Why Waxahachie, Texas Holds a Special Place for ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff Star Ed Harris
A Homecoming Four Decades in the Making
While taking a short break from filming the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff The Dutton Ranch, legendary actor Ed Harris made a sentimental trip to Waxahachie, Texas — a small city that played a defining role in both his career and personal life.
The four-time Oscar nominee, now 74, stopped by the Ellis County Museum on October 10 to visit its “Hollywood Comes to Ellis County” exhibit, which celebrates films shot in the area — including Harris’s own 1984 drama Places in the Heart.
Revisiting His Hollywood Roots
Places in the Heart was filmed in and around Waxahachie in 1983. Set during the Great Depression, the film follows a widow (played by Sally Field) struggling to save her family farm with the help of two unlikely allies — one of them portrayed by Harris.
The project went on to win two Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Field and Best Original Screenplay, cementing the town’s place in Hollywood history.
For Harris, Waxahachie is especially meaningful — it’s where he married his Places in the Heart co-star Amy Madigan at the Ellis County Courthouse, just steps from the museum he revisited. The couple has been married ever since.
Locals also spotted Harris browsing nearby Gingerbread Antiques, where he posed for photos with staff in a moment of pure nostalgia.
From Waxahachie to ‘The Dutton Ranch’
Today, Harris is back in Texas for The Dutton Ranch, the much-anticipated Yellowstone spinoff that continues the saga of Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).
According to the show’s early synopsis, Beth and Rip fight to protect their 7,000-acre spread while mentoring a now-grown Carter (Finn Little). Harris plays a grizzled veteran and veterinarian, adding depth and grit to the post-Yellowstone world.
The series, filmed across Boyd, Cleburne, Rio Vista, Fort Worth, and Mineral Wells, is expected to premiere in 2026 on Paramount.
Full Circle
For Harris, returning to North Texas feels like a full-circle moment — revisiting the place where he once filmed a movie that changed his life and finding himself again at the center of another major production.
In a town known for its charm and cinematic history, Waxahachie has once again become part of Ed Harris’s story — only this time, through the lens of a new Western legacy.