Taylor Sheridan’s 'Yellowstone’ formula turns country stars into scene-stealers as Morgan Wade makes her debut

Taylor Sheridan is the mastermind behind "Yellowstone," which led to spin-offs "1883," "1923," "Marshals," and "Dutton Ranch."

Sheridan continually taps into the world of country singers to cast his "Yellowstone" projects — a strategic move that not only brings authenticity and grit to the characters, but also introduces a new audience to the "Yellowstone" universe.

His latest casting introduces country singer Morgan Wade into the world of "Yellowstone."

Wade joins fellow country stars Riley Green and Lainey Wilson in the "Yellowstone" universe — as they add acting to their many talents.

Wade will play bartender Carol at a local bar in Rio Paloma, Texas in "Dutton Ranch" — a nine-episode series spin-off of "Yellowstone," according to Deadline.

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"Dutton Ranch" follows Beth Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly, and Rip Wheeler, played by Cole Hauser, as they start their new life in Texas after leaving Yellowstone.

The series debuts on May 15 on Paramount+.

Wade, who hails from Floyd, Virginia, has released five country albums and has toured with Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Joan Jett, Alanis Morrissette and Shinedown.

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Riley Green got his first acting credit in "Marshals."

The singer, who is known for his hit songs "Worst Way," "I Wish Grandpas Never Died," and his duet with Ella Langley "You Look Like You Love Me," played the character Garrett, a troubled Navy SEAL who seeks help from Kayce Dutton (played by Luke Grimes) and Pete Calvin (played by Logan Marshall-Green) in the series.

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Green appeared in four episodes, and performed an original song called "My Way."

The role came after Green revealed to real-life friend Grimes that he wanted to break into acting while the duo were working on writing music together.

"I mentioned I had some interest in acting. I didn't know it would turn into a job so quickly. [Grimes] certainly threw me a bone getting me on this show," Green said to USA Today.

During his interview with Entertainment Tonight, the country singer revealed that growing up, he never thought he would be an actor.

"I don't know that I really grew up thinking I was going to be acting, but when I got that call from Luke to be able to come be a part of the show, how do you not do that? And that's kind of how I look at it now. My granddaddy always used to say to make hay while the sun's shining. And it's been shining for the last two, three years. And it's awesome that I've got these opportunities," he explained.

Grimes told Taste of Country the story on how they became friends: "We met out one night at Losers [a bar in Nashville]. I would see him there from time to time... and we talked at some point about writing a song and then kind of made that happen."

During one of their writing sessions, Green shared his interest to Grimes that he wanted to act. Grimes said at that time, the show "Marshals" was coming together.

The actor told the outlet that Green had to audition for the role of Garrett despite his country star status.

"Kind of the weird thing about Hollywood is, they don't tend to know country musicians as well. So they made him audition, which I thought was really funny. This guy is a superstar guys, I think you should just give him the part that was written for him, and they wanted him to audition," Grimes said.

But Grimes read lines with Green during his audition: "I auditioned with him," he added.

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"Somewhere out there, there is an audition tape of me and Riley Green getting him a part in 'Marshals.' But he was great. Honestly, I think he would have gotten it anyway, because he was that good in his first ever audition tapes."

Green told Decider he was happy he got to audition instead of just being given the part because of his music career.

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"I wouldn't want to be given a part because of something I've done in music. I want to somewhat earn it, if I can. I think I skipped a lot of steps by getting a part like this as my first gig, but I'm very thankful that I was given that opportunity," he explained.

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Lainey Wilson made her acting debut in "Yellowstone."

The country star appeared as Abby, an aspiring musician, in season five of the show. Wilson appears in five episodes.

In July 2024, Wilson revealed on the "TODAY" show about how Sheridan created her character.

"Taylor Sheridan told me… ‘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,'" she told Hoda Kotb on the morning show.

Adding: "I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ve never acted a day in my life.’"

On the similarities between her and her character, Wilson said on Sirius XM: The Highway: "I really had to kind of dive in there and try to figure out what my version of Abby is. Of course, there's a lot of myself in her. I will say, I feel like she's an artist that maybe was driving through Montana and found a niche of people who really started to love her music, and she knows she's not supposed to be messing with cowboys but she does it anyway."

Tim McGraw, who has already established himself as both a country star and actor, paved the way for the crossover from country music to acting.

The star also appeared in the "Yellowstone" universe, appearing as James Dutton in the "Yellowstone" prequel "1883," along with his real-life wife and fellow country star Faith Hill.

Hill played his on-camera wife too — Margaret Dutton.

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The miniseries was released in December 2021 and concluded in February 2022.

Country singer Ryan Bingham also appeared in the world of "Yellowstone," appearing as Walker in 37 episodes of "Yellowstone" from 2018 until 2024.

Zach Bryan appeared as himself in season five, episode seven of "Yellowstone." The singer performed at a county fair in the December 2022 episode.