Long before Yellowstone star Cole Hauser was cast as Rip Wheeler on the hit series, he starred in Paparazzi, a Mel Gibson-produced thriller starring Hauser as an actor who seeks revenge against a group of tabloid photographers. Although the movie received negative reviews and was a box office flop, enough real paparazzi saw it and decided to stay away from Hauser. The actor, who shares three children with former actress Cynthia Daniel, considers himself “lucky” to avoid the paparazzi camera flashes.
In a new interview with Cowboys & Indians before the Yellowstone Season 4 premiere, Hauser was asked if he has ever felt like acting just as his character, Bo Laramie, did in Paparazzi. Although he hasn’t been pushed that far in real life, he admitted that playing the character has helped.
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“Years ago, I had my oldest son with me when we went to the store,” Hauser began. “And I was getting out of my car, so I was totally oblivious to them being there. But I turned around and this guy was there taking pictures of me and my son. And my kid was a baby, so I looked at him and I stopped.”
The paparazzo put his camera down and was completely surprised. Hauser wondered what was going on. “You just gave me the Bo Laramie look,” the paparazzo said before running off, Hauser recalled. “that was really the last time I think they ever messed with me. They stayed away, and I’ve been lucky in that way,” he said.
Hauser began acting in the early 1990s, nabbing small roles in School Ties and Dazed and Confused, but he has always been a member of the Hollywood community. His father is actor Wings Hauser and one of his maternal great-grandfathers was Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Bros. Hauser told Cowboys & Indians he was about nine or 10 when he realized what his father did for a living. Wings Hauser’s credits include Tough Guys Don’t Dance and A Soldier’s Story.
Wings Hauser, 73, is a big fan of Yellowstone, Hauser said. “He’s an old cowboy, after all. Our family, the Hauser side of the family, are all Montanans. So, it’s very close to him. We have family in Helena and Livingstone and all over the state,” he said. Yellowstone Season 4 begins on Paramount Network Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET.
