Someone find that audition tape ASAP.
As we got closer to mid-April, we get closer to seeing Riley Green make his acting debut on the Yellowstone spinoff Marshals. The new CBS show is nearing the halfway point of the 13-episode first season, and Riley is supposed to be appearing during the next episode or two, and I know fans have been patiently waiting to see that.
Riley will of course appear alongside Luke Grimes, who plays star Kayce Dutton, as Kayce takes on a new role as a U.S. marshal in Montana following the death of his wife, Monica. Riley will appear in multiple episodes, playing a former Navy SEAL named Garrett, who arrives at the ranch, unexpectedly, hoping to lean on his friends Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Cal (Logan Marshall-Green) to help “put the demons of his past to rest.”
But apparently it wasn’t just as easy as snapping his fingers to get Riley a part on the show. Grimes had the idea to get Riley on during a songwriting session when Riley talked about his interest in acting, and Grimes says a lightbulb went off and he wanted to get him on Marshals. He spoke with showrunner Spencer Hudnut, who loved the idea, so they wrote Riley in since this was all happening as the show was starting to come together.
But Luke revealed during a radio interview with Bev Rainey for her Country Nights Live with Bev Rainey radio show that network executives didn’t know “how big of a deal Riley is” in the country music world, so they made him audition just like any other actor, and told them they “should not” make him do that, but they weren’t having it:
“Oh yeah, that all happened because we were writing a song here. He had talked about wanting to act, and I’m sitting there, and that’s when ‘Marshals’ was starting to come together, and a little lightbulb sort of went off, I was like, ‘Hey, you should you should be in my show.’
Brought it up to my showrunner now, and he loved the idea as a fan of Riley’s. We wrote him a part, and we thought, great, this is happening. And then the network, they don’t really know the country music scene, so they weren’t super aware of how big of a deal Riley is.
So they made him audition, which I thought was really funny. I was like, ‘You guys, you should not make this guy do this.'”
It’s a great story, and I agree that it’s really funny, but Riley must have done well because he landed the part and will be in multiple episodes. Considering Riley has no prior professional acting experience (besides some music videos, of course), Grimes did it with him and says there’s a tape out there somewhere of his audition.
I’m sure Riley was happy to do it, but it’s funny to hear from Luke’s perspective and trying to tell the CBS execs how big Riley is and how they shouldn’t even question how good it would be for ratings to get Riley on:
“I was like, I’m not gonna make him do it alone, so he flew out to Utah and I did it with him. So somewhere out there, there’s an audition with me and Riley.”
It sounds like they’ve sparked a real friendship between writing songs and now doing the show together, and Grimes said at the premiere that Riley is a really good actor, and I’m excited to see his acting chops this season onscreen.
Luke just put out his sophomore album Redbird on Friday, and so they’ve really been able to help each other with their respective passions, which is really cool and maybe they might release a song together one day too… at least I can only hope.
But seriously, I have to see that audition tape…
@withbevrainey It started with a song in Nashville… and turned into a TV moment. 🔥 Luke Grimes shares how writing with Riley Green led to bringing him onto Marshals. You never know where a write can take you. 🎶➡️📺 Tune in to Country Nights Live tomorrow night Friday 4/3 from 7PM-Midnight #CountryNightsLive #lukegrimes #rileygreen #countrylife @Luke Grimes @Riley Green ♬ Worst Way – Riley Green
You can see a quick glimpse of Riley in the Season one trailer here:
