I Just Realized Yellowstone's 5 Main Characters Are All Based On The Godfather's Corleone Family

Published Oct 3, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. 

Yellowstone is a modern Western series with all the opera, drama, and characters of the genre, and maybe not too surprisingly, it shares a lot of these qualities with another grand series, The Godfather. The Godfather trilogy is as much a staple of film history as the entire Western genre, the blueprint and measuring stick for all gangster films and TV shows to come after.

The gangster and Western genres of movie and TV have a lot in common. They both tend to involve people of morally grey character; they are often about the desire for freedom and excitement; and they can be violent, with innocents often getting in the way of gunfire. With that in mind, maybe it's not all that surprising that the main characters in a major Western franchise like Yellowstone match up well with the main characters in The Godfather​​​​​.

John Dutton Is Vito Corleone

John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is basically the Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) of Yellowstone. He's the literal father of many of the characters in the series, and the surrogate father of many more, much like how Vito is a parent to his children, but also a parent to anyone he can take under his wing.

Both men are also fiercely fighting for a world that might not exist anymore. John wants his land, when other political, economic, and moral issues are making retention of the Yellowstone Ranch not so black and white. Vito is still living in the old world of the Mafia, where an "honor among thieves" approach is still viable.

In a more meta-commentary of the two, Costner and Brando had a complicated relationship with their respective TV show and film. By the end of season 4, Costner was having public problems with the show and the creative team, eventually leaving the series after season 5, part 1, before the final season 5, part 2. Brando also famously had problems on the set of The Godfather, refusing to learn his lines, resulting in quirks like other actors having to wear Brando's lines like smocks so he could read in the middle of a scene.

Kayce Dutton Is Michael Corleone

Image courtesy of MovieStillsDb

Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) is the youngest son of John Dutton and perhaps the most competent of all his children and employees. Like Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), Kayce was in the army, and this life away from Yellowstone has made him something of an outsider in his own world, just like Michael.

He also shares a difficult relationship with his father. While Michael and Vito's relationship isn't as tumultuous, there is a distance between the two, which is a result of Vito's esteem for Michael, and him not wishing the mafia life on his son. These tense father-son dynamics are key to Kayce and John's relationship as well.

Kayce also falls for someone outside his circle. The Italian-American mafia scion Michael falls for the innocent, blonde, WASP Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), whereas Kayce eventually marries Monica Long (Kelsey Asbille), a member of the same Broken Rock Indian Reservation that is trying to take Yellowstone Ranch back, much to John's anger. Despite their differences, Kayce eventually succeeds John in the same way Michael does Vito.

Beth Dutton Is Sonny Corleone

Paramount (via MovieStillsDb)

Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) is the only daughter of John Dutton, and her closest analog in The Godfather is James Caan's hot-headed Sonny Corleone. Beth, like Sonny, is prone to explosive bouts of rage, and she's someone most characters fear, either because they've mixed up with her or because they know someone who has.

Beth is brash, rude, and never afraid to say what is on her mind. It's likely that she and Sonny would get on pretty well. Both are extremely loyal to their family as well. Beth's assault on Veronique (Allison Dunbar) to protect Monica, someone she's not even particularly fond of, has echoes of Sonny beating up Carlo (Gianni Russo) "for" his sister, Connie (Talia Shire).

Both characters think before they act, and though they are very loyal to their respective families, they are not afraid of lashing out at the ones they love. Beth's animosity towards Jamie (Wes Bentley), her adoptive brother, also mirrors Sonny's hatred of Carlo, his brother by marriage.

Jamie Dutton Is Fredo Corleone

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Speaking of Jamie Dutton, the adoptive son of the Dutton family shares many similarities with Fredo Corleone (John Cazale). Both are middle children, passed over by their father for the youngest sibling. Like Fredo, who goes into the nightclub business, Jamie tries to make his name as something other than a rancher, pursuing a legal career.

John secretly feared that if Jamie were in charge of Yellowstone, the ranch would fall apart. Though Vito has a lot more love for Fredo, he also does not believe his son has the strength to run the Corleone family. Fredo and Jamie are both insecure, and believe themselves to be more capable than people give them credit for.

However, both Jamie and Fredo end up proving their detractors right. Fredo betrays his family, though he never meant for anyone to get hurt. Jamie also betrays his family, and in the end, both men are killed by someone in their family; Fredo, by someone he loves, and Jamie, by someone he hates.

Rip Wheeler Is Tom Hagen

Image courtesy of MovieStillsDb

Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) plays the part of Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) in Yellowstone. Like Hagen, Rip is not an official member of the Dutton family, at least not until he marries Beth. Before that, though, he is considered just as good as family, and treated as an equal and given major responsibilities.

Rip is also one of the most level-headed people at Yellowstone Ranch, just as Hagen is the calm, wise consigliere of the Corleone family. That doesn't mean either man can't lose their cool from time to time. Rip has a high body count for someone with such a calm demeanor, and Hagen is never afraid to raise his voice in a courtroom.

Both men are windows into the families they represent. Their proximity to the Duttons and the Corleones means they have a first-hand look at the foibles and destructive natures of both. Hagen in The Godfather and Rip in Yellowstone are characters who can be counted on by everyone but who are just one degree separated from the true chaos of the story.

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  John Dutton

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  Kayce Dutton