“Yellowstone has been a huge part of my life. It’s awesome,” Finn Little

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“Yeah, it was just like, ‘Hey, it’s happening, hope you’re ready.’ I was like, ‘Oh, all right. Let’s go,'” he recalls.

“I was excited,” Little says of the chance to return to his character. “I wanted to see more from Carter. I wanted to keep playing the character, for sure.”

Annette Bening attends the NYC Premiere of the Paramount+ Original Series Dutton Ranch; Open Range, Annette Bening, Kevin Costner
Beth, Rip and Carter start a new life in Texas in Dutton Ranch, and Little says, “A lot has changed [for Carter] since we last saw him.”

In the spinoff, he’s “growing into himself,” but “trouble’s brewing,” particularly when he meets Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). “I think Carter sees a lot of Beth in Oreana, that fierceness and that strong personality. I think that’s what attracts Carter,” Little says.

It’s Beth and Rip that will make fans of Yellowstone love the new spinoff, he promises. “Beth and Rip are a staple of Yellowstone. They’re some of people’s favorite characters. So if you love Beth and Rip, you’ll love Dutton Ranch, and you’ll love all the new problems that come along with it,” Little tells PEOPLE at the New York City premiere on May 12.

Dutton Ranch “feels like Yellowstone,” he says. “It’s never an easy life for the Duttons.”

The first two episodes of Dutton Ranch are now streaming on Paramount+. New episodes drop Fridays.