Jai Courtney’s Dark Side on Dutton Ranch: Why This Villain’s Power Move Will Shock Every Fan
Ever wonder what it’s like to step out of Hollywood’s relentless buzz into a quiet life where your internet might ghost you for two whole days? That’s exactly where Jai Courtney finds his peace — somewhere in the wilds of upstate New York, away from the glare, embracing the calm like a long overdue vacation from the usual chaos. But don’t be fooled by the tranquility; on screen, he’s far from serene. His latest role as the villainous Rob-Will in the gritty Paramount+ hit Dutton Ranch just wrapped its season finale, and man, was it a ride! Picture a character with not one, not two, but three first names — Rob-Will is a wild card, a tumbleweed of trouble in the vast landscape of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe. I got the chance to chat with Jai about living life unplugged, diving deep into the morally twisted world of Rob-Will, and how playing a villain can uncover parts of ourselves the heroes never dare to explore. Spoiler alert: Rob-Will’s journey ends in a blaze, but Jai’s reflections and upcoming projects hint this Australian bad guy’s story isn’t the only thrilling ride ahead. Ready to peek behind the scenes and into Jai’s mind? LEARN MORE
6 min readThis story contains spoilers for the season finale of Dutton Ranch.
Jai Courtney lives a secluded life. The 40-year-old Australian actor and his family live in upstate New York, or “the country,” as he calls it, where it’s common for your Internet to drop out for 48 hours at a time. “I left Los Angeles after 13 years, because as I get a little older—and I’m a father now—I really value the time off between work,” Courtney tells me over Zoom. He’s in his car when we speak, because he had to drive up the road until he found a signal. He doesn’t mind it, though. “It’s like vacationing from home,” he says. “There’s no anxiety.”
I’m talking to Courtney because he just starred as the villain Rob-Will on the Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch, which aired its season finale on Paramount+ on Friday, July 3. Unlike the Zen man before me, Rob-Will is more of a scoundrel in the vein of The Good, the Bad and The Ugly’s morally corrupt western outlaws. He’s the son of Texas rancher Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening), rival to Dutton heroes Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly), who threatens to take over the business and kill anyone who gets in his way. And if you’ve ever heard the saying that you should never trust a man with two first names, well, Robert William Jackson III has three.
Courtney describes Rob-Will as “my kind of bread and butter.” Following roles as a rugged warrior in Spartacus: Blood and Sand and a musclebound mini boss who fights Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, Courtney went on to star in both Suicide Squad films as Captain Boomerang—a sarcastic and crude ex-con who backstabs his fellow teammates. But unlike the comic-book villain, Rob-Will has a little more depth to him. He’s a struggling addict, a remorseful father, and, according to Courtney, “a product of his environment.”
“Everyone in that world has some kind of skewed moral compass,” he tells me about playing the villain. “They’re flawed for sure, and who isn’t? But there’s so much fun to be had when you’re accepting of that because you can be unapologetic. We get to explore the sides of ourselves, and sides of our shadow, that are harder for the heroes to grapple with.”
“Everyone in that world has some kind of skewed moral compass,” Courtney tells Esquire about playing Rob-Will on Dutton Ranch. “They’re flawed for sure, and who isn’t?”
Sadly, the Dutton Ranch finale also marks Courtney’s final moments as Rob-Will. After escalating a conflict between his mother, the Dutton Ranch, and his family’s illegal Mexican cattle operation, Rob-Will is shot dead by his adopted brother, Joaquin (played by Narcos’s Juan Pablo Raba.)
“It was a surprise to me when I first heard about it,” Courtney says about his character’s death. “But when you understand how it serves the drama, I’ve been around long enough to just trust these things and go with it. I was bummed to peel out, because I was having such a good time making the show, but also, I’m no stranger to being here for a good time.”
Below, Courtney shares more about his character’s final moments on Dutton Ranch, his upcoming films, and whether he’ll be back for more action with Taylor Sheridan.
“Whether it’s getting shot or stabbed or plunging to your death, you want it to feel fun and satisfy something that you perhaps haven’t seen or done before,” Courtney says about his many death scenes.
ESQUIRE: You’re no stranger to lending your talents to a TV show or film before being killed off. Where does Rob-Will’s death in Dutton Ranch rank among all your death scenes?
JAI COURTNEY: I’m up to 20, maybe 21 deaths onscreen now. [Laughs.] This one was interesting because the actual blow happens off-screen, technically. It’s kind of like the surprise is on the audience. But actors inherently want to avoid repeating the same images. Whether it’s getting shot, or stabbed, or plunging to your death, you want it to feel fun and satisfy something that you perhaps haven’t seen or done before. But man, I’ve had some good ones. Right up there, I’d probably put when Boomerang got iced in the second Suicide Squad. It’s mostly a visual effect, but it was essentially a helicopter rotor that completely eviscerated him. You’re not coming back from that one.
There’s some great fight choreography in the beginning of this finale too. Your character goes toe to toe with Rip, and Hauser slams you into a car door.
It’s hard and fast, dude. These days on TV schedules, shit happens in the moment. Our stunt team obviously have us covered, but damn, we didn’t have any rehearsal time or anything. I remember that morning out there, you just had to go into it. But it’s a good, brutal fight. I mean, obviously I come out second best, which tends to be a theme in this show.
It’s a shame there isn’t more Rob-Will. It sounds like you didn’t know your character bit the dust in the season 1 finale when you first signed on.
I didn’t really go in with a lot of preconceived ideas. I originally read for the role that Marc Menchaca plays, Zachariah Moss, and then when I got a callback they were like, “Don’t worry about that part. Read this part.” And it was Rob-Will. We’re really just fed crumbs of story that early on, because obviously they want to keep things under wraps. There’s always an element of risk, really. John Papsidera, who’s a legend in casting, has always been someone I could trust for his instincts around things. And he was like, “It’s a cool part for you.” So that was it.
Courtney is excited about his next projects, including the action comedy Protecting Jared, in which he’ll star alongside Jason Momoa and Andy Samberg.
They should give you an alternate finale where Rob-Will comes out on top.
You’re telling me. I think they would piss off the fans of the Yellowstone legacy, though. You really can’t mess with a reputation like that.
Is it hard to always play the villain?
I have to be able to believe that their motivations are true and at least that they have some kind of authenticity. I have to find a level of understanding with it so that it feels real. Even Rob-Will, he’s menacing in some ways, but he’s also dealing with forces around him that are out of his control. He’s justified in some ways.
Plus, the show humanized him a bit when he talks to his daughter, Oreana [Natalie Alyn Lind], right before he dies.
Yeah, and I don’t think people wake up and choose to do bad shit. For him, it’s about protecting this legacy. And if he could undo some of the mistakes of the past, maybe he would’ve been a better influence on her. Maybe he would’ve done things differently. But he was trying.
“I have to be able to believe that their motivations are true and at least that they have some kind of authenticity,” Courtney says about playing villains.
What’s next for you after Dutton Ranch?
I just wrapped a film I’m really excited about called Blood on the Promontory. It’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. A young writer, Evan Cooper, wrote it. It stars Sam Worthington, Lamonica Garrett, Jaeden Martell, and Jack Quaid. We play five convicts who are chained together and have escaped a botched train robbery in Wyoming Territory in 1871. It’s super hard-boiled.
Then I have Protecting Jared, which I did out in Hawaii with Jason Momoa and Andy Sandberg. It’s just a total departure from this gritty western stuff that I’ve been playing a lot in. Got to go and get my aloha on and make some action comedy for a change, which was a nice shift.
Did you meet up with Taylor Sheridan while filming?
He wasn’t around too much. He left it in the hands of [former showrunner] Chad [Feehan] and a few of the other producers. But obviously I’m a huge fan. What’s he writing now, Call of Duty?
And with Peter Berg directing—who you worked with on American Primeval.
So sick. Maybe I’ll get a call up for that one, mate. Who knows? Maybe I can go back-to-back.
Story by Josh Rosenberg
Photographs by Leo Jacob @popeofthebowery
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