Ed Harris (Top Gun: Maverick) has been cast in a leading role in Paramount+‘s Yellowstone, Beth and Rip spinoff series, The Dutton Ranch (w/t). He will star alongside the previously announced Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, and Finn Little, who will reprise their original roles. Annette Bening was also recently cast as a lead in the upcoming drama, which will be showrun by Chad Feehan.
The Dutton Ranch, home to Beth Dutton (Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Hauser), is a testament to the peace they sought, fought for, and nearly died for, as they’ve come to cherish their 7,000-acre land. With tough times and stiff competition, Beth and Rip do what they must to survive, all while ensuring Carter (Little) becomes the man he’s supposed to be.
Harris will play Everett McKinney, a weathered veteran and veterinarian who treats animals with compassion and understanding, and possesses a good sense of humor.
As Deadline revealed in December, the show is expected to remain on the same present-day timeline as the original series, with the new offshoot sharing the most DNA with the mothership of any show in the universe to date.
Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, which controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. Reilly’s Beth is John Dutton III’s (Kevin Costner) daughter, a former head of acquisitions at the Schwartz & Meyer financial firm. Hauser’s jaded ranch foreman Rip, who first came to John Dutton as a young boy on the run after killing his stepfather to protect his mother, learned how to be a cowboy from John, who treated him like a son.
Yellowstone was co-created by Sheridan and John Linson, who executive produce with Art Linson, Costner, David C. Glasser, Bob Yari, Stephen Kay, Michael Friedman, Christina Voros, and Keith Cox. Paramount Global Content Distribution distributes the series.
The Yellowstone Universe also includes prequels 1883 and 1923, both of which have concluded their runs. Two other upcoming offshoots join the Beth and Rip series on the slate: The Madison for Paramount+, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as Stacy Clyburn, and Y: Marshals, for CBS, starring Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton. Additional universe entries 1944 and 6666 were previously announced as being in development.
From Paramount Television Studios and 101 Studios, The Dutton Ranch is executive produced by Sheridan, Glasser, the Linsons, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Yari, Friedman, Feehan, Voros, Reilly, Hauser and Cox.
Harris has been nominated for Academy Awards (Apollo 13, The Truman Show, Pollock, The Hours), Emmys (Westworld, Game Change, Empire Falls), and a Tony Award (Precious Sons). He was last seen on TV in HBO’s Westworld playing The Man in Black across the show’s four-season run. His small screen credits also include HBO’s Empire Falls and TNT’s Riders of the Purple Sage.
Last year, he narrated the Netflix documentary Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War. Up next, he will play Hollywood agent Neal Saroyan in Marvel’s Wonder Man for Disney+. On the big screen, he starred opposite Jessica Lange in Long Day’s Journey into Night, which is currently on the festival circuit. He will next be seen in the black comedy-thriller Huntington, working opposite Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley, as well as in the pickleball comedy The Dink.
A further sampling of his film credits includes Top Gun: Maverick, Netflix’s The Lost Daughter, the A24 film Love Lies Bleeding, the comedy-drama film My Dead Friend Zoe, and the crime thriller feature film Riff Raff. Harris is repped by CAA.
