Why Yellowstone's Wes Bentley Finds Playing Jamie Dutton 'Overwhelming'
The popularity of "Yellowstone" has grown in leaps and bounds over the course of its five seasons. As such, members of the Dutton family and the supporting cast have become household names, particularly as fans wonder who will survive the final run of episodes that is set to conclude the series in 2024. A lot of this hinges on the sibling rivalry between Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), two characters who have been at odds with one another since the beginning. For his part, Bentley told The Hollywood Reporter that he grapples with playing the character and that it's hard to escape Jamie when it's time to go home.
"Jamie stays with me," the "Yellowstone" actor admitted. "I don't always want him there! When I see people talking about method acting, my experience is that I'm trying as hard as I can to shake him ... It's been tricky, though, because of the length of time. Because of the dynamics."
Though the performer said he's had some success in losing Jamie, he is afraid that it will all fall to the wayside when he goes back to film more scenes on "Yellowstone." "I'm sort of on my own here. I don't really know what's going on," Bentley continued. "Life happens, and it drifts a bit. But I have a feeling it's so ingrained that once we start really gearing up, it will all just come flooding back and be overwhelming again."
Bentley is uncomfortable with Jamie, but he enjoys the challenge
Wes Bentley went on to stress how hard it is for him to remain indifferent to Jamie while playing him on "Yellowstone," suggesting that even he has a hard time liking the character. "The unknown about how I'm going to feel about closing it. Will I hate this guy? Like, I hate playing him. I try not to judge my characters, but it's been enough years that it's hard not to at this point," Bentley asserted. "It's very hard to play him. And at the same time, I love it."
Jamie has been a divisive character on "Yellowstone" for nearly the entirety of the series. While some fans think that he got a raw deal, being that he was ostracized by his father, John (Kevin Costner), for doing what he asked and becoming a lawyer, others see him as a snake in the grass or even a sniveling weakling.
Regardless of what side of the fence Bentley himself comes down on in the end, he does have one positive about playing the character for all these years. "I'm going to miss the challenge," he said. "Every single scene is literally the hardest scene I've ever had to do. Or it's bringing in a new challenge. If the next thing is not the same challenge, I'm definitely going to miss it. I'm going to wrap it up or laminate it or something."