Yellowstone season five dropped its fifth episode this past Sunday, and needless to say, this season is panning out to be the wildest yet.
We have John Dutton as the new governor of Montana, Kayce and Monica just lost their unborn baby, Lainey Wilson’s character Abby has been acclimated to the show, and Beth is back to throwing hands with just about any female who crosses her path the wrong way.
And of course, Gil Birmingham’s character Thomas Rainwater is finally getting opposition from the Native American community, as new character Martin Kills Many is opposing the Native American reservation’s expansion of Birmingham’s casino empire.
But speaking of Birmingham, he recently sat down for an interview on the Yellowstoners podcast with Mike DeAngelo and Rodrigo Perez.
Birmingham discussed his longstanding relationship with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, and how he first heard about Sheridan’s plan to start the show:
“Taylor mentioned ‘Yellowstone’ back in 2016 when we were filming ‘Hell or High Water.’ And he said, ‘I’ve got this television show that I’ve written and I’ve written a part for you.’
And at that point, I just thought he was an incredible writer and I said, ‘I’m spoiled with your writing, if you’ve got a series and you want me in it, I’m there.”
He also discusses how impressed he’s been with Yellowstone’s accurate portrayal of the Native American community:
“I’m just so excited that we’ve gotten to a place that we haven’t been in since like, ‘Dances with Wolves.’ A respectful portrayal of the Native American community and, more importantly, that it’s contemporary.
You’d be shocked to know that the majority of people think that Native Americans don’t exist, so to be able to tell their own stories as the writers and the producers and directors.
It gives it a level of inherent experience that no other writer or artist could bring to it and people are really coming to appreciate and be exposed to a real authentic portrayal of the Native community.”
You have to appreciate Sheridan’s intentions to portray Native Americans accurately in his shows, whether it’s todays times, or the pioneer days like in 1883.
The community has been portrayed inaccurately for so long, and it’s awesome to see that Sheridan is taking a stand.
