January 20, 2022 • 52 mins
Bunkhouse boys have all the fun... Jefferson and his friends Ian, Denim and Jake talk about what it means to defend the Dutton Ranch - and add a little laughter to the world of Yellowstone.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey everybody, it's Jefferson White coming back at you with
the Official Yellowstone Podcast, presented by Win Las Vegas. I
honestly can't even begin to tell you how much fun
I'm having doing this podcast. I'm so grateful for the
reviews you're leaving, the comments, and the overwhelming feedback. It
really it means the world us. We feel so lucky
(00:30):
to be a part of this conversation with you, and
I'm just so grateful for your time and your generosity
and your energy. So thank you so much for listening.
Let me start off by saying that I love the
show too. I'm a huge fan of the show, and
I'm learning so much more about the show, about the
people that make it through the process of doing this podcast.
(00:50):
So i just can't thank you enough, and I'm excited
to jump back in. Yes, i am still recording at
the Win Las Vegas. I had a little bit of
a chance to wander around today and it's nuts. It's incredible.
This place is amazing, and the people here, the staff,
are so friendly, so kind, so generous. I really can't
thank him enough. I could go on and on and on,
(01:11):
but everyone's pretty sick of hearing my voice already. Today
I get to hang out with my bunk House boys,
my dear friends. Unfortunately they couldn't make the trip out here,
but we dialed them in. We're gonna take a quick
break when we come back. I'm gonna chat with my
dear friends, fellow bunk house boys, Ian Bowen, Denham Richards,
and Jake Cream. We are joined today by my dear
(01:35):
friend Ian Bowen. Ian plays Ryan on the show, one
of the bunk house Boys, a branded man. Ian, thank
you so so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I'm so I'm so happy to be with you guys
and doing more Yellowstone stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So we've been doing this, we've been doing this for
four years now. Will you talk a little bit about
the experience of working on a show over time, how
you feel about it now versus when we started. We
just talk about what it's like to work on a
show for four years doing, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Being lucky enough to to to be on something that
lasts as long as is akin to I like to say,
going to you know, college, you start in a new place,
you have new people that dorm, you don't know anybody,
you don't know how to eat and where you go
and you just walk around and work and talk to people,
and you kind of learn as you go, and then
(02:27):
you build a family and then by the time you know,
you graduate, it's it's an epoch of your life. And
you could not ask for a better scenario for a
performer to have this kind of family for this amount
of time in this location, to doing this kind of work.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's it's literally a dream comes come two times, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Ten you mentioned family there. Will you talk a little
bit about it because we've we've we've been a part
of The Bunk House Boys for going on four years now.
We've shot so many scenes together. We've returned to the
same location over and over again. Will you talk a
little bit about what it means to you to to
be a bunk House Boy, to sort of work with
(03:08):
the same folks over and over again, to build that
family unit up over years.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The bunk House is a wonderful part of the show
that is separate from the regular day to day the
drama and the violence and everything that is you know,
typically Yellowstone, The Bunk House Boys is like a break
when you when you get that into that arena, and
so you and me and Denim, Uh, you know, getting
(03:38):
together and just you know, laughing, it's our space, it's
our clubhouse, it's our you know, our second home, and
you know, it doesn't feel like it's been a long time.
It feels new and refreshed that that set, and it
feels comfortable and it feels home. You kind of either
walk in and you put your hat there, and I
put my hat here, and someone sits there and it's
(03:59):
just like one you living room, so you know, and
that I think that helps us when we have those scenes.
It just makes them more realistic and more vivid and
tells a bit of a bit more story because that's
you know, we know that so so well.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, it's a very authentic experience. Like not only have
we been playing friends who live together for four years,
we've also been friends who you know, effectively live together
and spend all this time together. Yeah, those relationships you.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Lived, you lived with Denim, Right, that's exactly right. Absolutely,
I kind of wanted I was looking to get roommates
like next year. I was like, maybe we should rebug
back up and get a big house and all stay together,
just because we all get along so well and it
just would be fun.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Those relationships have like a really story of asking me, yes,
talk to me about the sort of authenticity of those
relationships the course of time, because because Ryan's relationship to
Colby has deepened over the course of that time in
the same way that your relationship to Denham has, Ryan's
(05:09):
relationship to Fory or to Lloyd rather has deepened over time.
So there's something sort of it's kind of a back
and forth the characters and the actors. So as your
relationship deepens with those actors, how does that affect your
work on set? And then the story.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So in the background of the of the piece right
the show, these characters have a history that we don't
know about.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We don't know how long they've known each other, We
don't know the depth of that. But it's it's it's it's.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Lengthy, and we don't we don't have that as people
because we just, you know, we just met each other.
So as we get to know each other more and
more and more and spend more personal time, you know,
as you just you know, know and begin to love
people and it deepens you.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You grow fuller with them.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So of course that flavors everything that you do, and
things start to come out just like they do inside
jokes and nuances because you've spent time that you can't
really fake. I mean maybe the best actors can fake that.
I don't know. But the stuff that just is there
and you didn't even know it was there, and people
see it and they're like that, what a wonderful moment.
(06:10):
You're like, we were just talking because you know, and
not only like you and me and Denim, we don't
just go to work together, go to eat, gym for
walks we do. It's just we live where we are together,
just like those guys in that place. So I think,
and I hope and I think I know that it
comes through that these men are bonded in a way.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That it's different than just being you know, being employees together.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, it's hard to fake a friendship. And it's also
hard to fake horsemanship. It's hard to fake the sort
of cowboy stuff that we're asked to do day after day.
So will you talk a little bit about your journey
growing as a cowboy, growing as a horseman.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I had a lot of experience as a kid being
around horses, you know, staying on them.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
We'll say that was that's the number.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
One thing, and I didn't really begin to grow until
I obviously was a teenager and later in life and
then on this show. The emphasis on being particularly skilled
or at least, you know, looking like you're skilled, which
is actually being skilled.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It's it's important. So we get taught.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
We practice all the time, working with you know, the horses,
from the equipment, the procedure and posture and how you
how you speak with the animal with the reins, how
you input with them, and how they understand you. There's
a lot on there. It's a it's a magical dance.
And there's so many professional people on set to help
(07:44):
us and guide us and teach us that I think
every year we all get better and stronger. We're not
competing in you know, we have a rodeo and we
compete against each other, and so there's bragging rights about that,
and it's that's a wonderful perk. Is I think we're
on our way to becoming professional forcemen.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I think something that Taylor's brilliant at is he's brilliant
at taking those guys who have authentically lived in this
world and their role in the show is becoming bigger
and bigger, more and more prominent. So guys like Ethan Lee,
Jake Reem, Moe Brings Plenty, Ryan Bingham, Guys who who
grew up doing this stuff. Guys who we are learning from,
(08:23):
Guys who were studying and learning from. They're sort of
not only teaching us but also in the show themselves
getting bigger and bigger roles. So you just mentioned to
go Mark Warick, his son Jason or Jordan rather his son.
Oh boy, Mark Warick, his son Jordan Jason Rodriguez are
stunt coordinator. Every time I every time I do anything
(08:45):
for publicity, and I don't shout out Jason Rodriguez, I
end up hearing about it. So j Rod Jason Rodriguez,
best stunt coordinator in the business, hell of a rider,
hell of a cowboy, hell of a competitor.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Well it's a it's a tribute to Taylor because he
knows if you don't hire the best people that they
are going to populate your soup. They're going to give
you all the flavor. So you know, if if whatever
you want to get, that's what you're going to get.
And so these guys, like you said, all of that
feel of who they are and that that those you know,
decades of history within the cow world of them. It's
(09:17):
in you see it. It's on the screen. You can
watch it, but you don't know that you're seeing it,
but it's it's in there. So thank god, because if
it was just you and me, Jeff and Denham, without
Jake and Ethan and jay Rod, we would be just
like three dip ships just walking around.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
We're still three.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
That's let's not get over our skis here. But yeah,
they yeah, there they are is they are? You know,
the Yellowstone is a field. The Yellowstone is a culture.
It's an identity, it's an idea. It's not a person,
it's it's it's the stuff, and those guys are the stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Will you talk a little bit about Ryan's loyalties. Ryan's
kind of split loyalties. So Ryan obviously where's the brand.
He works for the Dutton Ranch. He has a tremendous
loyalty to John Dutton, but he also is a law
enforcement officer. Will you talk a little bit about that
kind of duality.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
I think it's one. It's really interesting that he does
get to have the extra world, alternate world of being
a you know, police officer, because it takes him away
from the bunk house and he gets to have two
lives there. He is first and foremost loyal to the
ranch and to what it needs, and you know, the
(10:38):
sort of a father figure like he would do anything.
He would probably sacrifice himself just so that things can
keep going in the status quo, even though he's not
part of the family. But he's taken on that want
or desire. And then when he's outside of that, when
he's doing the policing, it just you know, gives him
an opportunity to to sort of be upwardly mobile. You know,
(11:02):
he's got ambitions. He would like to be in charge
of more things and have more responsibility. So there's a
chance for him to shine in that realm where he's
he's outside of the bunk house at the point where
he's not elevated. But he might think, hey, I got
a badge. I'm a guy here, so you might kick
my ass in the bunk house, but I'm the boss
of this world. So it's a neat place for him
(11:24):
to play him. I'm curious where he ends up because
he's gonna have to land at one or the other,
I think, and be completely committed. So we'll see I'm
not sure yet.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And also, will you talk a little bit about this
isn't Yellowstone, isn't the first time you've worked with Kevin.
Will you just tell the story of working with Kevin
Costner as a young actor.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. I got cast in a
film called Wyatt Or when I was fourteen or fifteen,
and I played young Wyatt and Kevin when he shot
that movie is the age that I am now, And
I played young him, and we would sit on the
boardwalk of this town that they built in New Mexico,
(12:07):
you know, with the dirtline streets where they you know,
the gunfight at the Okay crowd, just like you had
in your mind. So we were sitting on the boardwalk
right looking at all of that stuff, and he was
telling me about acting in life, and you know, I'm
just a kid, and I'm just I'm like, is this
what it's is this what it's like? This is a
great job. I'm going to keep doing this. I'm forever.
I'm gonna be an actor. And he was just you know, lovely,
(12:31):
and you know, of course it imprinted on me. I
wanted to be cowboys since you know, I was an
infant and that was the fulfillment of a dream. And
then now we've come full circle and do the same
thing again, and you know, he tells the same story
and we laugh about, you know, how young we were
and and here we are doing the same stuff, sitting
on fences and playing with the horses. So it's it's
(12:52):
it's a it's a treat.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
He was the same age then that you are now.
So he was twenty nine exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Will you talk about working with Luke? So you you
have your world with the bunk House Boys, and then
you also have your You've had these amazing sequences with
Luke grimes with Casey where it's kind of the two
of you against uh, staggering odds. So will you talk
a little bit about shooting those sequences with Luke?
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (13:25):
First off, Luke is incredibly like pensive and ethereal and
like thoughtful.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Uh, that's just he's a joy to be around. And
I feel like we're always complimenting each other in terms
of like what are we doing in life? He's a
philosophical dude, So I love hanging out with him. The
it's a it's a treat to do scenes outside of
the Bunkhouse with a new you know, a new character,
(13:53):
has a new dynamic, someone from the family, if you will, uh.
And it makes Ryan feel good that he's able to
you know, to be sort of eke on an equal
playing field with him. We you know, we have great scenes.
We have a really good time and it's fun too.
But here's what I like the best about it. Because
(14:13):
my character doesn't know him so much as well as
I know the person. The character has to really listen
and watch what he's doing to take his cues from him.
Because Ryan is looking for a lead from Casey, and
so as an actor, it's a really good time to
(14:33):
be to try to be that attentive. And then the
scenes become easy because the words just are there. You
just say them. You don't have to do anything. If
you get out of the way, you're doing yourself a favor.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
There's sort of over the course of season four, there's
like a heightened tension in the bunk House, like a
lot of conflicts that started percolating in season three, these
new faces in the bunk house with Me, with Layer, Ami,
with Teeter, all of that kind of that tension has
been percolating for a whole season and it starts to
(15:08):
sort of bubble over in season four. Will you talk
about that a little bit about the the the bunk
House in season four isn't all funny games, it's not
all necessarily you know, the bunk House stops being so
aligned and stops operating as a single unit in season four.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Well, yeah, think about it. You have this masculine domain
of just like a raunchy frat house, right, and then
you introduce a feminine element that is just as masculine
in what you can do, what your livelihood is, what
your skill is, enforcementship roping, whatever. But it's got a
female component to that. These guys are pin wheeling, they're
(15:50):
just like they don't know how to process it. So
it comes in and it takes over, and then I
think you'll see the dynamic on screen because you know,
and women connect and operate in in a way that
we all understand, and uh, it's predictable, it's nice. And
then you just throw in a little bit of the chaos.
(16:11):
They turned the buck House upside down. And these guys,
you know, Denim or Kolbe, he didn't know what to literally.
If you see him, he's like deer in the headlights
based on what's you know, what's happening with them. So
that's just gonna continue to uh, that's just it's gonna
(16:32):
dis continue to roll out with you know, girls and boys.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Thank you so so so much.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
For taking this. Of course, let's do it again this here.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Absolutely, I can't wait, and I'll see.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
You there season four. It's gonna knock everyone out and
we'll come back and talk more than I love you.
I miss you, and I can already see again soon.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Brother, I'll see you very soon.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I help, Okay, I'll look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Man. I love talking to that guy.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Of course, we started out as coworkers, but at this
point we've been friends for years now, maybe even family,
starting to blur the lines between friends and family. At
this point, we're gonna step aside for a quick moment
and then we're gonna be right back with Denhim Richards.
Today we're talking to Denim Richards. Denim Richards place Colby
on Yellowstone. Dennim Richards is also obviously a close personal
(17:27):
friend after four years of surviving working on the Dutton
Ranch together. So Denim, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Man.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
It's always a pleasure, as you said, to be with
my close personal friend Jefferson White, who, like you said,
we have survived.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
We haven't thrived, but we have survived for four.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
Seasons of a parent amount of networks and everyone show Yellowstone, Bro.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I'm just thinking of every time that we've showed up
to set that there's basically, uh, basically they're just trying
to build a fence and becoming our job to build
the fence, just over and over again.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
It's like, you know, you show up and you're like, oh, yeah,
we go, we're just gonna dig this hole, and you're like, okay, personally,
just on the day, you'll just take the shovel in
and you'll just dig it and then it'll be done.
And then nine and a half hours later you literally
trenched the entire entire acre of land, you know, and
(18:35):
then we just go up to each other and quietly
rub each other's backs. So there's probably a lot of
outtakes of rubbing of the of the show.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But you know, it's always fun.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
You know, in this last season we didn't get to
work with each other as much as you were off
kind of doing your own thing.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
But you know, you got better and bigger than us,
you know.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
So, but it's so it's a pleasure to be able
to connect to you just in this way because this
is actually more than I've spoken to you even when
we were filming.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Bro talk to me. Okay, so we've we've and we've
been having this conversation and making these jokes for four
years now, since we first met uh in Cowboy Camp
in Utah twenty sixteen. So talk to me about how
immersive the show is because so we're the bunk house boys,
we work on the Dutton ranch. Talk to me about
(19:28):
what that looks like on any given day. Talk to
me about what it what it's like to sort of
pretend to work on a ranch and how you know,
how is that the same and how is that different
than actually working on a ranch?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Great question.
Speaker 6 (19:46):
You know, we did meet when I met you at
Cowboy Camp, I on my stomach vomiting because it's the
altitude and you are out triquably reading books at six am.
So we definitely met each other in very different to
different places. But the funny thing is is that the show,
(20:07):
it's it's so immersive because it's like you're really riding
the horse, right it's not like you're not riding the
horse or that it's like a mechanical horse, so you're
really riding the horse.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
You're really getting those like scars and bruises on your.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
Butt because your butt's not used to riding on horses
because uh, you know, I grew up in the city,
so it's a different world. But you know, just like
in every day it's like what ranchers do. They wake
up at, you know, five am. They you know, put
on their jeans, they put their boots and they have
their thing right, and we kind of do the same thing.
(20:41):
Now I'm not saying that we are, you know, a
show ranchers, but I'm saying like, we do get up
five am, and we do put on the chap and
we have to warm the horses up. And so what
what Yellowstone does, at least for me, is it's given
me a much stronger appreciation for that style because it
is a lifestyle, you know, and when you come back
(21:04):
from a day on the Dutton ranch, you're actually tired,
like you're genuinely exhausted, as if you've like like, oh,
I feel like I'm actually like this is what I
actually do for my job. You know your back hurts.
You know your back hurts, your butt hurts. You know
you've been in the sun all day your Boston. You
(21:24):
know you just want a big deal in a hot
bath and want to go to sleep, or if you're
like me, a lavender bath, uh in a kobucha. But
you know, to each their own, we're all different types
of cowboys.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Like you can't, I like to make the joke you
can't really fake dig a hole. You know, you can't
really fake drive a fence post in doing it as
an actor, you know, as a character is not so
different from doing it in real life, you know exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So talk to me about we've been doing actually I.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Mean we yeah, yeah, go ahead, no, no, I.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Was just gonna agree with you that it's like we
really have to get on the horses. We really have
to take the sledgehammer and pound it into the ground,
you know, and we're doing the job, and sometimes you know,
we're just doing it one time. We're doing a take
after take after take in different angles, you know, so
it's not like we just only get to knock the
fence post it one time. It's like sometimes you know,
(22:19):
that's fifteen sixteen times, so I definitely and totally agree
with you.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
So talk to me a little bit about what it
was like to to go from you know, the kind
of work we've gotten used to over three years, the
kind of routine we'd settled into, to all of a sudden,
you're throwing punches, You're you know, you and Teeter are
sort of fighting a gang of bikers. Talk to me
about that day and the process of shooting that scene.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Well, you know, as you know, you know, the everything
in you know, television or film usually never goes as
they tell you that it's going to go.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
That doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be a bad thing.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
It just means you have to be malleable, you know,
you have to kind of go and be in a
space where you're like, look, I know that I'm gonna
be here, and I have to be present. And so
as you're reading these things, you think, okay, cool, maybe
it'll be you know, it'll be a fun, you know.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Brawl to do.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
But you don't, even in myself, I don't know about you,
but sometimes when you're doing these physical things, you kind
of forget the fact that you're gonna do it more
than one time. So you you read it and you're like, okay, cool,
you gonna show up on the day and they'll be
like a little brawl and then he turned to the
next page and then that's done, and it's like a
quarter of a page. But that quarter of a page
(23:35):
is like a thirteen hour day and it's you know,
twelve thirteen different setups and five different takes of taking
the same punishing. Oh, if we can just get a
little bit of dirt in your nose and maybe this
time instead of trying not to breathe in the dust,
if you could just pick up the dirt and just
(23:57):
lick it, that.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Would be great.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
And you're just like all right, cool, but whenever you
have to do and then of course when they edit it,
you're like, okay, what looks amazing. But you know, on
those types of days you just kind of forget, you know,
and you know the days that will be hot, and
know lot of things. But the great thing and you know,
this life as an actor, in my opinion, becomes so
much more enjoyable when you're doing it with group of
(24:22):
people you know, and a group of people that actually
speak to and hanging out with, you know, outside of set.
Because at least bringing the takes, you can still be
conversing about something as opposed to oftentimes sometimes there'll be
a one on one kind of dialogue with somebody that
you don't really have any real kind.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Of close relationship with.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
So on a day like that with a Teeter and
you know, and h and Ryan or Egan, you know,
and Cole and Ford who we've all hung out and
gone bullying and played cards with, you know, outside of set,
So it kind of becomes more of an enjoyable thing
that kind of gets you through those kind of ruling
pun is the constistency hitting the ground because we're all
(25:01):
kind of in the same world, going to do the
same punches and getting the same hit, so it becomes
a little bit more easier, which is why my favorite
days are always like the bunk house, because we kind
of all get to feed off of each other's ergy
and get to kind of celebrate and have fun with
each other when the numbers not rolling.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, And I think that that's one of the brilliant
things about Taylor as a writer and about the filmmakers
is that a lot of that unspoken stuff, a lot
of those relationships that have been building behind the scenes
while we're bowling, while we're fucking playing poker, you know,
while everybody's talking shit. That stuff can't help but seep
into those scenes, you know. And something the Taylor's so
(25:40):
good at is he's so good at identifying those dynamics
that are developing and building on them. So from season one,
you know, one of the one of my favorite things
on the show is we always return to that table
in the bunk house. We're returning to that table in
the bunk house, and from season one to season four,
every relationship at that table is so much You're so
much more informed by history, both on the show and
(26:04):
outside the show, informed by experiences that me and you had,
you know, like shit that we did on our own days.
You know, a competition, you know, me you and Ian
going bowling, or me, you and I and playing tennis. Yeah,
shit can't help but trickle into the day like that
competitive atmosphere. So the show spends so much time with
the Dutton family, It spends so much time delving into
(26:28):
the like intricacies and history of their relationships. But from
the very beginning, Taylor has been so good, and I
think we've taken it ourselves to make it try to
make it feel like the bunk house boys have just
as much history, have just as many stories. I think
there's a real authenticity that we're seeking to bring to
these people. Because nobody just works a job. Everybody out
(26:50):
in the world, people you bump into, you see, nobody
is only one thing, you know what I mean, Like,
nobody is just their job. And so we've really taken
it on ourselves from the beginning to try to make
it so these guys aren't just their job, you know.
They have whole lives outside the bunk house. They have
whole lives outside their responsibilities on their ranch. They have
all these different relationships and opinions and attitudes regarding all
(27:14):
the different characters we spend a little more time with.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Yeah, right, But I think it adds to add to
what you're saying.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
I think that's what adds to our own creativities as artists, right,
because you have to find this kind of this way
to show that there's much more richness, you know, because
I think it's very easy to just come across as
though the characters started with the camera on them, instead
of feeling and creating a feeling as though these characters
(27:43):
were existing before the camera given on them, and the
camera just happened to drop itself down into their lives
that were already going on, and as the camera goes
away from them to another world or another part of
the ranch, those characters' lives are still incuation.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yes, exactly. Yeah, it really fleshes it all out and
makes it so much richer and deeper than just what
appears on camera. Will you talk to me really quick?
You've taught me a lot. You've taught me a lot
about a lot of things. You taught me a lot
about basketball. I've taught you a lot about Halo Reach.
You know, we've really we've talked into a lot of
stuff together. Something you've taught me a lot about is history.
(28:23):
Because you're someone who takes history very seriously. You carry
a sort of important legacy with you. Will you talk
to me about your relationship and any the responsibility that
you feel as Colby to sort of to bring a
very rich history to the Dutton Ranch. We talk about
that just a little bit.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
Yeah, No, it was the great thing about the fact
you've taught me about hal Reach, I've talked to you
about basketball. Both neither of us are making any money
and so we've really poured into each other. But you know,
I honestly having the oppera tunity to be, you know,
(29:02):
on this show in a capacity of you know, of
Kolbe on this show being you know, a black man,
a mellenated man or in Kee Congo you would call.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
It Molindu, which is the people of the Sun.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Being that you carry so much of of a history
because our ancestors, that was what they were doing beforehand,
that was how they made their their living. They were
doing that actually on continent before they even ended up
in Americas. They were doing agriculture and dealing with cows,
you know, and doing cattles in all of those things.
(29:37):
So as I had started getting more and more into
just my own personal history, my family's history, even things
that are still coming out today, being able to be
on the show and seeing and dealing the response of
seeing that representation of you know, when we have like
forty five million African Americans in the West, and at
(29:59):
least half of them have all come from families that
actually started in the agricultural you know, only just added
culture of a ranching because that was part of livelihood
as for many people that were there and so getting the.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Opportunity to kind of.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Share that not not only with them, but like with
the ancestors that came before you. And then also understanding that,
you know, the rodeos that were created are actually created
and launched by this guy named Bill Pickett. And Bill
Pickett he used to take he used to ride up
(30:36):
or whatever on his horse would go after a bull,
and then you would ride up and then you would
jump from his horse onto a bowl, grab the horse,
the bull, and bite the lip of the buck and
drag it down to the ground and then rope it.
And this is why even in today where they still
have still picket rodeo, that is an annual event.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
And you know, so being able to kind of.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Learn this and as my dad has taught me more
about the history, you know, it really is just a
different responsibility. But it's a beautiful responsibility because it's a
responsibility that's not given to everyone. You know, and so
as much as you you you realize how fortunate, how
blessed you, you also there is this extra out of
(31:20):
the layer of responsibility of just representation and representation and
a different light. And I think how we would usually see,
you know, our people represented Uh. So, I think that
that's what makes it interesting because we also were living
full lives and we're doing other things, you know, other
(31:40):
than just being these like one dimensional people. We also
were you know, cowboys and ranchers and you know, in
farmers and all these other things. So just being able
to wear that cat and wear that coat, and I
didn't honestly, you''ll wrap it up with with this. My
answer with this is that I didn't realize that responsibility
(32:01):
until I actually went to the Bill Pickett rodeo and
I walk in and there was a family and there
was a three year old, a little year old young
prince with the cowboy hat on, a cowboy boots on,
and he was just so excited because this is the
guy that he had seen on Yellowstone. And his family
was like, they were so excited because this is something
(32:21):
that this kid wants to be a cowboy when he
grows up. So he's somebody that looks like him at
his age. It gives him the thing that like, oh,
I could do that as well, you know. So it
just becomes like those little things like that to us,
So we're like, what is it? But you know, we
all remember being young and wanted to have little things
to aspire to. Uh, it's those things that really make
(32:43):
you feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to
be in the.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
Position and to do you know what we're doing with
this show.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, man, it's been I've been so so grateful to
you for your patience and your like grace in teaching
me about this stuff, Like I've looked to you to
learn about this stuff, about this rich history, but also
just horsemanship, because from day one, listen, let's be really honest,
we compete in a lot of ways, you know, we
trade back and forth these certain things. But from day one,
(33:13):
I've been learning from you how to ride. You've been
an amazing rider from basically when we started, and everybody
like they ask you to do stuff that they don't
ask the rest of us to do because they effectively
they know you can handle it. I've seen you do
and what you were saying earlier about you know, you
show up to work, you don't know what to expect,
and all you can really do is go in there
(33:34):
with an open mind, ready to do your job. You know,
like as an actor or as a rancher, it's impossible
to know what the new day is gonna bring. It's
impossible to know when we're when we're sort of riding
up on a herd of cattle, we don't know if
a calf is gonna split and run off. You don't
know what's gonna happen. The equivalent of that is you
don't know if Jeff's gonna be in a bad mood
(33:56):
because he stayed up way too late. There's a lot
of variables on set, and it's you. You are someone
who've always been so impressed by your ability to roll
with the punches and sort of figure out how to
do whatever is asked of you. That's something that I
am trying to learn from you as an actor because
(34:17):
I go in with a certain expectation and then if
if it changes, if it's not what I expected, that
shakes me. And I've seen you over and over again
identify what needs to be done and get it done.
And I think that's an incredible gift that you have.
Speaker 6 (34:32):
Well, I mean, I appreciate that, you know, but I've
also you know, I think we we've learned a lot
from each other because you you bring a different a
different level of professionalism. And yes, we can all do
we all have different works, right, Like I have my corks,
you have yours. All that's what makes us unique or human,
So that's what makes us so But it's you know,
(34:56):
I think for us, one of the exciting things about
being on the show show is the fact of you
can't it's not predictable. So it feels as, oh, this
is just my personal opinion. It feels like this is
a show that if you try to anticipate the next day,
you're almost like doing yourself a great disservice because it's like,
(35:17):
it's just not going to be like that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Venim, thank you so much for taking the time to
do this. Man, you're a busy man. You've got a
lot of incredible stuff going on. So thank you, so
so so much for taking the time to do this.
I so appreciate it, man.
Speaker 6 (35:32):
No problem, Jeff. It's always a pleasure, and hopefully I'll
be seeing you soon.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Very soon. Thank you so much Denham for being here.
Denham is obviously incredibly busy. He's got a lot going
on and his time is valuable, so I feel so
lucky we got to chat with him. We're gonna take
a breath and then we're gonna be right back with
Jake Ream. So we are here today with Jake Ream.
Jake is a horse trainer, horse breeder, He's a rancher,
(35:59):
he's a business man. He's also, as of a few
years ago, an actor. So Jake appears on Yellowstone as
the character Jake. Jake does about thirty jobs on Yellowstone
in every department owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.
So I'm really excited to talk to Jake. Jake, for
the folks that don't know you yet, who haven't had
the pleasure of being your friend for the last four years,
(36:21):
will you just tell him a little bit about yourself,
where you're from, how you came to wind up working
on Yellowstone.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
Sure. So, my name's Jake Raim. I grew up in
a small town in Utah, Mapleton, Utah. I live in
Palmyra now, which is not too far from where I
grew up. My grandfather was in the sheep business pretty
heavily for a lot of years, so that's kind of
my foundation. We had just a tremendous time on horses
(36:53):
when we were younger, which paid off in the long
When I graduated to high school, kind of got a
job opportunity to move to Texas. I ended up going
to a town called Pilot Point, Texas and working for
a pretty big ranch down there. So that was that
was really cool. Got to meet a lot of great
people down there. I moved from Texas to California, worked
(37:16):
out there for a little while. I went from California
to at ten called called Gardnerville, Nevada, worked there for
a while, worked on the ranches, worked in northern California,
all kind of all over, and ended up moving back
to Utah. Uh, you know, ended up meeting Taylor, and
that's kind of kind of how the horse deals started.
And you know, it's a kind of many street from there.
(37:39):
It's uh something that something that I, you know, got
lucky to and I guess met the right people at
the right time, and now you and I are friends
and we're all friends.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
So one of the one of the big themes of
Yellowstone is that the economics of ranching, how a ranch
the size of the Dutton ranch stays around as as
long as it does, how it pays its bills. And
from your own history, it sounds like you've sort of
worked on ranches in a lot of different ways and
seen the way they work from a lot of different perspectives.
(38:12):
So will you talk a little bit just about how
a ranch like the Dutton Ranch functions economically, what's the
business model? How does it work?
Speaker 5 (38:22):
Well? I you know, I think I think nowadays, you know,
like the story says, a lot of it is is
is a real estate business sometimes. You know, a lot
of these ranches that are that are big when when
things get tough, they do sell sell parcels of ground
to pay for their you know, to pay for the
things that that they're needing. It seems to me like
(38:43):
in this day and age, that's kind of what's keeping
them alive. Obviously, the the Dutton ranch would be you know,
their cattle they're going to sell. They're now they're in
the horse business, you know, which a lot of the
big ranches are now in the horse business. The cattle
ranches they're raising and doing the breeding all that kind
(39:04):
of stuff. The I think the goal with the big
ranches is keeping that ranching livelihood alive, which is super
hard to do nowadays. You know, there's developments coming in,
you know, I mean, it's the Yellowstone story, you know,
(39:24):
hits home to a lot of people and you know,
it's something that they try to do anything you can
to keep it alive. I believe.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Yeah, it's a really authentic story. So ranches that size,
ranches that big are going through are asking themselves exactly
the same questions that John Dutton is asking. How do
I keep this land that's been in my family for generations?
How do I keep it going? How do I avoid
selling to these big developers. So the antagonists the Yellowstone,
(39:56):
the bad guys in Yellowstone, real ranches are facing this
all the time. So I talk to me a little bit.
You've worked on a lot of ranches. Talk to me
about raising cattle, the economics of raising cattle. Talk to
me about how that works.
Speaker 5 (40:11):
Well, you know, the cattle, the cattle part of the
big cattle ranches. I haven't had the opportunity to be
on the big cattle ranches. A lot of big horse
ranches I've been on obviously. You know, obviously, they they're
raising what they what they need. Number wise, they try
to keep their replacement heifers, they try to breed them.
(40:32):
They try to breed the the better cattle. They're fats.
They sell their steers at the right time. They sell
some of their replacement heifers, the older cows that aren't breeding. Obviously,
they they go to sell barns. A lot of those
big ranches sell straight to the feed lots, uh, you know,
in in Texas and and there's a lot of the
(40:54):
big feed lots back there. So most of the ranchers
right when they wean those calves, they'll already have a
set price on them of what they are going to
sell for. And so those ranchers can already plumb x
amount of dollars coming in and it's just a year
after year type of thing, and that's you know, that's
their main income right there.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
And then you also talked about horse ranching. So the
Yellowstone obviously in an effort John Dutton in an effort
to keep his ranch, in an effort to avoid having
to sell off parcels of land. In season four, Yellowstone
starts kind of diversifying his income stream. And one of
the things he gets into is competition horses, right, is
training and raising and sort of And that's something that
(41:37):
you have a lot of experience with yourself, right You've trained,
raining horses, cutting horses. We talk about bad aspect of
it a little bit.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
You know, everyvery every every guy's dream is to have
an amazing stud horse. You know, if you get a
if you get a really good cutting stud horse, nowadays,
you can breed them, you know, ten to fifteen thousand
dollars per mare. There's a stud horse, Metallic Cat obviously
that we have heard the name of that Taylor has
(42:06):
brought into the show for season four. And that horse,
I want to say, he's right around fifteen thousand dollars
her mare to breed to. That's life ould get. And
I want to say, bread three hundred and fifty marors
last year. So you do the math on that, and
you get one of those, and you've hit yourself a
big home run. That's every guy. The ranching brood mares
(42:31):
that I'm going to call more of your working horses.
You know, you're your ranches will have, you'll tend to
twenty mares. They're going to bring you two different ds.
You know, those those good cowboy ranch horses are going
to bring seventy five hundred to twenty thousand dollars. You're
really good cutting horses are going to bring five thousand
to one hundred and fifty thousand. So if if one
(42:53):
of those colts gets trained up in the cutting horse
deal and it does really well in competition, and it's special.
You can price those cold at fifty to one hundred
and fifty thousand really easy, and they do sell and
they you know, the ranch horses, the cowboy horses with
yellowstones charted with you know, just your just your average
(43:13):
broke horses. You know they're there were there were some
good money, but you know they're not performance horses. And
that's what people are as the is the performance horses,
which obviously the Dutton ranch is trying to get into,
you know, they're trying to buy some rain and horses,
trying to buy some cutting horses, getting into all that
come into these next seasons. So there is a there's
a big profit in there, and you can lose a
(43:35):
lot of money in it too if you don't do
it properly.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
And you you first met Taylor because you were working
with him on this exact thing, right, you were selling
him a horse basically, So you're somebody who trains these
horses and then sort of pairs them up with people
who are interested in those performance horses, right, is that right?
Speaker 5 (43:53):
Absolutely? Absolutely? Yep. I uh. I also take horses in
training and a lot of people and me young horses
two and three year olds, and you know that's my
job to train them, and I'll go perform on them
and do the best I can. This year, I've got
two horses that we've trained up that I'm showing at
the fort Worth deal here in about three weeks. I
had I had the fort Worth which is the three
(44:15):
year old for Churity, which is the big of the
big so hope and get a little luck there. And
I've trained those horses and you know, try to get
them showed for my comers. I also, you know, ride
a lot of lance horses, you know, and try to
make them better. Uh you know, any anybody that's got
issues or you know, horses up or run away with
them or have all those bad habits. That's kind of been,
(44:36):
you know, something that I've done in the past to
try to help people out and better better those animals
and make them better and help them fit each other.
And you're right, you know, you have to place that rider,
you know, a new rider. You got to place them
on the right horse. You know. No different than when
we went to Cowboy Camp. You know, we had ten
new actors and ten new horse. And for two weeks,
everybody rode every other horse and we all tried to,
(45:00):
you know, see what fit what, and I think we
found a real good fit for them for for Yellowstone.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Yeah, it's funny that you talk about, you know, training
young clueless horses because Cowboy Camp four years ago, Season
one Yellowstone you got ten variously clueless actors. Will you
talk a little bit about what it's like to kind
of connect those two worlds, the actors and the horses.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
What was it like to connect actors and horses. It
was very scary. Now, it was a great experience, you know,
it was. It was it was fun to you know,
thank good for good horses. All the horses were really good.
But you know, it's it's like teaching somebody to ride
(45:48):
a bike. And and you know, the better that Philly have,
the the you know, the better they're going to communicate
with the horses. And it was nice for Taylor to
put me in the position. You know. At first, I thought, oh,
these actors, these famous people are coming. I'm not going
to be able to tell them what to do or
how to do it. And I remember Taylor said, hey,
you're you're their boss, you know, you tell them how
(46:11):
to go, what to do and where. And you know,
when I had that, okay, that I was able to
do that, and it made me feel a lot more
comfortable that I didn't have to, you know, be downd
the bush. And you know, I could say, damn you, Jefferson,
pull your head out of you know, the clouds, and
do what you're supposed to do, and you would say, oh,
what do you mean, and we'd talk about it and
then it did all work and we'd all have a
(46:33):
good time. So it was a great experience and it
actually it actually helped my horsemanship a lot too, knowing
the horses prior to putting actors on them. And it's
kind of funny how those horses molded with the uh,
with the you know, with the different attitudes of the
(46:54):
actors and the different attitudes of the horses, and it's
kind of funny how they all kind of came together.
You know. You know, you wrote you rode my daughter's horse,
old Blue Jeans, the gray horse first for a long time,
and when you got comfortable on him. You know, once
you got comfortable, boy, you you went up the ladder
really quick. And I'm just telling me that that because
you're my friend. But you did, you know, you got
(47:14):
super comfortable really quick because it was a gorse. You know,
it was a good horse, and you listened. And I
remember just you know, out here in the arena the
first time I let you work the mechanical cow and
you were chasing it back and forth, you know, the
fake cow. I thought, man, this guy's gonna fall off,
and I thought, here he goes. Nope, never did. I
(47:34):
couldn't even get you to fall off. I wish I
had that chance. Again.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
We're very lucky to have, you know, a bunch of
actors who are trying very hard to learn, who are
very committed to learning. But we're also really lucky to
have real riders, real horse trainers, real experts, not just
behind the scenes but also on camera. You know. So,
what's it been like for you sort of appearing on
(47:58):
camera for the first time and acting for the first
time it sort of participating really in an increasingly crucial
role in the show.
Speaker 5 (48:06):
Shared the hell out of me the first few times,
There's no doubt about that, you know. The first couple,
you know, I was always on camera in the background
and hanging out. I think the first clip. He let me.
I think I said a few words. In episode ten,
season one, he let me do a roping deal with
(48:27):
Rip and I almost can't even remember the lines. And
I remember going out there and roping and I turned
around and I set them and hit it and we
did it. And I didn't even bother me when I
was on the horse, kind of second nature. But when
we're sitting in the bunk house or somewhere else. We
did an episode start where I was sitting on a
fence and that's all I had to think about was
(48:49):
my lines. And I'm pretty sure Taylor was awfully mad
at me come the editing time. It was, well, it was,
it was. It was a cup couple of times. And
you know, it's okay. If I feel like if I
can just kind of be myself and get the general
drift of the conversation and maybe make some different stuff
(49:11):
up or ad lip a little bit, it makes me
a little more comfortable. But it's kind of funny. When
I'm sitting on a horse, it's not hard for me
to think about it, and I just do it. But
you know, sitting around the bunk house table or out
on the fence, or you know, some of the other
stuff that we've done. It if it's the only thing
I have to think about, it's I think I overthink
it a little bit, but I think we're getting a
(49:33):
little bit better at Hope. So I know you guys
always giggle at me and Teeter we did we did
a scene on season four and I really messed it
up really bad, and she turned and looked at me
and she says, come again. And I thought to myself,
was that in the script? And so I was teasing her.
I said, just remember who saddles your horse in the morning,
(49:55):
beautiful woman. So you know I can always get you
guys back. And yeah, you guys have teased me a
little bit. I've teased you guys, and it's been fun.
It's been awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
Well, it's it's totally true what you said. It's easy
when you can just be yourself. And I think that
the tailor and the you know, production designers and the
whole crew have created a world that is so immersive
that sometimes you can't help but just be yourself. Like
they've really built this world to feel so authentic, and
especially for guys like you who grew up working on
(50:27):
a ranch when you go to work in the morning.
You're working on a ranch, you know. So I think
one of the big successes of the show is how
sort of immersive and authentic that the world that they've
built is.
Speaker 5 (50:38):
You know, yeah, you know, I think, man, I don't
I don't know that you could. I don't know. I've
seen if I've seen a Western that has better horses
and you know, authentic saddles and ropes. I think he's
put together a great crew. I mean, I look at
the I don't know if we've ever had an argument.
(51:00):
I mean, yeah, there's tough times in that, but it's
it's it's a great crew to with and everybody helps
each other. And I mean I've helped props, I've helped locations,
I've helped the helicopter pilot. I mean, you know, and
I think I think if you're in it to be
in the game, you better you better be in the
game and be on the team.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
We're getting through it. Man, it's a it's a real
All of us on the show pretending to do this
are watching you guys constantly, you know, so we're taking
little lessons where we can get them. Jake, thank you
so so so much. For taking the time and for
taking care of us for going on five years now.
So thank you, brother. I can't wait to see you soon. Man,
(51:39):
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for taking
the time.
Speaker 4 (51:45):
Jake.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Jake has been absolutely instrumental in teaching me not only
how to ride a horse, but about this whole world,
the ranching world, the horse training world. And I feel
so lucky Jake is. Jake's amazing at a lot of things.
He does about ten on Yellowstone, and he's also just
an incredible teacher who's taken such good care of me
for the last four years. So thank you, Jake, and
(52:06):
thank all of you out there for tuning in. I
obviously wouldn't be able to do this without you the
Yellowstone family. We get these opportunities, We get to do
this fun stuff. I get to chat with my friends
like this in beautiful Las Vegas because of you, so
thank you, so so much. We drop new episodes every Thursday,
so make sure to subscribe and tune in to the
(52:27):
Official Yellowstone Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get
your podcasts. The Official Yellowstone Podcast is hosted by me
Jefferson White and produced by One on One podcast studios
in paramount network
Hey everybody, it's Jefferson White coming back at you with
the Official Yellowstone Podcast, presented by Win Las Vegas. I
honestly can't even begin to tell you how much fun
I'm having doing this podcast. I'm so grateful for the
reviews you're leaving, the comments, and the overwhelming feedback. It
really it means the world us. We feel so lucky
(00:30):
to be a part of this conversation with you, and
I'm just so grateful for your time and your generosity
and your energy. So thank you so much for listening.
Let me start off by saying that I love the
show too. I'm a huge fan of the show, and
I'm learning so much more about the show, about the
people that make it through the process of doing this podcast.
(00:50):
So i just can't thank you enough, and I'm excited
to jump back in. Yes, i am still recording at
the Win Las Vegas. I had a little bit of
a chance to wander around today and it's nuts. It's incredible.
This place is amazing, and the people here, the staff,
are so friendly, so kind, so generous. I really can't
thank him enough. I could go on and on and on,
(01:11):
but everyone's pretty sick of hearing my voice already. Today
I get to hang out with my bunk House boys,
my dear friends. Unfortunately they couldn't make the trip out here,
but we dialed them in. We're gonna take a quick
break when we come back. I'm gonna chat with my
dear friends, fellow bunk house boys, Ian Bowen, Denham Richards,
and Jake Cream. We are joined today by my dear
(01:35):
friend Ian Bowen. Ian plays Ryan on the show, one
of the bunk house Boys, a branded man. Ian, thank
you so so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I'm so I'm so happy to be with you guys
and doing more Yellowstone stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So we've been doing this, we've been doing this for
four years now. Will you talk a little bit about
the experience of working on a show over time, how
you feel about it now versus when we started. We
just talk about what it's like to work on a
show for four years doing, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Being lucky enough to to to be on something that
lasts as long as is akin to I like to say,
going to you know, college, you start in a new place,
you have new people that dorm, you don't know anybody,
you don't know how to eat and where you go
and you just walk around and work and talk to people,
and you kind of learn as you go, and then
(02:27):
you build a family and then by the time you know,
you graduate, it's it's an epoch of your life. And
you could not ask for a better scenario for a
performer to have this kind of family for this amount
of time in this location, to doing this kind of work.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's it's literally a dream comes come two times, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Ten you mentioned family there. Will you talk a little
bit about it because we've we've we've been a part
of The Bunk House Boys for going on four years now.
We've shot so many scenes together. We've returned to the
same location over and over again. Will you talk a
little bit about what it means to you to to
be a bunk House Boy, to sort of work with
(03:08):
the same folks over and over again, to build that
family unit up over years.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The bunk House is a wonderful part of the show
that is separate from the regular day to day the
drama and the violence and everything that is you know,
typically Yellowstone, The Bunk House Boys is like a break
when you when you get that into that arena, and
so you and me and Denim, Uh, you know, getting
(03:38):
together and just you know, laughing, it's our space, it's
our clubhouse, it's our you know, our second home, and
you know, it doesn't feel like it's been a long time.
It feels new and refreshed that that set, and it
feels comfortable and it feels home. You kind of either
walk in and you put your hat there, and I
put my hat here, and someone sits there and it's
(03:59):
just like one you living room, so you know, and
that I think that helps us when we have those scenes.
It just makes them more realistic and more vivid and
tells a bit of a bit more story because that's
you know, we know that so so well.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, it's a very authentic experience. Like not only have
we been playing friends who live together for four years,
we've also been friends who you know, effectively live together
and spend all this time together. Yeah, those relationships you.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Lived, you lived with Denim, Right, that's exactly right. Absolutely,
I kind of wanted I was looking to get roommates
like next year. I was like, maybe we should rebug
back up and get a big house and all stay together,
just because we all get along so well and it
just would be fun.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Those relationships have like a really story of asking me, yes,
talk to me about the sort of authenticity of those
relationships the course of time, because because Ryan's relationship to
Colby has deepened over the course of that time in
the same way that your relationship to Denham has, Ryan's
(05:09):
relationship to Fory or to Lloyd rather has deepened over time.
So there's something sort of it's kind of a back
and forth the characters and the actors. So as your
relationship deepens with those actors, how does that affect your
work on set? And then the story.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So in the background of the of the piece right
the show, these characters have a history that we don't
know about.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We don't know how long they've known each other, We
don't know the depth of that. But it's it's it's it's.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Lengthy, and we don't we don't have that as people
because we just, you know, we just met each other.
So as we get to know each other more and
more and more and spend more personal time, you know,
as you just you know, know and begin to love
people and it deepens you.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You grow fuller with them.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So of course that flavors everything that you do, and
things start to come out just like they do inside
jokes and nuances because you've spent time that you can't
really fake. I mean maybe the best actors can fake that.
I don't know. But the stuff that just is there
and you didn't even know it was there, and people
see it and they're like that, what a wonderful moment.
(06:10):
You're like, we were just talking because you know, and
not only like you and me and Denim, we don't
just go to work together, go to eat, gym for
walks we do. It's just we live where we are together,
just like those guys in that place. So I think,
and I hope and I think I know that it
comes through that these men are bonded in a way.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That it's different than just being you know, being employees together.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, it's hard to fake a friendship. And it's also
hard to fake horsemanship. It's hard to fake the sort
of cowboy stuff that we're asked to do day after day.
So will you talk a little bit about your journey
growing as a cowboy, growing as a horseman.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I had a lot of experience as a kid being
around horses, you know, staying on them.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
We'll say that was that's the number.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
One thing, and I didn't really begin to grow until
I obviously was a teenager and later in life and
then on this show. The emphasis on being particularly skilled
or at least, you know, looking like you're skilled, which
is actually being skilled.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It's it's important. So we get taught.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
We practice all the time, working with you know, the horses,
from the equipment, the procedure and posture and how you
how you speak with the animal with the reins, how
you input with them, and how they understand you. There's
a lot on there. It's a it's a magical dance.
And there's so many professional people on set to help
(07:44):
us and guide us and teach us that I think
every year we all get better and stronger. We're not
competing in you know, we have a rodeo and we
compete against each other, and so there's bragging rights about that,
and it's that's a wonderful perk. Is I think we're
on our way to becoming professional forcemen.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I think something that Taylor's brilliant at is he's brilliant
at taking those guys who have authentically lived in this
world and their role in the show is becoming bigger
and bigger, more and more prominent. So guys like Ethan Lee,
Jake Reem, Moe Brings Plenty, Ryan Bingham, Guys who who
grew up doing this stuff. Guys who we are learning from,
(08:23):
Guys who were studying and learning from. They're sort of
not only teaching us but also in the show themselves
getting bigger and bigger roles. So you just mentioned to
go Mark Warick, his son Jason or Jordan rather his son.
Oh boy, Mark Warick, his son Jordan Jason Rodriguez are
stunt coordinator. Every time I every time I do anything
(08:45):
for publicity, and I don't shout out Jason Rodriguez, I
end up hearing about it. So j Rod Jason Rodriguez,
best stunt coordinator in the business, hell of a rider,
hell of a cowboy, hell of a competitor.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Well it's a it's a tribute to Taylor because he
knows if you don't hire the best people that they
are going to populate your soup. They're going to give
you all the flavor. So you know, if if whatever
you want to get, that's what you're going to get.
And so these guys, like you said, all of that
feel of who they are and that that those you know,
decades of history within the cow world of them. It's
(09:17):
in you see it. It's on the screen. You can
watch it, but you don't know that you're seeing it,
but it's it's in there. So thank god, because if
it was just you and me, Jeff and Denham, without
Jake and Ethan and jay Rod, we would be just
like three dip ships just walking around.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
We're still three.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
That's let's not get over our skis here. But yeah,
they yeah, there they are is they are? You know,
the Yellowstone is a field. The Yellowstone is a culture.
It's an identity, it's an idea. It's not a person,
it's it's it's the stuff, and those guys are the stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Will you talk a little bit about Ryan's loyalties. Ryan's
kind of split loyalties. So Ryan obviously where's the brand.
He works for the Dutton Ranch. He has a tremendous
loyalty to John Dutton, but he also is a law
enforcement officer. Will you talk a little bit about that
kind of duality.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
I think it's one. It's really interesting that he does
get to have the extra world, alternate world of being
a you know, police officer, because it takes him away
from the bunk house and he gets to have two
lives there. He is first and foremost loyal to the
ranch and to what it needs, and you know, the
(10:38):
sort of a father figure like he would do anything.
He would probably sacrifice himself just so that things can
keep going in the status quo, even though he's not
part of the family. But he's taken on that want
or desire. And then when he's outside of that, when
he's doing the policing, it just you know, gives him
an opportunity to to sort of be upwardly mobile. You know,
(11:02):
he's got ambitions. He would like to be in charge
of more things and have more responsibility. So there's a
chance for him to shine in that realm where he's
he's outside of the bunk house at the point where
he's not elevated. But he might think, hey, I got
a badge. I'm a guy here, so you might kick
my ass in the bunk house, but I'm the boss
of this world. So it's a neat place for him
(11:24):
to play him. I'm curious where he ends up because
he's gonna have to land at one or the other,
I think, and be completely committed. So we'll see I'm
not sure yet.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And also, will you talk a little bit about this
isn't Yellowstone, isn't the first time you've worked with Kevin.
Will you just tell the story of working with Kevin
Costner as a young actor.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. I got cast in a
film called Wyatt Or when I was fourteen or fifteen,
and I played young Wyatt and Kevin when he shot
that movie is the age that I am now, And
I played young him, and we would sit on the
boardwalk of this town that they built in New Mexico,
(12:07):
you know, with the dirtline streets where they you know,
the gunfight at the Okay crowd, just like you had
in your mind. So we were sitting on the boardwalk
right looking at all of that stuff, and he was
telling me about acting in life, and you know, I'm
just a kid, and I'm just I'm like, is this
what it's is this what it's like? This is a
great job. I'm going to keep doing this. I'm forever.
I'm gonna be an actor. And he was just you know, lovely,
(12:31):
and you know, of course it imprinted on me. I
wanted to be cowboys since you know, I was an
infant and that was the fulfillment of a dream. And
then now we've come full circle and do the same
thing again, and you know, he tells the same story
and we laugh about, you know, how young we were
and and here we are doing the same stuff, sitting
on fences and playing with the horses. So it's it's
(12:52):
it's a it's a treat.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
He was the same age then that you are now.
So he was twenty nine exactly.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Will you talk about working with Luke? So you you
have your world with the bunk House Boys, and then
you also have your You've had these amazing sequences with
Luke grimes with Casey where it's kind of the two
of you against uh, staggering odds. So will you talk
a little bit about shooting those sequences with Luke?
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (13:25):
First off, Luke is incredibly like pensive and ethereal and
like thoughtful.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Uh, that's just he's a joy to be around. And
I feel like we're always complimenting each other in terms
of like what are we doing in life? He's a
philosophical dude, So I love hanging out with him. The
it's a it's a treat to do scenes outside of
the Bunkhouse with a new you know, a new character,
(13:53):
has a new dynamic, someone from the family, if you will, uh.
And it makes Ryan feel good that he's able to
you know, to be sort of eke on an equal
playing field with him. We you know, we have great scenes.
We have a really good time and it's fun too.
But here's what I like the best about it. Because
(14:13):
my character doesn't know him so much as well as
I know the person. The character has to really listen
and watch what he's doing to take his cues from him.
Because Ryan is looking for a lead from Casey, and
so as an actor, it's a really good time to
(14:33):
be to try to be that attentive. And then the
scenes become easy because the words just are there. You
just say them. You don't have to do anything. If
you get out of the way, you're doing yourself a favor.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
There's sort of over the course of season four, there's
like a heightened tension in the bunk House, like a
lot of conflicts that started percolating in season three, these
new faces in the bunk house with Me, with Layer, Ami,
with Teeter, all of that kind of that tension has
been percolating for a whole season and it starts to
(15:08):
sort of bubble over in season four. Will you talk
about that a little bit about the the the bunk
House in season four isn't all funny games, it's not
all necessarily you know, the bunk House stops being so
aligned and stops operating as a single unit in season four.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Well, yeah, think about it. You have this masculine domain
of just like a raunchy frat house, right, and then
you introduce a feminine element that is just as masculine
in what you can do, what your livelihood is, what
your skill is, enforcementship roping, whatever. But it's got a
female component to that. These guys are pin wheeling, they're
(15:50):
just like they don't know how to process it. So
it comes in and it takes over, and then I
think you'll see the dynamic on screen because you know,
and women connect and operate in in a way that
we all understand, and uh, it's predictable, it's nice. And
then you just throw in a little bit of the chaos.
(16:11):
They turned the buck House upside down. And these guys,
you know, Denim or Kolbe, he didn't know what to literally.
If you see him, he's like deer in the headlights
based on what's you know, what's happening with them. So
that's just gonna continue to uh, that's just it's gonna
(16:32):
dis continue to roll out with you know, girls and boys.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Thank you so so so much.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
For taking this. Of course, let's do it again this here.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Absolutely, I can't wait, and I'll see.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
You there season four. It's gonna knock everyone out and
we'll come back and talk more than I love you.
I miss you, and I can already see again soon.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Brother, I'll see you very soon.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I help, Okay, I'll look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Man. I love talking to that guy.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Ian.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Of course, we started out as coworkers, but at this
point we've been friends for years now, maybe even family,
starting to blur the lines between friends and family. At
this point, we're gonna step aside for a quick moment
and then we're gonna be right back with Denhim Richards.
Today we're talking to Denim Richards. Denim Richards place Colby
on Yellowstone. Dennim Richards is also obviously a close personal
(17:27):
friend after four years of surviving working on the Dutton
Ranch together. So Denim, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Man.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
It's always a pleasure, as you said, to be with
my close personal friend Jefferson White, who, like you said,
we have survived.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
We haven't thrived, but we have survived for four.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
Seasons of a parent amount of networks and everyone show Yellowstone, Bro.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I'm just thinking of every time that we've showed up
to set that there's basically, uh, basically they're just trying
to build a fence and becoming our job to build
the fence, just over and over again.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
It's like, you know, you show up and you're like, oh, yeah,
we go, we're just gonna dig this hole, and you're like, okay, personally,
just on the day, you'll just take the shovel in
and you'll just dig it and then it'll be done.
And then nine and a half hours later you literally
trenched the entire entire acre of land, you know, and
(18:35):
then we just go up to each other and quietly
rub each other's backs. So there's probably a lot of
outtakes of rubbing of the of the show.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But you know, it's always fun.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
You know, in this last season we didn't get to
work with each other as much as you were off
kind of doing your own thing.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
But you know, you got better and bigger than us,
you know.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
So, but it's so it's a pleasure to be able
to connect to you just in this way because this
is actually more than I've spoken to you even when
we were filming.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Bro talk to me. Okay, so we've we've and we've
been having this conversation and making these jokes for four
years now, since we first met uh in Cowboy Camp
in Utah twenty sixteen. So talk to me about how
immersive the show is because so we're the bunk house boys,
we work on the Dutton ranch. Talk to me about
(19:28):
what that looks like on any given day. Talk to
me about what it what it's like to sort of
pretend to work on a ranch and how you know,
how is that the same and how is that different
than actually working on a ranch?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Great question.
Speaker 6 (19:46):
You know, we did meet when I met you at
Cowboy Camp, I on my stomach vomiting because it's the
altitude and you are out triquably reading books at six am.
So we definitely met each other in very different to
different places. But the funny thing is is that the show,
(20:07):
it's it's so immersive because it's like you're really riding
the horse, right it's not like you're not riding the
horse or that it's like a mechanical horse, so you're
really riding the horse.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
You're really getting those like scars and bruises on your.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
Butt because your butt's not used to riding on horses
because uh, you know, I grew up in the city,
so it's a different world. But you know, just like
in every day it's like what ranchers do. They wake
up at, you know, five am. They you know, put
on their jeans, they put their boots and they have
their thing right, and we kind of do the same thing.
(20:41):
Now I'm not saying that we are, you know, a
show ranchers, but I'm saying like, we do get up
five am, and we do put on the chap and
we have to warm the horses up. And so what
what Yellowstone does, at least for me, is it's given
me a much stronger appreciation for that style because it
is a lifestyle, you know, and when you come back
(21:04):
from a day on the Dutton ranch, you're actually tired,
like you're genuinely exhausted, as if you've like like, oh,
I feel like I'm actually like this is what I
actually do for my job. You know your back hurts.
You know your back hurts, your butt hurts. You know
you've been in the sun all day your Boston. You
(21:24):
know you just want a big deal in a hot
bath and want to go to sleep, or if you're
like me, a lavender bath, uh in a kobucha. But
you know, to each their own, we're all different types
of cowboys.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Like you can't, I like to make the joke you
can't really fake dig a hole. You know, you can't
really fake drive a fence post in doing it as
an actor, you know, as a character is not so
different from doing it in real life, you know exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So talk to me about we've been doing actually I.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Mean we yeah, yeah, go ahead, no, no, I.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Was just gonna agree with you that it's like we
really have to get on the horses. We really have
to take the sledgehammer and pound it into the ground,
you know, and we're doing the job, and sometimes you know,
we're just doing it one time. We're doing a take
after take after take in different angles, you know, so
it's not like we just only get to knock the
fence post it one time. It's like sometimes you know,
(22:19):
that's fifteen sixteen times, so I definitely and totally agree
with you.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
So talk to me a little bit about what it
was like to to go from you know, the kind
of work we've gotten used to over three years, the
kind of routine we'd settled into, to all of a sudden,
you're throwing punches, You're you know, you and Teeter are
sort of fighting a gang of bikers. Talk to me
about that day and the process of shooting that scene.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Well, you know, as you know, you know, the everything
in you know, television or film usually never goes as
they tell you that it's going to go.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
That doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be a bad thing.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
It just means you have to be malleable, you know,
you have to kind of go and be in a
space where you're like, look, I know that I'm gonna
be here, and I have to be present. And so
as you're reading these things, you think, okay, cool, maybe
it'll be you know, it'll be a fun, you know.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Brawl to do.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
But you don't, even in myself, I don't know about you,
but sometimes when you're doing these physical things, you kind
of forget the fact that you're gonna do it more
than one time. So you you read it and you're like, okay, cool,
you gonna show up on the day and they'll be
like a little brawl and then he turned to the
next page and then that's done, and it's like a
quarter of a page. But that quarter of a page
(23:35):
is like a thirteen hour day and it's you know,
twelve thirteen different setups and five different takes of taking
the same punishing. Oh, if we can just get a
little bit of dirt in your nose and maybe this
time instead of trying not to breathe in the dust,
if you could just pick up the dirt and just
(23:57):
lick it, that.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Would be great.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
And you're just like all right, cool, but whenever you
have to do and then of course when they edit it,
you're like, okay, what looks amazing. But you know, on
those types of days you just kind of forget, you know,
and you know the days that will be hot, and
know lot of things. But the great thing and you know,
this life as an actor, in my opinion, becomes so
much more enjoyable when you're doing it with group of
(24:22):
people you know, and a group of people that actually
speak to and hanging out with, you know, outside of set.
Because at least bringing the takes, you can still be
conversing about something as opposed to oftentimes sometimes there'll be
a one on one kind of dialogue with somebody that
you don't really have any real kind.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Of close relationship with.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
So on a day like that with a Teeter and
you know, and h and Ryan or Egan, you know,
and Cole and Ford who we've all hung out and
gone bullying and played cards with, you know, outside of set,
So it kind of becomes more of an enjoyable thing
that kind of gets you through those kind of ruling
pun is the constistency hitting the ground because we're all
(25:01):
kind of in the same world, going to do the
same punches and getting the same hit, so it becomes
a little bit more easier, which is why my favorite
days are always like the bunk house, because we kind
of all get to feed off of each other's ergy
and get to kind of celebrate and have fun with
each other when the numbers not rolling.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, And I think that that's one of the brilliant
things about Taylor as a writer and about the filmmakers
is that a lot of that unspoken stuff, a lot
of those relationships that have been building behind the scenes
while we're bowling, while we're fucking playing poker, you know,
while everybody's talking shit. That stuff can't help but seep
into those scenes, you know. And something the Taylor's so
(25:40):
good at is he's so good at identifying those dynamics
that are developing and building on them. So from season one,
you know, one of the one of my favorite things
on the show is we always return to that table
in the bunk house. We're returning to that table in
the bunk house, and from season one to season four,
every relationship at that table is so much You're so
much more informed by history, both on the show and
(26:04):
outside the show, informed by experiences that me and you had,
you know, like shit that we did on our own days.
You know, a competition, you know, me you and Ian
going bowling, or me, you and I and playing tennis. Yeah,
shit can't help but trickle into the day like that
competitive atmosphere. So the show spends so much time with
the Dutton family, It spends so much time delving into
(26:28):
the like intricacies and history of their relationships. But from
the very beginning, Taylor has been so good, and I
think we've taken it ourselves to make it try to
make it feel like the bunk house boys have just
as much history, have just as many stories. I think
there's a real authenticity that we're seeking to bring to
these people. Because nobody just works a job. Everybody out
(26:50):
in the world, people you bump into, you see, nobody
is only one thing, you know what I mean, Like,
nobody is just their job. And so we've really taken
it on ourselves from the beginning to try to make
it so these guys aren't just their job, you know.
They have whole lives outside the bunk house. They have
whole lives outside their responsibilities on their ranch. They have
all these different relationships and opinions and attitudes regarding all
(27:14):
the different characters we spend a little more time with.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Yeah, right, But I think it adds to add to
what you're saying.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
I think that's what adds to our own creativities as artists, right,
because you have to find this kind of this way
to show that there's much more richness, you know, because
I think it's very easy to just come across as
though the characters started with the camera on them, instead
of feeling and creating a feeling as though these characters
(27:43):
were existing before the camera given on them, and the
camera just happened to drop itself down into their lives
that were already going on, and as the camera goes
away from them to another world or another part of
the ranch, those characters' lives are still incuation.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yes, exactly. Yeah, it really fleshes it all out and
makes it so much richer and deeper than just what
appears on camera. Will you talk to me really quick?
You've taught me a lot. You've taught me a lot
about a lot of things. You taught me a lot
about basketball. I've taught you a lot about Halo Reach.
You know, we've really we've talked into a lot of
stuff together. Something you've taught me a lot about is history.
(28:23):
Because you're someone who takes history very seriously. You carry
a sort of important legacy with you. Will you talk
to me about your relationship and any the responsibility that
you feel as Colby to sort of to bring a
very rich history to the Dutton Ranch. We talk about
that just a little bit.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
Yeah, No, it was the great thing about the fact
you've taught me about hal Reach, I've talked to you
about basketball. Both neither of us are making any money
and so we've really poured into each other. But you know,
I honestly having the oppera tunity to be, you know,
(29:02):
on this show in a capacity of you know, of
Kolbe on this show being you know, a black man,
a mellenated man or in Kee Congo you would call.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
It Molindu, which is the people of the Sun.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Being that you carry so much of of a history
because our ancestors, that was what they were doing beforehand,
that was how they made their their living. They were
doing that actually on continent before they even ended up
in Americas. They were doing agriculture and dealing with cows,
you know, and doing cattles in all of those things.
(29:37):
So as I had started getting more and more into
just my own personal history, my family's history, even things
that are still coming out today, being able to be
on the show and seeing and dealing the response of
seeing that representation of you know, when we have like
forty five million African Americans in the West, and at
(29:59):
least half of them have all come from families that
actually started in the agricultural you know, only just added
culture of a ranching because that was part of livelihood
as for many people that were there and so getting the.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Opportunity to kind of.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
Share that not not only with them, but like with
the ancestors that came before you. And then also understanding that,
you know, the rodeos that were created are actually created
and launched by this guy named Bill Pickett. And Bill
Pickett he used to take he used to ride up
(30:36):
or whatever on his horse would go after a bull,
and then you would ride up and then you would
jump from his horse onto a bowl, grab the horse,
the bull, and bite the lip of the buck and
drag it down to the ground and then rope it.
And this is why even in today where they still
have still picket rodeo, that is an annual event.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
And you know, so being able to kind of.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Learn this and as my dad has taught me more
about the history, you know, it really is just a
different responsibility. But it's a beautiful responsibility because it's a
responsibility that's not given to everyone. You know, and so
as much as you you you realize how fortunate, how
blessed you, you also there is this extra out of
(31:20):
the layer of responsibility of just representation and representation and
a different light. And I think how we would usually see,
you know, our people represented Uh. So, I think that
that's what makes it interesting because we also were living
full lives and we're doing other things, you know, other
(31:40):
than just being these like one dimensional people. We also
were you know, cowboys and ranchers and you know, in
farmers and all these other things. So just being able
to wear that cat and wear that coat, and I
didn't honestly, you''ll wrap it up with with this. My
answer with this is that I didn't realize that responsibility
(32:01):
until I actually went to the Bill Pickett rodeo and
I walk in and there was a family and there
was a three year old, a little year old young
prince with the cowboy hat on, a cowboy boots on,
and he was just so excited because this is the
guy that he had seen on Yellowstone. And his family
was like, they were so excited because this is something
(32:21):
that this kid wants to be a cowboy when he
grows up. So he's somebody that looks like him at
his age. It gives him the thing that like, oh,
I could do that as well, you know. So it
just becomes like those little things like that to us,
So we're like, what is it? But you know, we
all remember being young and wanted to have little things
to aspire to. Uh, it's those things that really make
(32:43):
you feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to
be in the.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
Position and to do you know what we're doing with
this show.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, man, it's been I've been so so grateful to
you for your patience and your like grace in teaching
me about this stuff, Like I've looked to you to
learn about this stuff, about this rich history, but also
just horsemanship, because from day one, listen, let's be really honest,
we compete in a lot of ways, you know, we
trade back and forth these certain things. But from day one,
(33:13):
I've been learning from you how to ride. You've been
an amazing rider from basically when we started, and everybody
like they ask you to do stuff that they don't
ask the rest of us to do because they effectively
they know you can handle it. I've seen you do
and what you were saying earlier about you know, you
show up to work, you don't know what to expect,
and all you can really do is go in there
(33:34):
with an open mind, ready to do your job. You know,
like as an actor or as a rancher, it's impossible
to know what the new day is gonna bring. It's
impossible to know when we're when we're sort of riding
up on a herd of cattle, we don't know if
a calf is gonna split and run off. You don't
know what's gonna happen. The equivalent of that is you
don't know if Jeff's gonna be in a bad mood
(33:56):
because he stayed up way too late. There's a lot
of variables on set, and it's you. You are someone
who've always been so impressed by your ability to roll
with the punches and sort of figure out how to
do whatever is asked of you. That's something that I
am trying to learn from you as an actor because
(34:17):
I go in with a certain expectation and then if
if it changes, if it's not what I expected, that
shakes me. And I've seen you over and over again
identify what needs to be done and get it done.
And I think that's an incredible gift that you have.
Speaker 6 (34:32):
Well, I mean, I appreciate that, you know, but I've
also you know, I think we we've learned a lot
from each other because you you bring a different a
different level of professionalism. And yes, we can all do
we all have different works, right, Like I have my corks,
you have yours. All that's what makes us unique or human,
So that's what makes us so But it's you know,
(34:56):
I think for us, one of the exciting things about
being on the show show is the fact of you
can't it's not predictable. So it feels as, oh, this
is just my personal opinion. It feels like this is
a show that if you try to anticipate the next day,
you're almost like doing yourself a great disservice because it's like,
(35:17):
it's just not going to be like that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Venim, thank you so much for taking the time to
do this. Man, you're a busy man. You've got a
lot of incredible stuff going on. So thank you, so
so so much for taking the time to do this.
I so appreciate it, man.
Speaker 6 (35:32):
No problem, Jeff. It's always a pleasure, and hopefully I'll
be seeing you soon.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Very soon. Thank you so much Denham for being here.
Denham is obviously incredibly busy. He's got a lot going
on and his time is valuable, so I feel so
lucky we got to chat with him. We're gonna take
a breath and then we're gonna be right back with
Jake Ream. So we are here today with Jake Ream.
Jake is a horse trainer, horse breeder, He's a rancher,
(35:59):
he's a business man. He's also, as of a few
years ago, an actor. So Jake appears on Yellowstone as
the character Jake. Jake does about thirty jobs on Yellowstone
in every department owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.
So I'm really excited to talk to Jake. Jake, for
the folks that don't know you yet, who haven't had
the pleasure of being your friend for the last four years,
(36:21):
will you just tell him a little bit about yourself,
where you're from, how you came to wind up working
on Yellowstone.
Speaker 5 (36:26):
Sure. So, my name's Jake Raim. I grew up in
a small town in Utah, Mapleton, Utah. I live in
Palmyra now, which is not too far from where I
grew up. My grandfather was in the sheep business pretty
heavily for a lot of years, so that's kind of
my foundation. We had just a tremendous time on horses
(36:53):
when we were younger, which paid off in the long
When I graduated to high school, kind of got a
job opportunity to move to Texas. I ended up going
to a town called Pilot Point, Texas and working for
a pretty big ranch down there. So that was that
was really cool. Got to meet a lot of great
people down there. I moved from Texas to California, worked
(37:16):
out there for a little while. I went from California
to at ten called called Gardnerville, Nevada, worked there for
a while, worked on the ranches, worked in northern California,
all kind of all over, and ended up moving back
to Utah. Uh, you know, ended up meeting Taylor, and
that's kind of kind of how the horse deals started.
And you know, it's a kind of many street from there.
(37:39):
It's uh something that something that I, you know, got
lucky to and I guess met the right people at
the right time, and now you and I are friends
and we're all friends.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
So one of the one of the big themes of
Yellowstone is that the economics of ranching, how a ranch
the size of the Dutton ranch stays around as as
long as it does, how it pays its bills. And
from your own history, it sounds like you've sort of
worked on ranches in a lot of different ways and
seen the way they work from a lot of different perspectives.
(38:12):
So will you talk a little bit just about how
a ranch like the Dutton Ranch functions economically, what's the
business model? How does it work?
Speaker 5 (38:22):
Well? I you know, I think I think nowadays, you know,
like the story says, a lot of it is is
is a real estate business sometimes. You know, a lot
of these ranches that are that are big when when
things get tough, they do sell sell parcels of ground
to pay for their you know, to pay for the
things that that they're needing. It seems to me like
(38:43):
in this day and age, that's kind of what's keeping
them alive. Obviously, the the Dutton ranch would be you know,
their cattle they're going to sell. They're now they're in
the horse business, you know, which a lot of the
big ranches are now in the horse business. The cattle
ranches they're raising and doing the breeding all that kind
(39:04):
of stuff. The I think the goal with the big
ranches is keeping that ranching livelihood alive, which is super
hard to do nowadays. You know, there's developments coming in,
you know, I mean, it's the Yellowstone story, you know,
(39:24):
hits home to a lot of people and you know,
it's something that they try to do anything you can
to keep it alive. I believe.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Yeah, it's a really authentic story. So ranches that size,
ranches that big are going through are asking themselves exactly
the same questions that John Dutton is asking. How do
I keep this land that's been in my family for generations?
How do I keep it going? How do I avoid
selling to these big developers. So the antagonists the Yellowstone,
(39:56):
the bad guys in Yellowstone, real ranches are facing this
all the time. So I talk to me a little bit.
You've worked on a lot of ranches. Talk to me
about raising cattle, the economics of raising cattle. Talk to
me about how that works.
Speaker 5 (40:11):
Well, you know, the cattle, the cattle part of the
big cattle ranches. I haven't had the opportunity to be
on the big cattle ranches. A lot of big horse
ranches I've been on obviously. You know, obviously, they they're
raising what they what they need. Number wise, they try
to keep their replacement heifers, they try to breed them.
(40:32):
They try to breed the the better cattle. They're fats.
They sell their steers at the right time. They sell
some of their replacement heifers, the older cows that aren't breeding. Obviously,
they they go to sell barns. A lot of those
big ranches sell straight to the feed lots, uh, you know,
in in Texas and and there's a lot of the
(40:54):
big feed lots back there. So most of the ranchers
right when they wean those calves, they'll already have a
set price on them of what they are going to
sell for. And so those ranchers can already plumb x
amount of dollars coming in and it's just a year
after year type of thing, and that's you know, that's
their main income right there.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
And then you also talked about horse ranching. So the
Yellowstone obviously in an effort John Dutton in an effort
to keep his ranch, in an effort to avoid having
to sell off parcels of land. In season four, Yellowstone
starts kind of diversifying his income stream. And one of
the things he gets into is competition horses, right, is
training and raising and sort of And that's something that
(41:37):
you have a lot of experience with yourself, right You've trained,
raining horses, cutting horses. We talk about bad aspect of
it a little bit.
Speaker 5 (41:45):
You know, everyvery every every guy's dream is to have
an amazing stud horse. You know, if you get a
if you get a really good cutting stud horse, nowadays,
you can breed them, you know, ten to fifteen thousand
dollars per mare. There's a stud horse, Metallic Cat obviously
that we have heard the name of that Taylor has
(42:06):
brought into the show for season four. And that horse,
I want to say, he's right around fifteen thousand dollars
her mare to breed to. That's life ould get. And
I want to say, bread three hundred and fifty marors
last year. So you do the math on that, and
you get one of those, and you've hit yourself a
big home run. That's every guy. The ranching brood mares
(42:31):
that I'm going to call more of your working horses.
You know, you're your ranches will have, you'll tend to
twenty mares. They're going to bring you two different ds.
You know, those those good cowboy ranch horses are going
to bring seventy five hundred to twenty thousand dollars. You're
really good cutting horses are going to bring five thousand
to one hundred and fifty thousand. So if if one
(42:53):
of those colts gets trained up in the cutting horse
deal and it does really well in competition, and it's special.
You can price those cold at fifty to one hundred
and fifty thousand really easy, and they do sell and
they you know, the ranch horses, the cowboy horses with
yellowstones charted with you know, just your just your average
(43:13):
broke horses. You know they're there were there were some
good money, but you know they're not performance horses. And
that's what people are as the is the performance horses,
which obviously the Dutton ranch is trying to get into,
you know, they're trying to buy some rain and horses,
trying to buy some cutting horses, getting into all that
come into these next seasons. So there is a there's
a big profit in there, and you can lose a
(43:35):
lot of money in it too if you don't do
it properly.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
And you you first met Taylor because you were working
with him on this exact thing, right, you were selling
him a horse basically, So you're somebody who trains these
horses and then sort of pairs them up with people
who are interested in those performance horses, right, is that right?
Speaker 5 (43:53):
Absolutely? Absolutely? Yep. I uh. I also take horses in
training and a lot of people and me young horses
two and three year olds, and you know that's my
job to train them, and I'll go perform on them
and do the best I can. This year, I've got
two horses that we've trained up that I'm showing at
the fort Worth deal here in about three weeks. I
had I had the fort Worth which is the three
(44:15):
year old for Churity, which is the big of the
big so hope and get a little luck there. And
I've trained those horses and you know, try to get
them showed for my comers. I also, you know, ride
a lot of lance horses, you know, and try to
make them better. Uh you know, any anybody that's got
issues or you know, horses up or run away with
them or have all those bad habits. That's kind of been,
(44:36):
you know, something that I've done in the past to
try to help people out and better better those animals
and make them better and help them fit each other.
And you're right, you know, you have to place that rider,
you know, a new rider. You got to place them
on the right horse. You know. No different than when
we went to Cowboy Camp. You know, we had ten
new actors and ten new horse. And for two weeks,
everybody rode every other horse and we all tried to,
(45:00):
you know, see what fit what, and I think we
found a real good fit for them for for Yellowstone.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Yeah, it's funny that you talk about, you know, training
young clueless horses because Cowboy Camp four years ago, Season
one Yellowstone you got ten variously clueless actors. Will you
talk a little bit about what it's like to kind
of connect those two worlds, the actors and the horses.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
What was it like to connect actors and horses. It
was very scary. Now, it was a great experience, you know,
it was. It was it was fun to you know,
thank good for good horses. All the horses were really good.
But you know, it's it's like teaching somebody to ride
(45:48):
a bike. And and you know, the better that Philly have,
the the you know, the better they're going to communicate
with the horses. And it was nice for Taylor to
put me in the position. You know. At first, I thought, oh,
these actors, these famous people are coming. I'm not going
to be able to tell them what to do or
how to do it. And I remember Taylor said, hey,
you're you're their boss, you know, you tell them how
(46:11):
to go, what to do and where. And you know,
when I had that, okay, that I was able to
do that, and it made me feel a lot more
comfortable that I didn't have to, you know, be downd
the bush. And you know, I could say, damn you, Jefferson,
pull your head out of you know, the clouds, and
do what you're supposed to do, and you would say, oh,
what do you mean, and we'd talk about it and
then it did all work and we'd all have a
(46:33):
good time. So it was a great experience and it
actually it actually helped my horsemanship a lot too, knowing
the horses prior to putting actors on them. And it's
kind of funny how those horses molded with the uh,
with the you know, with the different attitudes of the
(46:54):
actors and the different attitudes of the horses, and it's
kind of funny how they all kind of came together.
You know. You know, you wrote you rode my daughter's horse,
old Blue Jeans, the gray horse first for a long time,
and when you got comfortable on him. You know, once
you got comfortable, boy, you you went up the ladder
really quick. And I'm just telling me that that because
you're my friend. But you did, you know, you got
(47:14):
super comfortable really quick because it was a gorse. You know,
it was a good horse, and you listened. And I
remember just you know, out here in the arena the
first time I let you work the mechanical cow and
you were chasing it back and forth, you know, the
fake cow. I thought, man, this guy's gonna fall off,
and I thought, here he goes. Nope, never did. I
(47:34):
couldn't even get you to fall off. I wish I
had that chance. Again.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
We're very lucky to have, you know, a bunch of
actors who are trying very hard to learn, who are
very committed to learning. But we're also really lucky to
have real riders, real horse trainers, real experts, not just
behind the scenes but also on camera. You know. So,
what's it been like for you sort of appearing on
(47:58):
camera for the first time and acting for the first
time it sort of participating really in an increasingly crucial
role in the show.
Speaker 5 (48:06):
Shared the hell out of me the first few times,
There's no doubt about that, you know. The first couple,
you know, I was always on camera in the background
and hanging out. I think the first clip. He let me.
I think I said a few words. In episode ten,
season one, he let me do a roping deal with
(48:27):
Rip and I almost can't even remember the lines. And
I remember going out there and roping and I turned
around and I set them and hit it and we
did it. And I didn't even bother me when I
was on the horse, kind of second nature. But when
we're sitting in the bunk house or somewhere else. We
did an episode start where I was sitting on a
fence and that's all I had to think about was
(48:49):
my lines. And I'm pretty sure Taylor was awfully mad
at me come the editing time. It was, well, it was,
it was. It was a cup couple of times. And
you know, it's okay. If I feel like if I
can just kind of be myself and get the general
drift of the conversation and maybe make some different stuff
(49:11):
up or ad lip a little bit, it makes me
a little more comfortable. But it's kind of funny. When
I'm sitting on a horse, it's not hard for me
to think about it, and I just do it. But
you know, sitting around the bunk house table or out
on the fence, or you know, some of the other
stuff that we've done. It if it's the only thing
I have to think about, it's I think I overthink
it a little bit, but I think we're getting a
(49:33):
little bit better at Hope. So I know you guys
always giggle at me and Teeter we did we did
a scene on season four and I really messed it
up really bad, and she turned and looked at me
and she says, come again. And I thought to myself,
was that in the script? And so I was teasing her.
I said, just remember who saddles your horse in the morning,
(49:55):
beautiful woman. So you know I can always get you
guys back. And yeah, you guys have teased me a
little bit. I've teased you guys, and it's been fun.
It's been awesome.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
Well, it's it's totally true what you said. It's easy
when you can just be yourself. And I think that
the tailor and the you know, production designers and the
whole crew have created a world that is so immersive
that sometimes you can't help but just be yourself. Like
they've really built this world to feel so authentic, and
especially for guys like you who grew up working on
(50:27):
a ranch when you go to work in the morning.
You're working on a ranch, you know. So I think
one of the big successes of the show is how
sort of immersive and authentic that the world that they've
built is.
Speaker 5 (50:38):
You know, yeah, you know, I think, man, I don't
I don't know that you could. I don't know. I've
seen if I've seen a Western that has better horses
and you know, authentic saddles and ropes. I think he's
put together a great crew. I mean, I look at
the I don't know if we've ever had an argument.
(51:00):
I mean, yeah, there's tough times in that, but it's
it's it's a great crew to with and everybody helps
each other. And I mean I've helped props, I've helped locations,
I've helped the helicopter pilot. I mean, you know, and
I think I think if you're in it to be
in the game, you better you better be in the
game and be on the team.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
We're getting through it. Man, it's a it's a real
All of us on the show pretending to do this
are watching you guys constantly, you know, so we're taking
little lessons where we can get them. Jake, thank you
so so so much. For taking the time and for
taking care of us for going on five years now.
So thank you, brother. I can't wait to see you soon. Man,
(51:39):
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for taking
the time.
Speaker 4 (51:45):
Jake.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Jake has been absolutely instrumental in teaching me not only
how to ride a horse, but about this whole world,
the ranching world, the horse training world. And I feel
so lucky Jake is. Jake's amazing at a lot of things.
He does about ten on Yellowstone, and he's also just
an incredible teacher who's taken such good care of me
for the last four years. So thank you, Jake, and
(52:06):
thank all of you out there for tuning in. I
obviously wouldn't be able to do this without you the
Yellowstone family. We get these opportunities, We get to do
this fun stuff. I get to chat with my friends
like this in beautiful Las Vegas because of you, so
thank you, so so much. We drop new episodes every Thursday,
so make sure to subscribe and tune in to the
(52:27):
Official Yellowstone Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get
your podcasts. The Official Yellowstone Podcast is hosted by me
Jefferson White and produced by One on One podcast studios
in paramount network
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