‘Yellowstone’ Star, 59, Shuts Down Rumors: ‘My Character Isn’t Dead’ — Eyes Return in Sheridan Spin-Off

Taylor Sheridan has created an entire empire of frontier grit, deadly grudges, and big hats — and Neal McDonough is here for it. The Yellowstone and Tulsa King star sat down with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt to reflect on his time in Sheridan’s universe, and let’s just say: he’s not ready to hang up his cowboy boots just yet. When Lovitt brought up Yellowstone fans’ undying curiosity about the fate of Malcolm Beck — McDonough’s Season 2 villain who may or may not have kicked the bucket — the actor made it clear how he interpreted the end of the character’s journey.

“Yes, Malcolm Beck is not dead,” McDonough said definitively. “No one saw him actually die in the field. I would love to see him come back and cause havoc with Rip because Cole Hauser was one of my dearest pals, and there’s nothing I would love more than to go toe to toe with Cole on the show. So, I’m open for that one. Everyone’s got to write in to Taylor saying, ‘Bring Malcolm Beck back!’”

Does Neal McDonough Know Taylor Sheridan?

McDonough’s enthusiasm for the Sheridan-verse is clearly mutual — even if he admits his actual conversations with Sheridan have been… brief. But then, that’s surely par for the course when it comes to trying to grab a chat with the man who may well be the busiest human in all of Hollywood.

“It’s funny, I’ve spoken with Taylor [Sheridan] once. I had a five-minute conversation with him on set once. That was it. But somehow he keeps on hiring me. I got a call from David Glasser, his producer. David Glasser is just a beast. He produces all the shows. I don’t know how he does it.”

The call turned out to be an unexpected one — not for a Yellowstone spin-off or a Wind River sequel, but for a very different kind of gig, a short film directed by Glasser’s son.

“He calls me up, and I’m sitting here with Ruvé [McDonough] on speakerphone, and he goes, ‘Neal, I got a movie for you.’ I’m like, ‘Yes! This is awesome. Another big Taylor Sheridan movie. This is great.’ He says, ‘It’s a short film that my son is directing and writing, and there’s no money in it. We’re shooting in Texas next week. Will you do it?’”

At first, McDonough admits he hesitated — but the artist in him took over.

“There was a piece of me that was like, ‘Ugh!’ Then me as an artist, I’m like, ‘Of course I’ll do it. Let’s go do it.’ As we were down there, we had the greatest time doing the short film. His son did an amazing job directing it. It’s called The Writer, and it was really just this beautiful, crazy short film.”

But of course, when they got to Texas, McDonough’s intrepid and persistent wife, Ruvé, wasn’t going to let that Yellowstone thread go so easily.

“My wife, Ruvé, who’s very persistent, was like, ‘Okay, he’s not dead in Yellowstone. What are you bringing him back as? What is he doing?’ She just wouldn’t leave him alone,” McDonough laughed. “He’s like, ‘I got a great idea. How about he comes on to Tulsa King, and he’s opposite Sylvester Stallone?’ ‘Oh, okay. That sounds great.’”