Nearly every “Yellowstone” character is full of grit and determination and at least a bit violent to back it all up — but one particular star from the series went as far as to compare her character to a samurai, one of the most noble and fierce warriors in human history.
“Beth is like a samurai,” Kelly Reilly told the Television Academy about her spitfire character (whom we ranked No. 1 on our list of the most memorable “Yellowstone” characters) in June 2023, a year and a half before the Paramount show’s conclusion. “Her life is unimportant. The only thing that matters to her is the Yellowstone ranch. When do loyalty and devotion become out of balance and unhealthy? And what sort of father would let their daughter give her whole life to that?”
Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton, the character that made HBO reject “Yellowstone,” is the only daughter of the show’s leading man and patriarch, Kevin Costner’s John Dutton. She is certainly a survivor, one who has essentially trained her whole life for her craft — her craft, of course, being deception and cultivating power. That’s not to say she isn’t extremely well-educated and intelligent as well; she is. But those smarts, in turn, aid in her ability to dominate anyone who gets in her, or her family’s, way. In that respect, the character does resemble the historic warriors who were revered for their skills, weaponry, and dedication to their lifelong duty of protection.
Kelly Reilly said Beth Dutton’s way of life is unsustainable
That said, Kelly Reilly noted that the samurai-style life of honor isn’t sustainable, especially considering the violence and turmoil it comes with. “This can’t go on forever,” she told the Television Academy. “This is a story about a dying family, a dying way of life.” Describing the Dutton family ranch, which was in danger of being developed into luxury housing in the show’s final season, she added, “Whatever happens to the land … I imagine it will free them because there’s a burden in her defending of it.”
Over the show’s intense five-season run from 2018 to 2024, Reilly spoke at length about Beth’s drive to fight for her family, and specifically her father, despite Reilly initially struggling to understand Beth Dutton. “Anybody attacking her family is like a red rag to a bull,” Reilly explained to Esquire in a January 2022 interview. “… When she says, ‘I will die on the wall that is protecting my father,’ she means it.”
Reilly also highlighted that Beth’s drive for retribution is more than just family focused; it’s a warrior-like drive for dominance at all costs. “She finds it impossible to toe the line …” the actress told Esquire, “which is what makes her so ferocious, because she is willing to do something that I don’t think any other characters are willing to do, which is destroy herself. It’s sort of Machiavellian. But I don’t think she’s doing it for the greater good; she’s just doing it for vengeance.”
