Even though “Yellowstone” was essentially an ensemble drama from the start, that hasn’t stopped it from adding new faces with each subsequent season. In fact, Season 5, Part 1 would go on to introduce characters like Abby (Lainey Wilson), a member of the growing cast of the show as well as a burgeoning love interest for Ryan (Ian Bohen).
However, Wilson wasn’t emotional during her first “Yellowstone” scene because she was smitten with Bohen or anything like that. It was much more personal during the sequence, which involved Beth (Kelly Reilly) rather than Ryan. Because her father had contracted a potentially fatal fungal infection, Wilson admitted that she considered dropping the role.
Her father, for his part, wasn’t having it and gave her some sage advice, much like John Dutton (Kevin Costner) probably would. “He said: ‘I don’t care if it’s my funeral. If you have a job to be done, you better go do it. And don’t come back until it’s finished,'” Wilson told USA Today. “I packed my bags. That gave me the strength to do it. But I won’t lie, I’d shoot my scene, go to the corner, and cry a little bit.”
Unlike Beth, Kelly Reilly was incredibly kind to the newcomer
Of course, all of this pressure was only compounded by the fact that Lainey Wilson was shooting her first scene with Kelly Reilly, the performer behind the notoriously prickly Beth Dutton. Though Reilly turned out to be much kinder than her fictional counterpart, that didn’t stop the country singer from having some trepidation about shooting with the more seasoned actor.
“I told (Reilly) when I met her, ‘I thought you were going to put me in a headlock,'” Wilson recalled. “But we got along great. She even gave me some handmade bath salts.” As anyone who watches “Yellowstone” would know, giving a gift like that is about as far from Beth Dutton as one can possibly get.
As for “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan, it turned out that he didn’t want Wilson to do anything more than play a version of herself, which probably helped to take some of the pressure off. “(Sheridan) said he wanted me to pretty much be myself, which is a dream come true, especially when you’re trying to introduce yourself to people,” she explained.
“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 added. While Abby’s fate depends on a Season 5 cliffhanger, it’s still possible that we haven’t seen the last of her on “Yellowstone.”
Next Up
Modern Family Actors You May Not Know Passed Away
“Modern Family” became one of the most successful sitcoms on the air after it hit TV screens back in 2009, breathing new life into the mockumentary subgenre. Following the lives of three very different branches of the same family, the Los Angeles-set show won numerous awards and received widespread critical acclaim for the way it portrayed modern family life in the United States. Running for 11 seasons and 250 episodes in total, “Modern Family” featured a large ensemble cast and some big names made guest appearances over the course of its run. Sadly, not all of them are still with us today. In fact, we’ve lost way more members of the show’s extended family than you may have realized.
Some of the actors on this list actually made their final career appearances in “Modern Family,” which is not a bad way to wrap up a resume. Here’s everyone who has acted in the show that has since passed away.
Jon Polito
Earl Chambers is a former business partner and friend of Jay who turns into his enemy when he sets up a rival business. Most people think of Robert Costanzo as the person behind Earl, but he wasn’t the first actor to play him. Earl was originally portrayed by Jon Polito, who appeared as the character in three episodes in Season 6 and Season 7.
Polito amassed more than 200 credits over the course of his astonishing career. He got his start in 1981, playing real life mobster Tommy Lucchese (one of the Mafia’s “founding fathers,” per The Mob Museum) in the NBC series “The Gangster Chronicles.” He went on to gain recognition for his performances in “Homicide: Life on the Street,” bringing Detective Steve Crosetti to life. Speaking to Groucho Reviews, the actor revealed that the character was originally Irish and that the creators changed his background on the strength of his audition.
Fans of the Coen brothers will know Polito well, as he appeared in five of their films. They approached him about “Miller’s Crossing” after seeing him perform on stage, and he would go on to appear in “Barton Fink,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There.” In more recent years, Polito had a significant part in “Big Eyes” and voice roles in “Batman: Arkham Underworld,” “Ultimate Spider-Man,” and “Tangled: The Series.” He died in 2016 “due to complications from cancer,” Entertainment Weekly confirmed. He was 65.