Yellowstone’s Kelsey Asbille on Monica’s ‘Tragic Loss’ in Premiere

Yellowstone is back — and darker than ever for Kelsey Asbille’s Monica. The actress opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about her character’s pregnancy loss following a car accident in the season 5 premiere.

“It’s such a tragic loss,” Asbille, 31, told Us ahead of the Sunday, November 13, episode. “I think you really see Monica at her rock-bottom and in a place where I think she starts questioning her own beliefs and her own identity. … I think there’s a really definitive moment where she chooses life and works toward healing.”

The One Tree Hill alum added that season 5 is her “favorite” so far, citing scenes in the premiere with Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton and Kevin Costner’s John Dutton as standouts.

“There are actually a lot of scenes in this one that I really, really love. I think that definitive moment I was speaking about earlier, it really comes after speaking with John Dutton,” Asbille continued. “So it’s a very kind of unlikely person in her life to have that moment with. But she also has a wonderful moment with Beth that I’ve been aching for because I just love [that] they bring out a different side of each other and so I love when the two of them are on screen.”

Fans have watched Monica and Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) love story since season 1, which debuted in 2018.

“I love that when you meet them, they’re both kind of outcasts and they’ve given up so much for each other and the fact that they choose each other every time,” she told Us when asked what she loves about the couple before adding with a laugh: “But Lord have mercy, I would love for them to have an easier go at life.”

Viewers learned about Monica’s pregnancy in season 4. The twosome are also parents of son Tate.

“So much of her identity is as a mother,” Asbille told Us. “I think her strength is her softness and her compassion and her empathy and her willingness to just — no matter what she faces, she keeps her head up and she keeps going. And I think that that’s all you can do. And so I think that’s definitely something I look up to in her.”

Yellowstone airs on Paramount Network Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.

With reporting by Leanne Aciz Stanton