‘He has a heart of gold. He is loyal as loyal gets’: Cole Hauser on the romantic draw of ‘Yellowstone’s Rip Wheeler

When Paramount’s number one series, Yellowstone, premiered in 2018, one character immediately stole the show: Cole Hauser‘s Rip Wheeler. The cowboy with a heart of gold, albeit buried beneath layers of a rough exterior, and a charming smile swept us right off our feet and into dreamy scenarios on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.

Acting as John Dutton’s right-hand man, Wheeler’s contributions to the series are plentiful. Yellowstone is a love letter of sorts, and a significant point of fan adoration is The Cowboy, himself. When Hauser recently spoke with WFFA‘s Matt Howerton, he discussed that idea.

Howerton asked if Hauser is ever taken aback by the ardor that comes his way for portraying such an iconic character. Hauser spends a lot of time as Rip, crafting pieces of his personality to take on storylines that are everything from wild and wicked to romantic and fun, and there are multitudes of his persona that fans can’t get enough of. So does he know what that big draw of the character is?

The truth is, Hauser believes there are many reasons for it, but one aspect of the Rip Wheeler draw still surprises him.

“The women aspect of it was a bit surprising, I won’t lie. I’ve always appealed to men (laughter). They’re like, ‘That guy’s crazy. He’s cool. He says what he wants, he does what he wants.’ But the aspect of women falling in love with him — I guess I understand it, but at first it was a surprise, but now I get it. He has a heart of gold. He is loyal as loyal gets. He’s honest. He’s not full of s**t, which most people are. So I think, again, there’s a lot of colors to him that appeal to not only the female audience, but also the male audience as well.”

Yellowstone‘s audience is immense, with fans of the series sprinkled all over the world — and while he’s admired for a variety of reasons, the appeal of Rip is layered to those who have hearts that skip a beat when he’s on-screen. He’s handsome; no one can deny that — in fact, he’s so good-looking it’s almost painful, but there’s more to it than that. He’s patient, understanding, vulnerable, and forgiving — Hauser said it best; Rip has a heart of gold.

See what we mean; who else could deliver a speech as great as that one?

So as you anxiously anticipate the second half of season five, now is the perfect time to watch the first four seasons of Yellowstone and find yourselves being reminded of all the magic that is Rip Wheeler, and trust me — there’s plenty of it.