Dutton Ranch buried the lede with Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind) for the first few episodes. Once you find out who her family is, everything about her fiery spirit starts to click. Lind opened up about her character and her family’s reveal to TV Insider. Warning: Dutton Ranch spoilers ahead!
Oreana was in a fight with her rodeo star boyfriend when she first crossed paths with Carter (Finn Little) in the Yellowstone spinoff. After Carter got arrested for fighting the rough guy off, Oreana bailed him out, and they’ve been growing closer ever since. Beth (Kelly Reilly) caught her son sleeping in his bed with Oreana in Episode 4, and she drove the girl home to the 10 Petal ranch. Oreana is the granddaughter of Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening), and the daughter of her dangerous son, Rob-Will (Jai Courtney). Beth laid things out plainly for Oreana as she drove her home: hurt Carter, and she’ll make her life hell. Oreana pushed back against Beth at first, but respected her by the time the drive was over.
A scene with Beulah showed the immense tension between grandmother and granddaughter. Lind says that Oreana’s anger isn’t just youthful rebelliousness.
“There’s definitely a lot to be revealed [with Oreana and Beulah,” she explains. “I actually think it’s the opposite of rebellion. I think it’s a cry for help in a way of wanting to feel loved. So, I don’t think it’s her just being a normal 24-year-old.”
Oreana’s anger is rooted in a deep desire for a different life and resentment for the generational trauma she inherited. She’s similar to Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) in the early season of Yellowstone in that way. Lind says that Oreana doesn’t want to follow in her father and Uncle Joaquin’s (Juan Pablo Raba) footsteps.
“She also has the influence of her father and her uncle, and they still live underneath her,” Lind says. “They’re developing this legacy, and I think she’s trying to break this pattern of generational trauma and do something different than what’s been done and try to break away from the life that’s already been given to her. I think there a lot of elements to it that are a lot more immense than just she’s throwing a tantrum.”
Viewers didn’t know who Oreana’s father was until midway through Season 1. Lind says that the father-daughter relationship is “messy.”
“It’s real messy,” she stresses. “If you meet Rob-Will in the first couple episodes, he’s not the perfect model of a dad. It was really important for Jai and I to develop our characters separately, because we’re not in the first couple episodes together. You can see that fiery passion that comes in both of them. Once you see them on-camera together, you’re like, ‘Oh, that makes sense. That’s an apple from that tree, for sure.’”
That’s certainly true. After their diseased herd of cattle had to be killed, Beth and Rip (Cole Hauser) may have to make an ally out of Beulah and the 10 Petal Ranch. That could be good for Carter and Oreana’s relationship, but then again, it could just bring their feuding families even closer to the tipping point of tension.