‘Yellowstone’ Star Talks Heartbreaking Death and Fan Response

[This story contains major spoilers from Yellowstone episode four of season 5B, “Counting Coup.”]

Yellowstone viewers are left reeling from the death of one of the show’s original cowboys.

[Spoilers ahead…]

Sunday night’s episode — the fourth in season 5B, “Counting Coup,” written by show co-creator Taylor Sheridan — handed another character a tragic ending when Colby Mayfield, played by Denim Richards, was accidentally killed by one of the Yellowstone horses while trying to save a fellow cowboy-in-training, Carter (Finn Little). Colby, who has been a beloved ranch hand at the Dutton family’s Yellowstone homestead since the launch of the mega-hit Paramount Network series in 2018, leaves behind a bunkhouse in mourning, including his girlfriend Teeter (Jennifer Landon).

Colby’s death being a freak accident amid the twists and turns and giant narrative swings in the high stakes and possible final season of TV’s No. 1 series hit so hard because of its realistic simplicity, Christina Voros, who directed the hour, told The Hollywood Reporter. “For anyone who really understands the lifestyle of cowboys and working with animals and the risks … it’s a dangerous job, and this kind of thing happens and it happens in a split-second,” she explained. “This death comes as a shock because it’s so simple, and it’s so grounded in the world in which all these characters work that it’s profoundly tragic because there’s no enemy here. And especially because of the way that Colby and Teeter’s [Jennifer Landon] relationship has been playing out … the timing of it is just gut-wrenching.”

Now, speaking to Richards, the actor who Yellowstone fans have watched since the pilot says he understands viewers feeling sad and angry about his fate. And, he’s bowled over by it. “The death moved people and as an artist, that’s all I could hope for. That if you do get killed off, people care that your character goes,” he tells THR.

In the full conversation below, Richards reflects on his Yellowstone run and Colby’s fate coming after the deaths of both patriarch John Dutton (played by departed star Kevin Costner) and villain Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) in season 5B. Richards reveals when his fellow cowboys found out about what he now calls a full-circle ending, his response to the fan reaction, his latest conversation with onscreen love Jennifer Landon and how Colby’s death will impact the rest of the characters in what may be the flagship’s last-ever two episodes. [Note: A possible sixth season is in talks with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, after season 5B was announced to be the final season.]

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How does it feel that Colby’s fate is out?

I guess a little bit of relief, right? It’s been several months of having to keep this information in, and I don’t do very well with keeping information in. I’m not the best person when there are exciting things you want to tell people. But the reaction has been quite overwhelming in such a positive way. I didn’t really ever expect that it would mean so much to so many people. I’m really thankful for that. We have tremendously amazing fans who are so invested in the show and characters, and so it’s been very beautiful to read the thousands of comments that have been pouring in in the last 12 hours or so.

People are really upset!

Part of the whole reason I ever wanted to get into acting — I’ve been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old — was the ability to change people emotionally. You’re either making them feel happy or sad or indifferent. So as much as, of course, I’m sad to be killed, it feels fulfilling to know that it was impactful. That people actually cared about it. Hopefully that means we did a job well done. If there was gonna be one, I guess it should be like this!

How and when did you first find out about Colby’s death?

I found out in May. I was actually coming back from Texas, I was speaking at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit, and Christina [Voros, executive producer and director] called me. They had sent me a script the night before, but I was traveling and hadn’t read it yet. And Christina, in the gentleness that she is, kind of just told me, “Hey, this is what’s happening.” And this and this, “if you want to talk about it.”

I hadn’t even looked at the script yet, so of course you are a little taken back at first. The Denim of it all is very much like, “Wait, what?” And then as you come out of your own emotional state, you realize that the job itself is to serve a story. And as much as we, the individuals, get very attached to the outcome for our characters; they are part of a larger story and that is what we ultimately get hired to do. We get hired to service a story and to do it, hopefully, at top level. And that’s ultimately what became of it. So it’s been since May that I have known, and it’s been a lot of keeping things close to the vest.

A handful of your costars were in your final death scene. I know scripts were redacted and characters outside the main Duttons were only privy to storylines outside of their scenes on a need-to-know basis. When did your fellow cowboys who weren’t there find out?

We’re all very close, but look, we’re all professionals. We’ve been doing this for a while now, some a lot longer than others. We understand the gravity of what the show is. We understand how much it means to not only the great work that Taylor [Sheridan] has put into creating the show, and with 101 [Studios] and Paramount. No one at this end wants to ruin anything, no matter how emotionally engaged we may get.

Because we shoot things out of sequence, I think people knew pretty early on that it was going to happen. Because it was like, “Now they are all going to be doing such and such and, why isn’t this person here?” So at a certain point, you don’t need to say anything without people putting two and two together. Then when a couple people started to find out, we have text messages, conversations or maybe we’re all at dinner together at somebody’s house and so you just talk about it. And everyone gets to share their stories about when they were on shows and getting killed off, and what that looked like for them. So that was also very interesting to hear. In everyone’s great, long career, there are always those moments where that happens, and so that was an interesting learning experience as well.

Colby now joins the list of “TV characters gone too soon.” I spoke with Christina Voros and she explained that his death is a risk of the job and that it’s so heartbreaking because it’s that simple. Colby goes out in an honorable way, trying to save Carter from the bucking horse, and he leaves behind Teeter. Colby and Teeter have become a couple to root for on Yellowstone — and you two already cheated death once before, in season three. Can you talk about filming that “I love you” final phone conversation between Colby and Teeter, and have you and Jennifer Landon [who plays Teeter] accepted this fate yet?

There are still moments where it is tough, right? Because I don’t know if anyone thought in season three when Jen came onto the show that we would become this fan-favorite couple, if you will. We were received so well by the fans. It just speaks to the artistry of Jen.

But the “I love you” was definitely a little more weighted, because I knew what my fate was. We are always walking this very intentional tightrope between the human and the artist where you finally get to say “I love you” and finally feel like there’s a path, and then some type of tragic ending occurs, which could only happen in Shakespeare. So that was definitely very tough and, as you said, Taylor this year has been really intentional about leaning into some of the realities of what riding is and what being a cowboy is. Just because you are riding a horse doesn’t mean tragedy doesn’t happen. There’s a saying that everyone is going to fall off a horse — it’s not if it’s when, and how bad. And I think this was another moment where this is something that happens. And, it is very simple.

On the show we’re used to seeing some massive bar fight and someone getting dragged to the “train station” or a lab exploding, and this just wasn’t that. As you said, we already escaped the trampling of death by horses in season three and now, I guess, in a full-circle moment, this is where we find ourselves. Jen and I spoke very quickly yesterday and we pretty much said, you know, I think we did our job. The fans responded and are very sad about it, but I think it just speaks to the atmosphere that was created and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of it.

Fans are yes sad, and angry! Anything you want to offer them amid all their feelings?

(Laughs) There’s definitely been a tremendous outpouring. I haven’t had the opportunity to read everything, but I’ve read a lot. And I definitely get it, that it’s hard. I think everyone has their own way they see the show going. People waited 18 months for Yellowstone to come back, and I think some people were hoping to have more of what they’ve been used to — and it’s not going in that direction or a lot of them! That’s part of it. I think at the end of all of it, to be emotionally moved by something that is happening on television is a testament to the great writing, great atmosphere and great characters. So once we get passed the emotional state, I think the job is that the death moved people. As an artist, that’s all I could hope for, that if you do get killed off, people care that your character goes. But I definitely appreciate and I’m definitely overwhelmed by the amazing emotional response.

I want to hear what playing Colby has meant to you over the years. Can you talk about your cowboy skills when you entered the show compared to now, and how Yellowstone has changed your outlook on cowboy life?

Colby has been a big part of my life since 2017/2018, almost seven years. We have this saying that my who is not my do, and visa versa: Who I am is not what I do, and what I do is not who I am. But we are always kind of negotiating that line, and especially with a show like this that is so immersive. I had a little bit of horseback skills before getting onto this show, but nothing compared to what was required. And I think the gift of this show is not only being a part of something that is so tremendously successful but getting an opportunity to experience this real-life profession that people are doing every day, a profession that’s essentially feeding the world, and be able to meet so many tremendously talented artists.

I’ve learned so much. I feel like I’ve grown 20 years of experience in my artistic abilities from being around these great artists, from Kevin [Costner] for the first several seasons in to Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Ian Bohen and Jen Landon — the list goes on and on. And of course Taylor [Sheridan], 101 [Studios] and Paramount, who took a swing with me from the beginning. I was relatively unknown beforehand and they saw something that I guess they liked, and this character was able to grow together into people’s homes and hearts. So I’ll always be very grateful. The only reason we’re having this interview now is because they took a chance in 2017, and for that I can’t be more grateful to them.

I spoke with Christina about how Colby’s death will reverberate for everyone. Even Rip (Cole Hauser) we see really sitting with his emotions about how high the stakes are. Going into the show’s final two episodes (possibly ever, if the flagship ends its run as was planned), how does Colby’s death raise the stakes even more?

I think it grounds the show in a different way. Going in, you have a mindset that there’s a finality that may exist and in reality, finality is kind of ever-flowing. I think this death was something where you realize life is very tenuous. And going forward, it brings a little bit more of a grounding, or more of a foundation, to what’s already going on.

Sometimes the show’s stakes are so high that you can get lost in how high they are. And then, as Christina so beautifully stated to you, when you have something that’s so simple, it makes you just appreciate putting your boots on one leg at a time; the appreciation to just be on a horse and survive. I think that’s a moniker for life: Appreciate the moments that we do have and don’t look so far into the future that we aren’t able to fully embrace and appreciate what’s right in front of us.

Can you look a little into the future and tell me what’s next for you, and if we’ll see you in the larger Sheridan-verse anytime soon?

I have a few exciting things that we’ll hopefully be able to announce before the top of the year. Taylor has a lot of things going on and, of course, if there’s an opportunity to be a part of that world, it would be great. It would definitely be interesting if I were to do anything in that universe again, what that would look like and how the fans would be able to separate Denim from the Colby. It would probably have to be something diabolically different in that world (laughs), because I think so many people are so attached. But nonetheless, there will be some exciting things that I’m looking forward to. It’s the end for Colby, but not the end for Denim Richards. As my dad always says, success is a pearl and the goal is to string as many together as possible. And so undoubtedly, Yellowstone is a massive pearl on the necklace, but there are a lot more pearls to come.

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Yellowstone releases new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. on Paramount Network, followed by a linear premiere on CBS at 10 p.m. Head here for how to stream Yellowstone and follow along with THR‘s season 5B coverage, including the “Counting Coup” postmortem interview with director Christina Voros and Dawn Olivieri’s exit interview.