‘Yellowstone’ star Kelly Reilly on the ‘gift’ of filming in the American West after Hit Show’s finale

Kelly Reilly has spent over half a decade filming the blockbuster “Yellowstone” in some of the most stunning natural settings in the West – including Park City and Ogden, Utah, and Darby and Missoula, Montana.

And while her character, the bitter and often sadistic Beth Dutton, may have grown weary of her surroundings, Reilly told Travel + Leisure ahead of the show’s Sunday finale, that she will forever be amazed by the beauty of the show’s real-life setting.

“I was very humbled by it,” she said. “You have the bears and the wolves and the eagles, and you feel very small, but at the same time very connected to things. Not only has being on the show been a gift, but experiencing that part of America (has also).”

Off camera, a particularly humbling experience also made Reilly realize just how big her surroundings out west could be. Early in the show’s run, the actress drove alone from the ranch in Darby, Montana, where the show’s Yellowstone Ranch is set, to a hotel in Rock Creek to meet her husband, Kyle Baugher. Google Maps gave her two options: a three-hour route that would take her up and around Missoula, or a more direct route that would only take an hour and 20 minutes. She chose the shorter route.

“I didn’t realize it was called Skalkaho Pass and it was a mountain pass! And I’m doing it in November,” she said. “I’m in a rental car and I’ve never been so scared in my life. By the time I got to the bar, I had a very large bourbon.”

However, Reilly has never shied away from adventure in her travels, even in her 20s taking an impromptu solo trip to a cattle ranch in Argentina after a breakup.

“I was completely devastated and I couldn’t do Christmas at home, so I got on a plane to Buenos Aires and I drove out to this cattle ranch for two weeks,” she recalled. “It was magical, therapeutic and emotional for me. It’s so woven into your life. If you’re lucky enough to travel, it’s such an experience.”

Nice to follow Yellowstoneher next venture – to collaborate with and be the face of a campaign for Ammunition wine and whiskey — may not be so outdoorsy, Reilly takes on his new role after the reign.

“I want whiskey and I want bourbon,” she said. “I have so many female friends who drink bourbon, but it still feels like a man’s drink, and we’re not going to change a thing. We’re just like, ‘Hey, we’re at the party too, and we’re enjoying it ‘«.

Perhaps a natural fit, Reilly’s hotel of choice is also in a state known for whiskey, the Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.

“It’s a really beautiful location,” she said. “You’re in nature, but you’re also eating a beautiful meal, and they have a wine cellar to die for. So it’s such a connection, the marriage of both. But if I can get a hotel for a weekend with my husband, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I’m always ready to discover more.”

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