As Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser promote the Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch, conversation has naturally centered on Beth, Rip, and the new series. In one recent interview, however, Reilly turned her attention to a former co-star whose real-life trajectory has been almost as dramatic as anything on screen: country star Lainey Wilson.

A private audience at the ranch

Speaking with Absolute Radio Country on May 15, 2026, Reilly recalled the period when Wilson was still a relative newcomer to many of the Yellowstone cast. Wilson appeared in Season 5 as Abby, the musician who becomes involved with ranch hand Ryan. That season was filmed during the height of Covid restrictions—what the production came to call the “Covid Season.”

With travel and outside entertainment limited, Wilson began performing for the cast and crew on weekends. “Lainey was putting on—before anyone really knew who she was—she was putting on shows for us at the barn, at the ranch, just the weekends, because we couldn’t go anywhere else,” Reilly said. “We were all in a family together, so yeah, [it’s] pretty wild to see where she is now… she’s extraordinary.”

The image is a striking one: a future arena headliner playing informal sets in a barn for a locked-down television production, long before her name dominated country-radio charts and award shows.

From the ranch to Billy Bob’s

The connection between Wilson’s real career and her Yellowstone role deepened as filming continued. Reilly, Hauser, and other members of the cast and crew later attended one of her concerts while the production was in Texas. That appearance fed directly into the Season 5 finale. Wilson performed at Billy Bob’s Texas, and the production filmed her with a live audience drawn from her actual show, blurring the line between the character Abby and the artist herself.

By the time Yellowstone ended, Abby and Ryan’s story closed on a hopeful note as Ryan chose to leave ranch life and travel with her. Wilson’s own career, meanwhile, accelerated rapidly. The performer who had once entertained a small production family on weekends was soon filling much larger stages.

Parallel chapters

Reilly’s comments come as she and Hauser move into a new phase with Dutton Ranch, taking Beth and Rip into fresh territory. Wilson has moved forward as well—continuing to release music, expand her touring profile, and begin a new personal chapter that includes marriage. Although her time as Abby has concluded, the affection from former co-stars remains evident.

Reilly’s recollection underscores how unusual the Yellowstone set could be: a major television production confined by a pandemic, a rising country artist finding an early audience among her fellow actors, and a role that allowed her public persona and fictional character to overlap in real venues. For those who were there, watching Wilson’s subsequent rise has carried a particular satisfaction.

“To see what Lainey Wilson is doing [now],” Reilly said, still sounding slightly amazed. From private barn shows to national stardom, the arc has been, in her word, extraordinary.