Read the full article here
