The Enforcer

Cole Hauser, who plays the tough-as-nails cowboy Rip on the hit show "Yellowstone," has been around horses since he was a little boy

- DAVID SAVONA

Cole Hauser looks like he can kick your ass. And kicking ass is the specialty of his most famous character, Rip Wheeler from the hit series "Yellowstone." He's the show's man in black, his dark cowboy hat often coated in trail dust, shades hiding his intense eyes, black beard covering a mouth that seldom smiles. The absolute opposite of a pretty boy, he's never chatty-and when he does talk it's often with a bit of menace in his voice. He's not the kind of guy to take a back seat to anything.

"Yellowstone" is a modern-day Western and the most popular scripted series on television. It debuted in 2018 on Paramount, an unlikely network to spawn a hit, but quickly garnered an audience that now enjoys a viewership just shy of 10 million per episode. Even its reruns, broadcast on CBS, draw millions of viewers, more than some new shows. In 2022, more than 12 million watched its season five premiere. They still await its conclusion. With long delays from a writers' strike and disagreements between the series creator and its biggest star, Kevin Costner, the season was split in two. After more than a year of waiting, "Yellowstone" will finally return on November 10 with its final six episodes.

The enthralling story of the American West centers around a vast Montana cattle ranch dating back to the late 1800s. Its owner is a man willing to do virtually anything to protect his land and his family from outsiders. The scenery is beautiful, majestic, and the protagonists are modern-day cowboys who work hard and play hard. They ride horses, carry guns and get into one fight after another to defend their ways.