The actors of “Yellowstone” – who are the cowboys in real life?

It turns out art imitates life when it comes to the Dutton Ranch.

“Yellowstone” Cast and Crew smoothly ensured life on Western Front has been on TV since 2018 on the Paramount Network. However, it is safe to say that this role was easier for some than for others, since many of the stars of the series are real life cowboys.

The cast experienced cowboy boots, rodeos and wild horses in the universe created by Taylor Sheridan. Keep reading to see which Yellowstone cast members talk about cowboy culture behind the scenes ahead of the second part of the fifth and season finale, premiering Sunday, November 10 (8 p.m.).

Forry J. Smith

It turns out that Forry J. Smith, 65, who plays ranch hand Lloyd Pierce in Yellowstone, grew up riding horses and his mother and grandfather rodeoed.

The actor began his career as a stuntman after falling from a horse as a child. Now, Smith has returned to his roots for the show’s final five seasons.

He said Cowboys and Indians Magazine that he uses the same methods to prepare for the stage as he did before the trip.

“What I started doing is I always take deep breaths to relax before the ride and stuff like that,” Smith said. “I started using some things to help me relax during the rodeo before the audition.”

Taylor Sheridan

Taylor Sheridan not only created the series, but also plays Travis Whitley.

The 54-year-old spent much of his childhood on his family’s ranch in Texas, which not only made him an accomplished horseman, but also immersed him in cowboy culture. Sheridan and his wife Nicole Muirbrook own and operate a ranch in Texas.

Ryan Bingham

Ryan Bingham may play famous crooner Walker on TV, but in real life the 43-year-old has experience as a cowboy.

Bingham grew up working on his family’s ranch in Hobbs, a small town in western New Mexico. The singer was a bull rider, which allowed him to compete on the rodeo team at Tarleton State University in Stephenville.

“I started riding calves and steers when I was little in junior rodeos and rode bulls until I was in my mid-twenties when I really started getting into music,” Bingham said. Fort Worth Journal.

And his experience paid off.

“Taylor originally contacted me about writing some songs for the show,” he explained Cowboys and Indians Magazine in 2023. “Then when he discovered my family ranched and I rode bulls, he said, ‘Well, shoot. We should invite you to the show. If you’re okay, we’ll leave you. If you suck, we’ll kill you.” I’m not dead yet.”

Jake Rome

Jake Ream, who works at the Dutton Ranch, has professional experience working with horses, which is how he and Sheridan first met. Rome purchased the horse through the series’ creator and began working as a trainer and consultant for the show.

But it didn’t take long for Rome to get in front of the camera and land the role of one of the boys from the flophouse.

Ethan Lee

Like many of his castmates, Ethan Lee grew up in Louisiana surrounded by horses and worked as a rodeo rider. Like Rome, Lee joined the series working behind the camera as a consultant and trainer before becoming a ranch hand and member of Dutton’s crew.

In 2016, Lee helped with the horses on the set of Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey, when the film was filmed in his home state of Louisiana. But he said WWLTV.com in 2022, he didn’t like the “hurry up and wait” environment on set.

“I said, ‘If I survive these two weeks, Hollywood won’t have to worry about me anymore,'” Lee explained.

But he changed his mind when the checks started coming.

“I told my wife, ‘I can’t do what I make on set, shoeing horses and doing what I do. So maybe I should get it, you know, take advantage of it while it’s here,” Lee said.

Vacancies did Keep coming and he made the saddles, prepared the horses and taught the actors how to ride. He was then asked to work on the Paramount Network series Yellowstone, but when the network told him he would be gone for six months, Lee refused.

“All my kids were little, and dad just didn’t want to leave, you know?” Lee remembered.

He and his wife, Dr. Brennan Fitzgerald-Lee, a veterinarian, also own about 10 horses and 25 cows.

“I even told my wife I regretted giving it up. It sounded like a really good deal and something that could be interesting, something that could last several seasons,” Lee said. “So you think I might have given up on something that could potentially be great.”

The couple then decided that if Yellowstone called him back, he would sign on.

“It was a huge deal for me and always will be,” Lee said of his decision.