'Dutton Ranch' star slams "misleading" role in show

When you're an actor of a certain caliber, a call to join a prestigious Taylor Sheridan series is usually the sign you're getting a pretty meaty role, given the empire the prolific creator has built around huge, ensemble casts that get starrier and starrier with every show he puts out. Many of Hollywood's biggest stars are signing up to play key figures in the Yellowstone universe that just won't stop expanding, but according to one of the stars of Dutton Ranch, those promises aren't being kept.

Speaking to Variety at the premiere of Apple TV’s The Dink, Ed Harris revealed he felt “misled” about the size of his role in Dutton Ranch, admitting that halfway through filming he was telling his representatives to “get me the f— out of here.”

“Prior to signing on for it, I was talked to quite a bit about what the season was, and what my character was going to do — and that I was one of the four main characters,” Harris said. “And that wasn’t really the case.”

Ed Harris Says He Felt “Underused” in 'Dutton Ranch' Season 1

Harris, who plays veterinarian Everett McKinney in the Yellowstone spin-off, said he voiced his frustrations during production after feeling his character had become “underused and inconsequential.” Despite those frustrations, Harris admitted his opinion softened once he watched the finished series.

“I said, ‘I’m feeling underused and inconsequential,’ and they kind of went, ‘Oh.' I’m being told my character will have a little bit more to do [in Season 2]. I was just a little frustrated, to tell you the truth. When I watched it, I thought it was pretty good,” he said, adding that Everett ultimately felt “relatively important to the story,” even if it hadn’t felt that way while filming.

One moment that still frustrates the Oscar nominee was a deleted scene in which Everett performed a song in a bar, with Harris recalling filming the sequence only to discover it had been cut because producers felt it was too upbeat for the episode’s ending.

“So there’s this scene in there… I walk up to the mic, and they cut it. They cut the song out. I’m going, ‘F*ck you, people.’”

Dutton Ranch stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Ed Harris, Finn Little, Juan Pablo Raba, Jai Courtney, J.R. Villarreal, Marc Menchaca, Natalie Alyn Lind, and Annette Bening. Season 1 is now streaming on Paramount+.