British actress Kelly Reilly has returned to the UK after spending years in Montana filming the hit Western drama Yellowstone.

Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly admits returning home to the UK for her latest project was an “emotional” experience.

Since 2018, the British star has portrayed Beth Dutton, the fierce banker and daughter of powerful ranch owner John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner), in five seasons of Taylor Sheridan’s hit Paramount drama.

She’ll soon be reprising the role in the upcoming spin-off, The Dutton Ranch, which will follow Beth and her husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) continuing to defend their family’s legacy following John’s death.

In the meantime, Reilly will be returning to screens sooner than expected as she has taken on a brand new role in a dark, compulsive murder mystery series on Sky.

The new Welsh thriller Under Salt Marsh sees the Yellowstone star portray Jackie, a teacher and ex-detective who teams up with her former partner to investigate the chilling death of one of her eight-year-old students.

Kelly Reilly as Jackie Ellis

Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly ‘emotional’ over return to UK for new role (Image: SKY)

Also starring Rafe Spall and Jonathan Pryce, the chilling investigation unearths a cold case involving Jackie from three years earlier that could somehow be connected.

Set in the fictional town of Morfa Halen and filmed around the Welsh coastline from October 2024-February 2025, Reilly felt a huge contrast in her new surroundings with what has been her second home for more than half a decade.

“You’re immersed in the place, in the land, and it can’t help but have an effect on you,” she told the Radio Times. “You feel the energy of it.”

For the upcoming series, which premieres on Sky at the end of January, Reilly also had to submerge herself in ice-cold water for the traumatising scene in which Jackie discovers the body of the young victim.

Kelly Reilly and Rafe Spall

A teacher joins forces with her former detective partner to solve a chilling case (Image: SKY)

However, the actress didn’t let the freezing temperatures or even the overwhelming rainstorms which become crucial to the atmosphere and plot of Under Salt Marsh dissuade her from embracing the new challenge full-on.

“I’ve been filming in Montana for years and years,” she said. “And then I get to go film in these mountains in Britain. And it was really quite an emotional thing.

“I have a real love for north Wales from when I was a kid. We used to go there on holidays, and when I was in primary school, I had this wonderful head teacher who took us on a school trip to climb Mount Snowdon.