It's no easy thing being a Dutton. Ahead of Yellowstone's season 5 premiere, stars of the western TV show Luke Grimes and Wes Bentley went on The Kelly Clarkson Show to talk ranch life. The pair revealed that they may have told a few white lies to land their roles, and they looked back on the time they were left alone in the Utah wilderness.
Luke Grimes plays ranch hand turned Livestock Commissioner Kayce Dutton in the series, and despite appearances, the actor claims he's no real-life cowboy. "I think it was on my resume that I could ride a horse, but I was totally lying," said Grimes. His riding skills have improved since then. Five years on the Dutton Ranch will do that to you.
Bentley (aka Jamie Dutton) explained that the actors undergo vigorous training for their work on the show. The so-called cowboy camps are joint outings between actors and seasoned survivalists. "We had these Paul Bunyan-type real cowboys who do pack rides," said Bentley. Together, they go off-grid in the Utah wilderness and try to survive, learning things like horse riding along the way.
But one cowboy camp took a turn for the worse when the actors and the cowboys got split up. "We kinda got separated from those Paul Bunyan types," said Bentley. "And it was just actors alone in the woods for a minute."
In fact, the actors were left to their own devices for an entire night. At first, they thought it was all part of the programming. Maybe it was a test to see how they'd fare without expert help. But at one point, Bentley said, they thought they spotted a bear in the distance. "I think it was one of the cowboys just keeping an eye on us," Grimes joked.
Looks like those cowboy camps did the trick. The actors made it out alive after all, just in time for season 5.
READ MORE: These 'Yellowstone' Actors Are Real Cowboys
