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Kevin Costner's years doing westerns saved him from Taylor Sheridan's rigorous cowboy boot camp for 'Yellowstone'

Kevin Costner managed to dodge the demanding boot camp as he had already gained some expertise in horseback riding and other cowboy skills
PUBLISHED APR 26, 2023
Kevin Costner skipped Taylor Sheridan's cowboy training for 'Yellowstone' (Neilson Barnard and Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Kevin Costner skipped Taylor Sheridan's cowboy training for 'Yellowstone' (Neilson Barnard and Omar Vega/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Considering Taylor Sheridan's reputation for meticulousness, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the 'Yellowstone' director sets the bar equally high for his actors. The showrunner insisted that every member of the cast undergo the cowboy boot camp to learn the vital skills needed on set. However, there was one actor who was allowed an exemption - Kevin Costner.

Costner, who plays John Dutton, is a seasoned western actor and director. Cole Hauser once told Entertainment Tonight that Costner never went to the boot camp. 

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Costner’s cowboy training

To be fair, Costner received his cowboy training decades ago while prepping for Lawrence Kasdan's 1985 Western film ‘Silverado’, which had theOscar-winningg actor riding a horse multiple times. He is known for his other Western film too, ‘Dances with Wolves’. In 1991, the film won five Academy Awards, including best director, best picture, and best cinematography.

In any case, Kevin Costner's cowboy abilities are nothing short of outstanding, as is clearly visible in ‘Yellowstone’. Sheridan rightfully excused him from attending the boot camp, reports Starte Facts. In fact, he is such an expert at horseback riding that he even taught an actor how to ride a horse on the set of one of his films. 

Talking about the presence of cowboys inmodern-dayy America, Costner once told The Daily Telegraph, “I want to be really clear [that] that kind of work, raising cattle on horseback, is still going on all over America. It’s not a myth. Themodern-dayy cowboy exists.”

'Training creates an authentic cowboy'

Sheridan once said in a behind-the-scenes production for the show to Paramount+, "I don't rehearse with my actors," adding, "There's no way to inform them what this way of life is, you just have to do it. I just take them out and put them to work." The experience the actors gather at the campshelpsp them adapt to the wilderness and the rugged life on the ranch. Eric Nelsen told Paramount+, "This training creates an authentic cowboy because the blisters are real, the cuts are real, I'm running into barbedwire fences on my horse.” 

"It gets everything working like a well-oiled machine," Luke Grimes told The Hollywood Reporter, before adding that many actors also practiced in the fields of Montana. "They've been really cool about letting the actors continue to sharpen their skills on horseback as much as they want,” reports Looper

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