‘Yellowstone’ Star Wes Bentley Believes Jamie Is More “Dangerous” Now Than Ever Before

As Yellowstone fans are aware, last season of the hit Paramount Network show was a rough one for Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley). But what else is new? In addition to Jamie’s being pushed out of the running for the Governor of Montana by John Dutton (Kevin Costner) for his disloyalty, he was blackmailed by Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) into killing his biological father, Garrett Randall (Will Patton), the man behind the attacks on John, Beth and Kaycee Dutton (Luke Grimes). Now a broken man, Jamie will have to battle for his political and literal survival in Season 5.

In the series premiere, Jamie is still Montana’s Attorney General and on the surface is seems happy to celebrate his father’s gubernational victory. However, the icy stare down between Jamie and Beth as John Dutton gives his victory speech is noted by Beth’s enemies at Market Equities as they take in the “celebration” on television. Could Jamie be the right man to lead a coup from the inside of the Dutton camp? We’ll have to watch and see.

Decider got the chance to chat with Wes Bentley about Jamie’s frame of mind entering Season 5, about whether there’s any hope of familial healing, and about why Beth should be very, very afraid of her brother.

DECIDER: It was nice to see that Beth’s blackmail of Jamie didn’t seem to kill his spirit. We loved his sly maneuvering when he introduced John Dutton and Lynelle Perry and asked both to come onstage at the victory party. Have the events of the Season 4 finale changed Jamie?

WES BENTLEY: Well, I would say don’t let his behavior in the first episode fool you. He’s attempting to show his loyalty to John because he’s afraid his head is on the chopping block next. Essentially, he’s saying: “I’m here for you. Even though you took my job, even though you made me kill my dad, I’m still here. I love you guys.” [Laughs] He’s playing a weird and desperate game, but inside, he is definitely broken.

He sees the Duttons differently now. He has lost any respect he once had for John because John’s wanting to be governor is so hypocritical. That was a path that John always had planned for Jamie, not himself. Plus, by forcing him to kill his biological father, Beth has gone too far to say the least. [laughs]. Any loyalty, real loyalty, any real love he may have had for John and Beth, is gone. He is now realizing what the game is, and his ambition hasn’t gone anywhere. Considering also the incredible rage that is building inside Jamie, the Duttons should be very afraid of where things are heading.

Who and what should Beth be more afraid of now? Jamie or Caroline Warner (Jackie Weaver) and her goons… or their potential team up?

I don’t think she is afraid of Jamie, which is why he might be the biggest threat to her. She’s got her eye on everyone else and thinks she has him locked down. But do you ever really have someone locked down? Jamie is someone whos killed people before, someone who’s ambitious and enraged, and someone she has now backed into a corner. She may not see it, but he is the one she should be afraid of.

John gets Beth to pour Jamie a whiskey, which feels like a little victory for Jamie, but in the next breath, John’s chastises Jamie for forcing him to become Governor when it should have been Jamie’s job. Is there any sliver of hope for a reconciliation ?

We’re always going to have a sliver of hope because that’s how we are. I don’t know if Jamie wants a reconciliation to happen anymore. Jamie might be done trying to have any real relationship with John and Beth. For now, he’s just going to just serve them and help them keep the ranch for his own benefit, not theirs. I don’t think Jamie has any real hope that they’re going to reconcile it all.

With John’s announcement that he plans to cancel funding for the Paradise Valley airport project and implement new taxes and fees for non-residents, his message to outsiders is clear: “We are not your playground. This is our home.” This move clearly shakes Jamie. What continues to drive Jamie’s need for progress and expansion in the wake of all that’s happened?

Jamie believes that he knows where everything is headed in America and understands how things work better than the Duttons and their allies. He believes that the massive amounts of money amassed by certain groups will mean that only the rich consortiums hold the real power to make decisions. In Jamie’s view, the wealthy few cannot be beaten. The Duttons are aware of this as well, but they don’t care and think that they can win their ranch the cowboy way. Jamie’s just trying desperately to make John and Beth get in line with the new world order because he still hopes to own a piece of the Yellowstone someday. But that’s another piece of advice from him that they’re not going to listen to. It’s just another failure for Jamie.