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7 Reasons to Watch Yellowstone
7REASONS TO WATCH YELLOWSTONE
If you have been waiting to jump on the Yellowstone bandwagon, then take this as your sign to jump on! We are excited to give you 7 reasons why you need to watch the hottest new series on television, besides the obvious one being it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Okay, all jokes aside, let’s dive in! BY KRYSTA PAFFRATH
REASON 1 Everyone Wants to Be a Cowboy
Yellowstone embodies the essence of the American West, and people are eating it up. A great example of this was last year when the series was released, everyone seemed to be two of the main characters – “Rip and Beth” -- for Halloween. People are always looking for an excuse to play cowboy and Yellowstone gave them a reason. The series does a phenomenal job of giving its viewers the feel of living “life on the range”, while also providing the drama of a good TV show that everyone craves.
REASON 2 The Story Line
Speaking of drama, if it’s one thing you watch this show for, it should be the storyline and the drama that comes with it. You can’t beat the amazing landscape surrounding the show, but what about the storyline itself? At its core, the series is based on the complications that surround the Dutton Ranch, which is the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, based in Montana. The show navigates issues with the Broken Rock Indian reservation, the government, and land developers. Viewers love a good family-drama series, and this show checks all the boxes.
REASON 3 Representation of Ranching & Land Issues
This is a huge reason to watch Yellowstone, whether you are an avid Western Industry enthusiast or you are brand new to the industry, there are several issues that the industry is currently facing that the show sheds light on throughout their seasons. In the seasons we have seen so far, the Dutton family faced issues with cattle rustlers, land developers, and threats from the Indian Reservation that the land they own is rightfully theirs. These are all issues, especially developers, that modern ranches face. We could go much deeper into the agriculture issues that permeate the industry, but we should wait and see what Season 5 brings us.
REASON 4 Music That Sets the Scene
Let’s talk about music! If the intro to Yellowstone doesn’t give you all of the goosebumps, then keep listening because the soundtrack to this series is unlike anything else you will hear from any other TV show on the air. Let’s take Season 4 for example, you could listen to artists such as Colter Wall, Turnpike Troubadours, Chris Stapleton, Casey Donahew, Tyler Childers and so many more. If you’re already a fan of Texas Red Dirt Music, then this series is going to be fun to watch because there are so many artists included that you will know. In addition, it’s awesome to see a mainstream TV series using some artists that have been flying under the mainstream radar and deserve the spotlight.
REASON 5 The Horses
This reason might just be directed towards our equine fans out there, but Yellowstone deserves applause for getting the best of the best in the AQHA to come in and be a part of the show. Let’s start with Season 1, Episode 5 when AQHA reining world champion and National Reining Horse Association Futurity champion Lil Joe Cash appeared onscreen with NRHA million dollar rider and trainer Andrea Fappani. For all the horse people wanting to watch good riding on a television show, they got it in this episode! But it wasn’t just Lil Joe Cash that made an appearance in Season 1, he was joined by million co-champion and World Equestrian Games medalist, Custom Made Gun as well as many other world-renowned reigning champions and trainers.
REASON 6 The One and Only Beth Dutton
Even for someone who has never watched the show, we still guarantee that they have heard of the great Beth Dutton. The infamous daughter of John Dutton on the show plays a gritty and rougharound-the-edges character that people can’t help but fall in love with. Speaking of love, Beth’s relationship with Rip Wheeler is a huge attraction for the show as viewers live vicariously through Beth and her dramatic relationship with her husband, Rip.
From the great Beth Dutton, “I believe in lovin’ with your whole soul and destroying anything that wants to kill what you love. That’s it. That’s all there is.” (Season 3, Episode 10)
REASON 7 The Quotes We Will Never Forget
If it’s one thing that die-hard fans and newbies enjoy most about Yellowstone, are the quotes circulating around social media. We featured some of our favorite quotes above. If you have a favorite, make sure to head over to our website, cowboylifestylenetwork.com, find this article comment, and comment with your own favorite quote!
JAMIE DUTTON
JOHN DUTTON
Exploring James Hébert’s Character, Wade, in Paramount+’s 1883
BY KRYSTA PAFFRATH
It’s no surprise that James Landry Hébert (pronounced ā-bear) stars as the humble cattle herding kingpin and bandit hunter, Wade, in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel, 1883. With more than a decade of wrangling under his belt, the boots fit. Being a cowboy is natural for James because he is a cowboy. He stars alongside legends Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Billy Bob Thornton in the new Paramount+ series.
James was born in 1984 to a Cajun family in Lafayette, LA, but quickly grew up when he became an orphan at a young age. He was eventually adopted by a family on an Indian reservation where James spent the rest of his childhood. After high school “on the res,” James made his way to Louisiana State University and studied theater there before leaving home to explore what else the world had in store for him; managing bands in Tennessee, wrangling horses, and the like. But as fate would have it, James returned to his beleaguered home state after Hurricane Katrina and discovered that New Orleans had become a Hollywood boomtown.
It wasn’t long before his career took off in big-budget films like Looper, Seven Psychopaths, and Gangster Squad. Playing killers and pimps seemed to be a stark contrast to James’ compassionate nature, but his convincing characters are due to his incredible ability to find the “heart and humanity” in each role he portrays. His noticeable break was playing the leading character, Webb, in the Texas thriller Two-Step which was written and directed by Alex R. Johnson. The film scored an Audience Award nomination at SXSW in 2014 and had the Hollywood Reporter praising James’ “riveting performance.” But that wasn’t all… James had a double-header at 2014’s SXSW; also starring in A Night in Old Mexico with Robert Duvall.
Roles like Axel in Stranger Things, Slim Miller in Westworld, and Officer Jason Twitty in Carter & June all built James’ robust resume. He also landed the series regular role of Rem in the NBC series Taken. Eventually, James’ career came full circle when he played Clem in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon in Hollywood. Many years prior—in the Louisiana film scene—James was Brad Pitt’s stand-in and photo double for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button… and now he was acting opposite of an A-list actor. From there, it didn’t take long for James to find his niche in the Wild West; he’s also appeared in The Last Son with Machine Gun Kelly, Montford: Chickasaw Rancher, the indie darling Sunset Cowboys, along with other projects in the same genre.
Cowboy Lifestyle Network sat down with James to talk all things 1883.
YOU HAVE QUITE THE REPERTOIRE OF FILMS AND SERIES IN YOUR CAREER ALREADY AND THIS ISN’T YOUR FIRST SERIES IN THE WESTERN GENRE, WHAT LED YOU TO PLAY WADE IN 1883?
There are so many things that led to me playing Wade in 1883. But one thing that comes to mind is when I played in Westworld years ago. The series was filmed in this little horse town that I live in now and it was my first semester in college; I was so excited to do it but we didn’t actually get to do a lot of stunts on horseback. I remember thinking, “Well this really sucks, I was really hoping to ride a lot more”. That set me on a mission to become the best horseman that I could be so that maybe in the next western they would let me have a little more fun. Over the years, I’ve definitely grown those skills and 1883 has been the icing on the cake. I was so honored the moment that Taylor came up to me and said “Hey, if you want to do your stunts with the stunt guys you can.” And I was beyond excited for that opportunity.
Another thing that led to me playing Wade was, of course, Taylor Sheridan. He brought me into his world that I’ve been a fan of for so long. What got me hooked on Taylor’s writing style was when Graham Greene had a monologue in Hell or High Water, which really began my fascination with Taylor Sheridan. Then came you know, Wind River and of course, Yellowstone, which is my favorite show in the world.
I was also adopted by a Native American couple and grew up on the Chitimacha Indian Reservation. I was the only non-native allowed to go to the tribal school and that’s something I’m very proud of. So when it came to Wade’s specific skill set, he has a little more experience and knowledge when it comes to Native Americans and Mother Nature. I feel like I’d be lying if that didn’t have something to do with me playing this role as well.
HISTORICALLY, IN YOUR FILMS, YOU PLAY THE “VILLAIN”. YOU’RE NOW PLAYING A COWBOY, WHICH FROM WHAT I READ, IS PRETTY NATURAL FOR YOU. CAN YOU EXPAND A LITTLE BIT MORE ON YOUR REAL-LIFE COWBOY EXPERIENCE AND HOW THAT’S HELPED IN THIS SERIES?
Playing Wade has been such a breath of fresh air after playing a string of bad guys and guys who are more concerned with the rules of man as opposed to Mother Nature. I fancy myself a cowboy raised by Indians and I feel like Wade is too in a lot of ways. There is a certain level of comfortability needed for acting and especially when you’re on horseback. It’s important to be in the moment, rather than thinking about all the things you just learned in Cowboy Camp. My horsemanship skills helped me a lot in bringing some authenticity and comfortability on horseback to Wade.
These days, I live and work as a ranch hand for a special effects guy and his wife, who’s a horse trainer, and they have a horse training facility about an hour outside of Los Angeles. So when I’m not acting, I’m out here spending more time with horses than humans, and I love it. It’s been so fulfilling for me outside of acting and I’ve learned so much about horses but also things about myself. It’s really helped me build a strong foundation that I’ve been able to bring to 1883.
FOR ANYONE OUT THERE WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE SERIES, HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE WADE’S CHARACTER IN 1883?
I would describe Wade as one of the more experienced cowboys on the trail. He’s been through it all, seen it all, he knows the danger that lies ahead as much as any of the older guys on the caravan. In a lot of ways this show is about the American dream, freedom, and going westward. It’s one thing that Taylor does so well with the show, which is how he highlights the gritty, harsh reality of the American dream. I feel like that relates to Wade’s character in the sense that he’s with a caravan of dreamers, yet Wade is one of the only people on the caravan that is not necessarily a dreamer. His dream is to be comfortable with having as little as possible. He talks about having the ground for a bed, the sky for a blanket, a good horse, and open country; that’s all a cowboy needs.
WE HAVE SEEN YELLOWSTONE AND NOW, 1883, TAKE THE WORLD BY STORM, WHAT DO YOU THINK TAYLOR SHERIDAN HAS DONE TO SEPARATE THESE SERIES FROM OTHERS WESTERNS THAT HAVE COME OUT?
Taylor is making westerns on a whole new level and he’s made them bankable again. The way Sheridan writes and the way he rides is absolutely incredible to me and I have so much respect for him. He lives and breathes this life. He’s the real deal, he gets out there every day and rides all those horses, works cows, he can rope with the best of them, and he just gets it more than anyone in Hollywood. I think those things have a lot to do with how he writes the best westerns that have ever been written, in my opinion.
SPEAKING OF YELLOWSTONE, WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER ON THE SHOW, AND WHY?
That’s such a hard question, I love the show and all the characters so much. There are definitely characters that pop like Beth Dutton, Jimmy, Casey, and then Costner’s character that make it so hard to pick. If I had to pick one, I would say Rip.
The reason for it is because when I first got into movies, I actually stood in for Cole Hauser on the show called KVille, a cop show filmed in New Orleans. Cole kind of took me under his wing and I started running lines with him and just working my way up before I ended up chasing my dream West. I love watching Cole on Yellowstone, he’s so good at playing Rip. Rip’s character just does the thing that everybody wishes they could do but can’t. He’s just the ultimate badass cowboy. And of course, the orphan in me loves the storyline with him, Beth, and the kid that shows up on the show. I can’t help but watch Yellowstone through my own eyes, which makes the characters and storyline so much more real to me.
