If you have watched Yellowstone, you have undoubtedly noticed the breathtaking beauty of its surroundings. It's one of the reasons that Kevin Costner feels the hit drama possesses such an allure with audiences. Of course, all of that beauty is subject to nature and its wrath. So what is the hardest part of shooting outdoors? Well, series actor Cole Hauser has now weighed in.
When it comes to filming a show like Yellowstone -- which naturally takes place outdoors in many cases -- you have to wonder how challenging it must be to work with and around the weather. Promoting Season 3, Cole Hauser spoke to me and answered that question. I asked him about the hardest part of filming and he had an unexpected answer.
Uh, when it gets like early December and it’s freezing, and you’re sitting on a horse, freezing to death with the horse. The horse is shaking, and you’re shaking with it. Waiting for them to say 'action.'
Cole Hauser has previously hinted at this on his social media. The Yellowstone actor posted about “waking up on a horse” before evoking the HBO hit Game of Thrones with the tagline “Winter is coming.” In fact, Hauser posted that last September when production on Season 3 was in full swing.
If falling asleep on a horse sounds rough, Cole Hauser’s above answer hints at the first half of the issues. There is also the notorious wait in between takes that actors have to deal with while filming. The magic of Yellowstone does not come together without a lot of painstaking effort, after all. Despite this, Hauser explained that it's not the horses that make the wait between takes extensive:
The horses that we’re on are just A++, they’re amazing horses, and we don’t wait on them. It’s them usually waiting on either the director or the camera operators or something like that getting things set, but these horses that we’re on are fantastic.
Rip’s picturesque rides have been a signature of Yellowstone, and the sweeping vistas give him a lot of beauty to roam in between coming to blows. This wouldn't be possible without the horses, so it's good to hear that Cole Hauser doesn't have any problems when it comes to the faithful creatures, except when it's cold as all get out, of course. If anything, they're in the same boat as the actors, since they also have to wait for their cues.
Going through Cole Hauser’s answer again, I wonder how long the bear that attacked Rip in Season 1 had to wait for its take That had to be an intense day of filming on Yellowstone, to say the least. Thankfully, all of the hard work of the cast and crew (including those horses) has paid off. The western series on Paramount network is a huge hit and thankfully it's almost back.
You can watch Cole Hauser’s hard work pay off throughout the summer when the third season of Yellowstone premieres on Father’s Day, which is Sunday, June 21, at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount Network. If you want to catch up on all of the past glorious outdoor action, stream Yellowstone when it becomes available on NBCUniversal’s upcoming streamer, Peacock. The service launches nationally on July 15.
