This YELLOWSTONE Star Never Acted Before Appearing on Hit Show
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country star Lainey Wilson recently revealed how she scored a role on YELLOWSTONE, despite having no previous acting experience.
“Taylor Sheridan [YELLOWSTONE creator], he called, and we had become friends after he had put a couple of songs in the show,” Wilson said during an episode of Hoda Kotb’s MAKING SPACE podcast. “And I realized just how beneficial it was to have music in that show because people were coming to my show being like, ‘I found you through the YELLOWSTONE soundtrack.’”
This friendship with Sheridan eventually led to him offering her a part on the show.
“Well, Taylor Sheridan told me, because we were on the phone, he said, ‘I’ve got an idea,’ and I’m like, ‘This man is full of crazy ideas.’ He is. He’s crazy,” she shared. “But he said, ‘I want to create a character specifically for you, and I want you to sing your music and kind of be yourself, but go by a musician named Abby.’”
Wilson continued, “I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ve never acted a day in my life.’ And he said, ‘Well, most musicians that I work with, without even knowing it, they’re actors and actresses because at times, you got to stand up on that stage. And maybe you just lost somebody the night before, maybe you’re going through a breakup — maybe, who knows?’ But you got to hide all these feelings when you get up on that stage because it’s not about you.”
The country singer spoke more about the role of Abby in an interview with USA Today, saying Sheridan “wanted me to pretty much be myself, which is a dream come true, especially when you’re trying to introduce yourself to people.”
“All I got from him at that time was that I would play a musician who would fall in love with one of the boys. He didn’t even tell me which one,” Wilson laughed.
She has also shared whether or not her character will appear in the upcoming final season of YELLOWSTONE.
“I literally still do not know, but I’m waiting on the call,” Wilson told Entertainment Tonight. “I’ll be honest with you. I’d be shocked [if Abby didn’t come back]. And I think how [series creator] Taylor Sheridan writes his stories, and he just has a beautiful way of bringing things back and letting things go — I’ll be shocked. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Wilson’s music career:
Country sensation Lainey Wilson always knew she was made for music.
There was never a “Plan B.”
“A lot of people thought I was crazy,” Wilson said about her path to success, which took more than a decade. “‘Yep, 19-year-old Lainey.’ I knew it. I did. I knew it. But there’s been a million steps.”
“You never had a plan B?” TODAY host Willie Geist asked.
“I never did,” she replied.
Her stubborn roots and determination kept her there, and she never called it quits even when it got hard.
“I think God laid it on my heart a long time ago. I think it was being from a bunch of hardheaded folks,” she said. “You got to be a little bit nuts to want to do this. You do.”