Yellowstone Star Reveals How Show's First LGBTQ+ Scene Was Added to Season 5
While Paramount Network's Yellowstone has plenty of memorable moments, there's one from Season 5 that, for many, stands out. The season's seventh episode, "The Dream is Not Me", saw the series' first LGBTQ+ kiss when John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) assistant Clara Brewer (Lilli Kay) is seen making out with someone while sitting behind John and Summer (Piper Perabo) at the county fair. The moment got quite a bit of attention from viewers who quickly noted that it meant there were "lesbians on the ranch" but according to Kay, the moment happened out of logistical convenience — and no one really expected it to be that big of a deal.
"I'll tell you something about that. We were in our COVID protocol. It was written that Clara is making out with someone in the background behind John and Summer. And we were trying to figure out who was easy and comfortable [to cast] who was also in the testing cycle," Kay told Deadline. "My partner, Juli Kocemba, was there with me in Montana so they said, 'oh, let's just have you guys make out in the background.' My partner's non-binary, so we were like, 'well, it's a gender fluid makeout in the background.' We thought, nobody's gonna make a big deal about it. And then a lot of people made a very big deal about it."
She continued, "It was very funny because I did not expect anyone to even really catch it. And then people were like, 'lesbians on the range!' It was very, very funny But it was a fun little evening. We got to listen to some really good music and hang out and quietly make out in the background. Lesbians on the ranch!"
Kay also revealed that she isn't sure who ultimately made the call that Kocemba would be her scene partner for that, but did note that since her father was directing, it was a very awkward moment at work for him. Her father, Stephen Kay, is married to Piper Perabo whose character, Summer, was kissing John Dutton in the scene as well.
"I'm not really sure," she said. "My father was the director. He was really wonderful and great. It was also the most awkward day for him at work, directing his wife kissing Kevin Costner and his daughter making out with her partner."
When will Yellowstone return with new episodes?
Fans will have a little bit of a wait for the remaining episodes of Season 5 of Yellowstone. On Sunday, Paramount Network released a teaser for the upcoming back half of Season 5, revealing that the series will return sometime this summer. A specific date was not given. Piper Perabo gave an update in a recent interview revealing that the series seemingly hasn't even begun production on the second half of the season, though she did tease that there is a "lot coming".
"There's a lot coming. Things are on the move," Perabo told TV Insider. "I can't wait to get back to the back half just because I want to know what happens. I personally only know what happens up to the midseason finale up to that last second, and I don't know what happens when we come back.... I think you can tell that things are going really south because [the seventh] episode doesn't end at the fair; it ends with him practicing that speech. And Taylor's very good — if you're paying attention, he's telling you where the trouble's coming from. I think the fact that he ends with that scene is, for those paying attention, he's showing you."