Warning! SPOILERS for Yellowstone season 4
Yellowstone season 4 on Paramount+ has been a streaming dynamo, becoming one of the most-watched and most-talked about TV dramas currently playing and just debuted on Blu-ray/DVD. Created by Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton, the patriarch of The Yellowstone Ranch, the largest cattle ranch in Montana. The drama series revolves around the Dutton family and their attempts to keep hold of their land, while fighting off local and outside interests. In addition to Costner, the show stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Forrie J. Smith, Ryan Bingham, Jefferson White, And Denim Richards. Jen Landon plays Teeter, the female ranch hand who more than holds her own surrounded by the male-dominated world she lives in, offering up comic relief, as well as a persona that challenges the status quo.
Screen Rant spoke with Jen Landon about her journey in Yellowstone season 4, including how the show has changed her personal and professional life, how she approached the masculine and feminine traits of Teeter when she was offered the role, why she thinks Teeter is drawn to her fellow ranch-hand Colby, and what Yellowstone really means to the character.
Jen Landon: I’m so into your room.
Oh, it’s distracting. There’s a lot going on here.
Jen Landon: It’s very soothing.
If you’re a movie or TV fan it’s for you, for sure.
Jen Landon: Okay, okay. I’m not gonna stare at all the things, but like, I’m really into it.
It’s kind of like a nerd museum in many ways. You could literally soak in. There’s art posters from pretty much all over the world, all over my movie travels.
Jen Landon: So cool
So, every time I see you on Yellowstone-I watch the show with my fiancé and we love it to pieces-every time Teeter shows up, both of us are like, “Teeter! Teeter!” We just scream it out every single time. We can’t help it. It’s a natural thing. Every single time you’re on screen. I’m just curious, does that happen to you in real life? Like, places where you’re out and about and there’s fans and they’re like, “Teeter!”
Jen Landon: No…well, go ahead…
Because that’s what I would do. I’m just saying. I would be that annoying guy that would be like, “Teeter!” and you’d be like, “Oh my god, this guy-“
Jen Landon: No, so, I don’t get recognized, because I think I just look so different for some reason. I register as different. People I work with don’t recognize me when they see me. They’re like, “who are you?” and I’m like, “It’s Jen. It’s Teeter.” And they’re like, “What?”
When I had pink hair in Montana it happened a couple times and it was exactly like that and I loved it, because it was like these young dudes driving and I was putting gas in my car and they were like, “Teeter!”
Yes! I mean, you gotta have the pink hair, I mean obviously that’s gonna do it. So, this show is huge, Yellowstone has blown up. It’s tremendous. How much has it changed your life and your career just being a part of it? You came in through season 3 and now you’re just a staple character with that whole ensemble. What is that like for you? What’s it been like?
Jen Landon: I think it’s changed my life in ways that I’m not aware of that will reveal themselves. ‘Cause you’re not on the outside and you’re not at the extent that it’s trickling out into the world. So, for me, my experience is so-as the actor who’s been employed, who’s been unemployed, who’s moved shows, who’s done a ton of episodes of TV. For me, it’s so nice to feel like I have a home and I already grieve, the sort of loss of that home in advance, because all things must end. And, I mean, way in advance. But, yeah, it’s just amazing to feel like I have a home, and also, I don’t love being in L.A., which is where I live. I took an acting sabbatical and went and lived on a cattle ranch in Montana ten years ago, down in Paradise Valley, so it was kind of perfect for me.
Yeah, right?
Jen Landon: And, essentially, when we’re shooting those animals are those animals and we’re working them and so it’s like the perfect fit.
So, I want to talk about the character a little bit here. Like I said, I watch this with my fiancé and we talk about this together and we really talked about how Teeter, she balances between being feminine and masculine at the same time in this male-dominated world, yet she always manages to never really need to be either. She feels like one of the few characters that actually knows who she is, so I’m curious how was this character presented to you when you got the role and how much did you add to it in the course of playing her?
Jen Landon: Yeah. You nailed it, by the way, because I was talking to somebody earlier about how gender isn’t even a thing for her. It’s just not. She’s like pre-societal anything. She’s so animal in that way. This is how you know somebody’s just a frickin’ genius is that I had one scene to audition with and there was a character description and, y’know, you get stuff from the character description. But, in that one, two-page scene between the stage direction and how she listened and responded to the people she was talking to, you got, for me, I knew-I tried that on and she became incredibly clear to me and that’s really good writing. And, I felt like it was just a really good match. There’s a lot of parts of me that, like-there are a lot of similarities between Teeter and I. It’s just a really good fit. I’ve always done dude stuff. I didn’t like that there were dude things to do and chick things to do. It made me feel weird growing up and I didn’t like a lot of the chick stuff-
That definitely sounds like Teeter. That definitely fits her persona.
Jen Landon: Teeter likes activities. She likes activities. And, the one thing that audience doesn’t know and I don’t even know if Taylor [Sheridan] knows this and I know it from the inside is that Teeter loves monster trucks.
[Laughs] We need to get Teeter in a monster truck for season 5. If we can just make that happen.
Jen Landon: Teeter loves monster trucks. Loves monster trucks.
The funniest thing is you say that, I can see it. I can see her pulling up in Bigfoot, “Hey, whatchyall doin?” I can see it.
Jen Landon: Hell yeah! She loves monster trucks and she likes to go to monster truck shows wherever they are. She wants to see the things go off the high things and land.
That’s hilarious. So, I have to talk about Denim Richards, who plays Colby. He initially rebuffs Teeter’s advances, just like no. But, he really seems to warm up to it. Is this just from you breaking him down? And then also, what is it about Colby that you think Teeter chases? She basically has the pick of the litter, but she goes after Colby. What do you think it is that draws her to him?
Jan Landon: Man, I think there’s a lot of things and it’s a lot to get into, but I knew she was gonna hook in on him and so when I read it in the script, I was like, “yup.” Y’know, there’s something where she can really ruffle his feathers. He’s got a lot of feathers to ruffle, y’know? There’s a sort of, I always felt there was gonna be some sort of unspoken connection that neither of them would talk about, which is the function of being a little bit of an outsider. Denim Richards. Colby stands out. Teeter stands out.
That’s true. That does make sense.
Jen Landon: You know what I mean? So, I think there’s that unspoken relating on that level. And, I don’t know for Teeter, like “no means yes” and I don’t want to make it that. There’s just no ego. There’s no, like, her being rejected by him is gonna be like, “Oh, my feelings are hurt its gonna make me unsure.” It’s just like, I’m just gonna keep going at this thing and you’re a dummy if you don’t take it. Like, what time is a good time, dude?
So, Teeter frequently serves as comic relief throughout the show, but she has some very serious moments, too, particularly with this season as she fights to stay on the ranch, citing her commitment and, especially now that she carries the brand. So, what do you think Yellowstone means to Teeter? Why does she fights so hard to stay there?
Jen Landon: Yeah, I talked to Taylor a little about it in season three and we had the same idea that Teeter was raised on a sheep farm, older brothers, probably without a mom, a real sense of family. And, I felt like she sort of lost that family to a host of different issues and that she’s been a mobile worker ever since, moving around ranch to ranch, you take jobs here and there, and she’s so crusty and guarded and all that stuff, but she really longs for that sense of family and she’s found that family at the Dutton ranch. And, I’ve always imagined that she doesn’t really want to go anywhere else ever.
Awesome. Jen, that’s all the time we have. I’m so pumped to have been able to talk to you today. We love the show. I love Teeter. It’s so great, so thank you so much and can’t wait to see more of you.
Jen Landon: Thanks, man. Good talking to you.
Yellowstone season 4 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD and will begin streaming on Peacock on March 28th, 2022.
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