Yellowstone Actors Who Are Real-Life Cowboys

There's no doubt that Yellowstone has really created some excitement around cowboy culture. It's cool to be cowboy! The Dutton drama has fans from all backgrounds hooked. Before filming began, the entire cast had to participate in Taylor Sheridan's Cowboy Camp, but there are some members who are already real-life cowboys. Some started as behind-the-scenes trainers, and others joined as actors with a rodeo past.

Forrie J. Smith - Lloyd

Forrie J Smith plays fan-favorite Lloyd, the ranch hand and loyal best friend of Rip Wheeler. His mother was a barrel racer, and his father and grandfather both competed as well. He's been working on stunts in Hollywood for well over 20 years, but Yellowstone is actually his first series regular job. Who isn't rooting for Lloyd?!

Taylor Sheridan - Travis

Of course we had to include series creator Taylor Sheridan! He grew up on a ranch in Texas. After moving on from his acting career and hitting it big as a writer and director, Sheridan spent some time in Utah but is now fully based in Texas, where he owns and operates Bosque Ranch with his wife, Nicole. He plays Travis Wheatly in the series, a horse trader who does business with John Dutton.

Jake Ream - Jake

Funny enough, Ream first met Taylor Sheridan when he reached out to buy a horse. Fast forward to the beginning of Yellowstone's production in Montana, and Sheridan calls Ream out to help train actors to ride and generally help behind the scenes. In Season 1, Ream started out mostly saddling and wrangling horses and generally being on top of everyone's safety. Pretty soon, he just got added to the cast as a member of the bunkhouse, his first acting gig ever.

Ryan Bingham - Walker

Ryan Bingham grew up in New Mexico around rodeo and horses. Eventually, he got his big break with music, which led to his current opportunity on Yellowstone as Walker. While you get to see Bingham perform music pretty regularly on the show, what you don't see is how he helps behind the scenes. On the Yellowstone podcast, host Jefferson White (Jimmy on the show) explained that Bingham was really helpful to all of the cast members that weren't as familiar with riding horses and would constantly offer advice and helpful critiques to look more authentic.

Ethan Lee - Ethan

Ethan Lee grew up in Amite, LA, spending years riding bulls, horses, and more. He even spent years working as a trick rider. He got introduced to the entertainment industry after getting asked to help out with horses for Matthew McConaughey's 2016 film Free State of Jones. What was meant to be a couple of weeks of work turned into months, and by the end of Season 2, Taylor Sheridan made him part of the cast.