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From Paramount+‘s Dutton Ranch to Apple TV‘s Lucky, Annette Bening is having a moment.
More than four decades into her impressive career, the versatile, award-winning actor is stealing scenes as an antagonist in two of 2026’s most highly anticipated series. The hit Yellowstone spinoff, which recently wrapped its first season, sees Bening step into the boots of Beulah Jackson, a powerful “grizzly in Gucci” ranch owner. And in the adaptation of Marissa Stapley’s 2021 novel, she plays Priscilla Matheson, a mob boss and estranged mother-in-law of protagonist Lucky (Anya Taylor-Joy).
Despite their differences, both characters share a similar essence. They’re strong, wealthy, formidable, badass businesswomen with layers. They carry trauma, care deeply for their families, and conceal a contradictory vulnerability. And both roles prove that Bening has mastered the art of portraying a morally complex matriarch.
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“They’re very different in my imagination. I think I did Priscilla first, so I didn’t know I was going to be doing Beulah yet. But with Priscilla, there’s something really satisfying — and I found this as I was working… I felt very liberated by her sociopathy,” Bening told DECIDER over Zoom. “Yes, she has a moral compass. And she does grieve when bad things happen. But I think [I’m drawn to] playing somebody who really acts on their worst instincts. That’s what it was. It was so satisfying.”
In Dutton Ranch, as Bening’s character Beulah tries to manage and protect her sons Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) and Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba), she butts heads with Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly). “Between these two women, there’s so much admiration. There’s also suspicion. There’s also attraction. There’s also jealousy. It’s all there,” Bening told DECIDER when discussing the Taylor Sheridan series. And in Lucky, as Priscilla goes head-to-head with her daughter-in-law, the two dynamic women similarly challenge each other.
“[Taylor-Joy] comes in with a very strong point of view, and I like that. And the writing is good, so I also came in with a strong point of view. The characters were very much at odds. And that makes for good drama. So I enjoyed trying to crack her open and try to get her to do something,” Bening said.
Though Priscilla doesn’t show up until the last 10 minutes of Lucky‘s premiere, she makes a grand entrance when her SUV drives straight into an FBI agent who’s holding Lucky at gunpoint. The vehicle slowly backs up, and Priscilla rolls the window down, flashes a smirk, and softly says, “Hello, dear. It’s been a while.”
Over Zoom, Bening is a sweet soul who radiates a contagious, uplifting zest for life. But in the back seat of that SUV with Lucky, wearing Priscilla’s edgy, high-end wardrobe, she transforms into a confident, sassy, ruthless leader determined to find her missing money.
Her ability to remain calm in heated moments is chilling. And in Episode 2, when she visits Lucky’s dad John (Timothy Olyphant) in prison or investigates her son’s car rental, we see her humor and wiles in action. When she shoots a man who swears he knows nothing about her son’s disappearance, we see her capacity for cruelty. But as a mother reckoning with her flaws, or a woman in the presence of Wayne Whittaker (William Fichtner) — a menacing man higher up in the crime chain of command — we see more vulnerable, emotionally complex sides of Priscila.
“What a relationship,” Bening told DECIDER of Priscilla and Wayne. “The writing, and their past — they have this long, complicated, horrible past. And I think that Priscilla’s still trying to get his approval, trying to get his love. She wants something back from him. And she deserves it… He scares the hell out of her, and she’s not easily scared.”
No spoilers, but as Lucky progresses, Bening runs the gamut of emotions and delivers another powerful performance, just as she did in Dutton Ranch‘s debut season. Bening is a mood. Bening is the moment. She’s making the most of her villain era, and we can’t wait to see what else she has in store.
New episodes of Lucky premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.
