The actor who plays Rip Wheeler in the ‘Yellowstone’-verse is celebrating a collaboration with the Professional Bull Riders league that landed him both in front of and behind the camera.
Cole Hauser in ‘Yellowstone.’ Paramount Network
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.”
