Yellowstone star Luke Grimes was not quite a newcomer to Westerns when he joined the cast of the hit Paramount Network show. But he was not far off, either. And in a new interview with Jimmy actor Jefferson White on the official Yellowstone podcast, Grimes talks about his previous experience starring in a Western.
In the podcast, Grimes said Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan plucked him out of obscurity. But before Sheridan did, Grimes had acted in a Western, The Magnificent Seven, a movie about seven diverse gunmen who come together to help a young widow protect her home from a wealthy industrialist’s private army, per IMDb.
“Very little horse experience before Yellowstone,” Grimes explained. “I’d done a Western before, but coincidentally, in that movie… I wasn’t supposed to really be good at horse riding. So they just didn’t really let me get good at it. And you know, I rode one of those movie horses that just sort of walks up, hits a mark, you say your lines, and sits there, and it’s lazy. You know, and then, obviously, in Yellowstone, we ride, like, real horses.”
Yellowstone Star’s Favorite Moment Yet Is Coming Up
Thus, before he started acting in Yellowstone, Grimes had to do some training. He went to a reining coach twice a week, and he learned roping and other cowboy disciplines like cutting, as well.
“I have a fantastic stunt double, who’s just, like, a real cowboy,” Grimes added. “But Taylor likes me to do as much as I can. And little by little, every year I’ve been able to do more.”
Grimes said his favorite moment yet comes in the next episode that’s slated to air. His character, Kayce, has to wrangle and chase a herd of Mustangs. He was scared to death, he said, but he gave it a try.
“To this day, greatest day I’ve ever had on a set,” he said. “I mean, it was like catching a wave, because this horse was trying to keep up with these wild horses, and it just becomes part of this herd. And I’m, for the first time in the show, like full tilt, like running as dead fast as I can. It was awesome. So cool.”
The cowboy experience is made all the more dramatic by the setting in which they film the show. Like his castmates, Grimes loves shooting in Montana, and he said he sees the backdrop as a key part of Yellowstone. He’s even moved to Montana since he started on the show.
The actors’ seemingly heartfelt love of the land only adds to the authenticity of Yellowstone. Want to see what Grimes and White are talking about? Tune in to the Paramount Network Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET to find out.
