Since Yellowstone galloped off into the sunset with its 2024 finale, Cole Hauser has been busy working on another cowboy project.

Two years ago, when television’s biggest series was on hiatus between the first and second half of its fifth and likely final flagship season, the actor who has starred as fan-favorite Rip Wheeler, the Dutton family’s loyal ranch foreman on the Paramount Network series, partnered with PBR, the Professional Bull Riders league, for an ongoing campaign that debuted during the PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas last month.

The four-minute-plus short film (which you can watch below) sees Hauser both as star and director as part of a push to bring in a broader audience to the long-standing competitive sport and the events put on by the largest bull-riding league in the world. Hauser worked on the piece for four months and he says that seeing 30,000 people watching and cheering for the spot live in the stadium was pretty rewarding.

“Anybody who jumps on a bull is going to have not only talent, but courage,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter of the PBR athletes, also recalling the first time he was taught to ride a bucking bull by legendary cowboy Ty Murray while on the set of Hi-Lo Country. “That really enlightened me to the world that these guys live in. I’m a big fan of hopefully seeing the sport grow to a place where it’s true mainstream and on ESPN.”

Below in a wide-ranging interview, Hauser opens up about everything from his cowboy upbringings and Yellowstone casting story to his love for the PBR. As for that Rip and Beth spinoff series with his Yellowstone co-star Kelly Reilly — which is reportedly in development, though Paramount has not commented — Hauser sure hopes to get back on Rip’s horse sooner than later.

***

Millions of fans know you as Yellowstone cowboy Rip. Recently, thousands also watched you play a different cowboy in this ad that you directed for the PBR. When did you begin this partnership?

A little over two years now. After I directed my first ad last year, Sean [Gleason, the CEO] loved it, and asked me to come back and do another. He had been chasing me for a while (laughs). I didn’t really know how I could fit in and help him. It took a little while for us to figure that out. He’s a really brilliant guy. He said, “Look, we want to expose the PBR to more people and I feel like you have the ability to do that. I love the stories that you’ve told me about stuff that matters to you in the cowboy world.” He said I would have total autonomy to do what I wanted, as long as it has to do with Americana and what’s going on with our country, which matters a lot to me. The first ad was a huge success.

For this second one, he said, “I want to bring in a different audience. I want to bring in different cultures that people may not know love the sport. That people think don’t think exist.” If you look around at who is at the PBR, it’s not just middle Americans. It’s people on the edges. The biggest show they’ve had in the last few years is Madison Square Garden — they sold out every night. This sport has really spread and touched the coasts, whereas I think years ago it didn’t. So my interest was in showing those different cultures — whether they’re white-collar women or Black athletes playing football and coaching. Everybody loves this sport because of who these athletes are, and they’re putting their asses on the line.

When you say that Sean was chasing you, how did you first meet, at these bull-riding events?

I’ve been going to PBR forever, so I met Sean about 10 years ago when I took my wife and young son at the time. He’s been the CEO for close to 25 years. We got along nicely. He was very accommodating to my family and we just stayed in touch. It just so happened that after doing Yellowstone, I think he realized, “Ok, this is the right guy for the job.”

What are some of your earliest memories of learning how to ride that you have been thinking about as you started to put this piece together?

When I grew up in Oregon, I had a horse named Cinnamon and I used to bareback ride this horse all through the mountains. My mom at the end of the day, wherever I was, would ring this huge cowbell and that horse would stop, turn around and go back — because he knew he was going to eat. He would just pull me up to the front porch, lower his head — and I was so small at the time, I think I was 4 years old —and I would slide down his mane. I grew up that way around animals. Cows and chickens, all kinds, coyotes!

Then my love for the PBR came when I was 21. I did a move called Hi-Lo Country [in 1998] and Ty Murray, who is a three- or four-time world champion, taught me how to ride bulls. That was an experience you don’t forget. Being on a bull is a special experience. Since then I’ve loved the sport. I have a ton of respect for the riders. But these bulls, I think a lot of people think they’re not treated very well and they are treated better than the actual cowboys. (Laughs) They’re taken care of, they’re washed. They have an unbelievable feeding schedule to keep them strong and in shape. They’re really looked after, so I think when you pull back the curtain of the PBR it’s a little different than one might imagine.

How long did that take you to first learn how to ride a bull?

It was probably hours. The greatest advice Ty ever gave me, which is pretty smart if you’re not really getting paid for it, was when he said, “As soon as you start to feel like you’re going off, get off.” (Laughs) Don’t try to hold on. Because that’s usually when you get hung up. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a guy get hung up, but it’s pretty painful. So anytime I started to really feel like I was going off I would just get off, and that was the best advice he gave.

All of that then crescendos into you landing Yellowstone. In the press release about your partnership with the PBR, they called Rip one of the “most iconic cowboy characters since John Wayne.”

Wow, really? That’s very nice of them. (Laughs)

I read that you met [Yellowstone creators] John Linson and Taylor Sheridan early on in your acting career. When the role of Rip came around, did they come to you? How much did you influence Rip and the character they created and then evolved in the series?

John Linson was a friend of mine way before I met Taylor Sheridan. I’ve known him since I was 17 years old. I met him through a buddy of mine. He came to me initially [with Yellowstone] and said, “Take a look at these different roles and tell me what you think.” In the beginning it was to play one of the children of John Dutton. I read the pilot and I thought, well this guy [Rip] only has a couple of scenes, but I love the character. I got on the phone with Taylor. We spoke for two hours, and that was kind of it. Then I started to work with and be around Taylor while he was writing and he started building the character along with some of the ideas that I had. But he’s a tremendous American writer. It was a great collaboration.

Everyone did an intensive cowboy camp before Yellowstone began, something that has continued in prep for each show in the Yellowstone-verse. Given your background, did you have a lot to still learn?

There are levels to riding horses. It’s one thing if you get on a horse and take a walk on the beach. (Laughs) But when you have to start roping and cutting and stuff, that’s called saddle time. You gotta put it in. I don’t care who you are; there’s nobody naturally good at roping. It’s repetition and putting in the work. If you do that, then you’ll be good at it. I rode horses, but there are several disciplines that you have to learn to be a great horser. So it took a little while and, I’m still working on it! You have to go in every year and put in the work.

You live in Florida. How much are you riding in your own life, when you aren’t filming? Are you teaching your children to ride?

I don’t have a lot of time when I’m not working to ride. I’m a pretty much full-time dad with my wife [Cynthia Daniel]. I try to be involved in [my three kids’] lives [Ryland, Colt and Steely]. They’re athletes and they travel. I try to make sure I’m there and supporting what I need to do as a father. So I don’t do any riding in the off season. I’ll usually go out to Montana two or three weeks early [before filming Yellowstone] and get everything worked out. You’re sore for those weeks. You’re beat up a little bit, because I’m getting older! And with horses, you use different muscles. So you power through that and I usually ride for four, five or six months at a time [when filming].

You didn’t give yourself much time off in taking this PBR gig after finishing Yellowstone. Was this so important that you wanted to make it work?

Yeah (laughs). I was a little hesitant, but at the end of the day, I feel like it’s an important thing that needs to be seen. I’m a big fan of hopefully seeing the sport grow to a place where it’s true mainstream and on ESPN, and that these athletes are being treated with the respect that they deserve. They are high-end, top-of-their-game athletes. I want to help grow the brand. So I talked to my wife and she said, “You can go and do a couple weeks,” so I took [daughter Steely]. She’s in the commercial. You can watch and pick her out. I also snuck in Sean Gleason, he’s the Lieutenant Commander.

With this story you tell in the PBR ad, how much were you leaning into Rip? There are Rip vibes, but it feels like Cole speaking to the audience.

I can’t help the fact that I look like the character. I am the character (laughs). But I changed my jacket, my hair color and my hat. It’s not like I could put on shorts and flip flops, so it is what it is!

I can see how you leaned into appealing to women. Taylor Sheridan has leaned into the female audience, especially in more recent seasons of Yellowstone by spotlighting not only his starring women but more female characters in this world. That’s something we haven’t typically seen in Western projects. What inspired you here?

I grew up with three sisters. So the white-collar side of the ad, I just thought, I’m going to make these girls strong and cool and smart. So, they are kind of badasses! They’re on a $15 million yacht and then they jump into a million dollar Dodge, a classic car. Then they show up [at PBR] and they’re in their own space in VIP. They are full of energy and life. The women we cast were perfect for it.

The ad debuted during the recent PBR finals. That’s a big audience, but you’re also on a show that has the biggest audience on TV. Does the fandom differ when people approach you?

Not much! It’s the same world. When I walk through the stadium versus the airport, it feels exactly the same (laughs). It’s amazing how much people have fallen in love with not only the show but the character, and the amount of love I’ve gotten over the last seven years is just mind-blowing. I got into acting to affect people. So the idea that I’ve done that in a big way and that I can see personally is always something that is going to make an artist like myself feel good.

Rip is a major sex symbol. Rip and Beth (Kelly Reilly) are an iconic TV couple. How wild are your fan encounters?

I was at South Point, which is a notorious cowboy hotel in Las Vegas. A woman came up to me and she had a tattoo of my character and I thought it was fake. She said, “No, it’s real. I just got it done.” That’s crazy. (Laughs) That’s a crazy moment that someone would take the character and put it on her body, or that people would name their children after Rip. It’s just another acknowledgement of what Taylor started and our collaboration together, and the work that I’ve done with Kevin Costner and Kelly and Luke [Grimes], Wes [Bentley, the Yellowstone main cast]. It’s been a tremendous ride, and I look forward to hopefully more years with Kelly, seeing what we can create for the audience that is hopefully as good or better.

After the Yellowstone season 5B finale, we spoke about how you felt it was the most beautiful ending for Rip and Beth, yet it also opened the door to set them on a new story. Ever since the first reports came out about a Beth and Rip spinoff being developed, fans have been eagerly awaiting to hear more about what that could look like. When you are discussing continuing on with them, what is important to you in a Rip and Beth-focused series?

Not having the cast around certainly [is hard]. Forrie J. Smith [who played Lloyd] has become such a great friend of mine that to think that my right-hand guy wouldn’t be there [is hard]. But Kelly and I, we’re focused on [Rip and Beth’s] relationship and our love together, and what we’re going to get [them] into. I’m excited just like everybody else. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully, we’ll start seeing stuff soon.

How much does Rip leave you when you aren’t playing him?

I’m pretty good about turning the switch on and off. I have to come home and be dad. I have to be a husband. I wake up in the morning and feed my dogs and am just a normal guy. So I don’t think about him really unless I’m being interviewed about him or someone comes up and talks to me about him. When I go out in those weeks before filming, I get my head right. It’s not just a mental thing, it’s a physical thing, too. So it’s usually a crash-course in getting back in shape.

Have you now caught the bug to get behind the camera more, and would you be interested in directing while acting on your own show?

That’s a great question. I don’t know. I’ve never asked and there’s so much responsibility going forward. It’s not easy to do both [acting and directing] at a very high level, so I’d have to be careful about that. My responsibility right now is to be the best actor I can be.

But with directing [in general], yes. I’ve always wanted to be behind the camera. Being able to control and tell stories, whether with the lens or working with actors to help them and be better, or sharing what I’ve learned along the way, is what I really look forward to doing. I don’t think I’ll ever get away from the love I have for acting, but it’s a different version of storytelling. I love the process of being able to shoot something knowing I have control of the edit, what the message is. There are so many facets to being a storyteller and being able to use all of the people that you’ve worked with — great directors who I’ve been blessed to work with, some of the greatest I think in the last 25 years. I’ve learned a lot from them, so it’s been cool to take pieces I’ve learned from them all and implement them into how I tell a story.

So what are you working on with PBR next?

I don’t know. Sean and I will sit down like we always do in the year and look and what he wants to do. Because our visions are the same and because we’ve become so close, I think there’s some real synergy that will continue for the next couple of years. He’s over the moon about the response to this one, and I’m really happy. To see 30,000 people on their feet and cheer after watching something, that kind of gratification for him and myself and everyone else that was involved in PBR — everyone who worked their asses off in six days. I’m proud of the crew and the cast, so we’ll see what happens in the future.

By the way, when was the last time you were on a bucking bull?

When I was 21. And that will be the last time I’m on a bull. (Laughs) If I was 21 again, I would [do it again] maybe. It’s pretty exhilarating. But I’m 50 and I think if I hit the ground, I might not get up. And the ground is in your future at some point, if you’re riding a bull! I’ve fractured my back. I’ve separated my shoulder. I’ve broken my ankle in two places. I’ve dislocated and torn my ligaments in my knee. I’ve torn both hamstrings. I think I’m good for right now and should just take it easy. If Rip’s stunt double is riding the bulls, I’ll be sitting there watching where I belong. (Laughs)