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That’s the world his character, Jamie Dutton, inhabits in the latest season of the hit television drama. Serving his father, who was elected governor of Montana, is a trying proposition, particularly since he wanted the job and outside forces want to derail him.

In the new episodes, “every scene is a big moment for Jamie,� Bentley says. So the build-up to the second half of what’s seen as the last season of “Yellowstone� continues.

Those relationships

For Bentley, who plays a son who doesn’t quite agree with his father (played by Kevin Costner), the series has been a lesson in relationships.

“I had a good relationship with my father,� he says, “and I have a good relationship with my kids…and I know who I am, for the most part. The hardest thing about Jamie is that he’s an empty vessel and he never got to find out who he really was. There’s an emptiness and a sort of sadness that permeates everything. I just feel lucky that I don’t suffer through that.�

While keeping a distance from Costner might have been a good way to get into character, Bentley hung out at his trailer. “We talked a lot off camera,� he says. “I’m not really a Method actor. I was never to the point where I didn’t want to be around my on-set enemies.�

Instead, he’s spent time with Costner and friends when they played music and got to soak in much of what “Yellowstone� had to offer.

Jamie, he says, is “such a difficult person to let into your life, I didn’t want to have any of that bad life with me.�

In the course of the series’ five seasons, viewers learned about his troubled childhood, his rocky relationship with stepsister Beth, and his desire to have a life outside the Dutton ranch. Eager to get into politics, he ran for attorney general, ultimately got it, then considered a run for governor. His father, however, usurped those plans by running himself. With dad in the governor’s seat, his only option was re-election as attorney general. Two Duttons in one capital building? Toss in sister Beth as chief of staff and it was easy to see where this could be headed.

Drama continues

The second half of the fifth season, Bentley says, is filled with plenty of drama.

Fans of the show have been eager for details but Bentley won’t budge. “I want to the fans to experience it anew,� he says. “When I’m watching a show, even a foreshadowing thing sometimes can give me too much information and I don’t like that. I don’t like to spoil it for others.�

Plus, the 46-year-old Bentley isn’t on social media, so “there’s no interaction there." Those face-to-face encounters don't provide much either. If a fan asks spoilerish questions, "I’m pretty good at getting right out of them.�

Biggest success

While Bentley starred in the Oscar-winning Best Picture “American Beauty,� he says “Yellowstone� is the biggest success he’s had and “that’s been something to enjoy, especially since fans enjoy it so much.�

Creator Taylor Sheridan, he says, “really challenged me in a lot of scenes. I didn’t know I could cry on command and I’ve done it almost every scene for years now. That’s a small, technical thing that I discovered because Taylor gave me the opportunity and challenged me to do it.�

Others talk about “Yellowstone� ending after the next six episodes but “it’s hard to feel like anything is really done or resolved or complete," Bentley says. "At the same time, it’s TV, so you’re ready for like, it could get canceled or I could get killed off. I sort of celebrate every moment as they come, anyway.�

“Yellowstone� begins the second half of its fifth season Sunday on the Paramount Network.