Ahead of the Yellowstone series finale, CBR spoke to Wes Bentley about the reaction he gets from Yellowstone fans. The actor also spoke about working with his co-star Kelly Reilly in the numerous intense scenes between Jamie and Beth, and if there’s any chance at anything like a happy ending for Jamie Dutton. Plus, find out what the role has meant to his career.
CBR: Yellowstone has really become about Team Beth vs. Team Jamie over the past few years. What’s the reaction that you get from fans who talk to you about the show? Do they honestly dislike Jamie that much, or is anyone sympathetic to him?
Wes Bentley: Really fascinating responses from people. They’re always both worried about Jamie, but also care about Jamie. And so I get a lot of psychiatric evaluations on Jamie and where he stands on things. It’s really kind of fun. Even people who don’t like him or are on the side of the show where they see him as the antagonist, they still appreciate him and see him as a broken person that they kind of care about anyway.
Beth has pretty well had the upper hand on Jamie recently. Is there any way for him to potentially gain an advantage over her as things come to a close, or is he just destined to be steamrolled by her?
He’s certainly presenting himself as someone with strength now, and belief in an idea, and sort of trying to project this idea of a strong guy — but, you know, it’s Jamie. So is that going to hold up? We’re going to see, does it hold up to pressure from Beth? Can they all survive it all? It’s really interesting, because I do think there’s something different about him now. He’s unpredictable and he’s dangerous.
Assuming that Jamie doesn’t get completely defeated or die in the Yellowstone finale, what would a happy ending look like for him? Does he even know what he wants anymore, since he’s spent so much time being pulled in different directions by people like Beth and Sarah Atwood?
I don’t know if he even knows what can make him happy anymore. He’s been so folded over and and I think it’s going to be a maze for him to get back from what he’s become to who he actually is as a person.
The only thing that has ever been clear to me about Jamie is what he thinks should happen with the ranch to make it survive. I think that that’s always been a clarity of thought for him. How to get it done, the way to go about it, is what keeps changing because he feels the goalposts keep changing, or everyone keeps getting in his way And so, after having given up who he truly was to become this lawyer and now they won’t listen to him, I think he’s just finally snapping and trying to force it all through.
The scenes between Jamie and Beth can be really intense to watch, both in terms of their verbal arguments and the physical violence, such as when she slapped him repeatedly in the Yellowstone Season 5B premiere. What has it been like for you to play those battles with Kelly Reilly?
It’s awesome. Every time I have a scene coming up with Kelly, I dread it because I know Jamie’s going to take a bunch of knocks emotionally and physically. It’s not going to go well, so I’m going to have to deal with that. But despite that, I’m very excited to get on the day with Kelly, who Is a blast to work with.
We really try to go as far as we can with these scenes and so we trust each other. We also try to make each other laugh in between to keep it light enough. And she’s also so talented. I love what she’s going to bring. It’s always going to surprise me and so it’s a special experience every time, despite the pain it causes me. [Laughs.]
Because of all that physical pain and the emotional struggle over the last five seasons — like Jamie killing his biological father — is this the most challenging role you’ve ever played? How do you look back at your Yellowstone experience?
Easily. Just in the content, every scene is cathartic and every scene is so challenging, because at the core, Jamie is so weak and lost and ineffectual that it’s very frustrating and difficult and weighs heavy on me. But also, there’s a lot of darkness in him and a lot of emptiness and and carrying that for seven years has been heavy — because I never wanted to give it up, so that it was always there, I could always access it to play it again. So in its longevity, it also has been a challenge.
Yellowstone airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. on Paramount Network.
