“She’s like stepping into a sports car”: Beth Dutton Would Not be Happy How Kelly Reilly Was Scared of Her Despite Yellowstone Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Vote of Confidence

Kelly Reilly might have formed a love-hate bond with her Yellowstone character, Beth Dutton.

In the famous words of Beth Dutton, “I am the rock therapists break themselves against.” But for Kelly Reilly, the actress, the reality of her situation is quite literally the opposite. While Beth Dutton exemplifies a wild fearlessness in her character almost to the degree of apathy and cruelty toward others, Reilly is the most gracefully poised woman incapable of a single Machiavellian thought in her head.

Throughout her filmography, Reilly has most famously portrayed a Regency-era upper-class lady in Pride & Prejudice, a post-World War II-era opera singer in A Haunting in Venice, and a highly perceptive and reserved Englishwoman in 19th-century England in Sherlock Holmes.

Naturally, it begs the question as to how the actress who faithfully personified such roles can then smoothly transition into a Lady Macbeth-like character in Taylor Sheridan’s twisted tale of a ranch-owning family in Montana. However, in this case, Kelly Reilly was as late as the rest of the audience in finding an acceptable answer to that question herself.

Kelly Reilly Brings Beth Dutton Alive in Yellowstone

Kelly Reilly is as far removed from Beth Dutton as it can possibly get. The Yellowstone actor and the character she portrays lie on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Reilly can play the complete antithesis of herself on-screen because she knows who she inherently cannot be. Taylor Sheridan‘s series, in that respect, is the sandbox that allows the English star to liberate herself creatively.

In a sit-down interview with Entertainment Tonight, Reilly talked at length about her experiences while filming Yellowstone. She went so far as to claim that her character is a “beast.” On the contrary, to Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan she was the embodiment of Beth Dutton herself.

I didn’t know I was Beth. It took me a while to really find her. She’s like stepping into a sports car. It was like, how do I go from naught to a hundred in 3 seconds. And when I first met [Sheridan], I hadn’t found her yet. So, I’m not sure what he saw.

With Sheridan endlessly supplying her with notes on who Beth Dutton is as a character, the actress began to form the foundations of the woman who eventually commanded the Yellowstone narrative for 7 long years.

Kelly Reilly Opens Up About Her Terrifying Yellowstone Arc

Despite Taylor Sheridan’s faith and confidence in Kelly Reilly’s ability to bring Beth Dutton alive, the actress had a hard time defending herself in the character’s shoes after reading about the fierce and fearsome character on paper. But with time, the actress mastered the crafty, Machiavellian role of the woman who went on to unleash hell with every word and terrorize people with a single glare.

Kelly Reilly’s arc became so iconic and deified that Beth Dutton began to acquire a cult-like following of fans in a short time after the premiere of Yellowstone. During her Entertainment Tonight interview, Reilly expressed surprise and dismay at how the audience truly began accepting her as the fictional character she portrayed on the screen.

People call me Beth. They’ll come to me wanting to high-five me or start a fight. It’s really interesting how people believe that you’re your character. It’s such a personal process.

With Yellowstone now in its final leg of the narrative, only a handful of episodes remain until the audience can finally have the answers to all the problems. As for Beth, her imminent showdown with Jaime remains a much anticipated crowning moment of this season that has been building since the very first episode of the Paramount series.