One Of Yellowstone's Actors Was In Charge Of Feeding The Show's Cast And Crew

Some "Yellowstone" cast members have proven to be as valuable behind the scenes as they are on the screen — especially those who aren't actors in the traditional sense. As a real-life cowboy with plenty of experience working on ranches, Forrie J. Smith was entrusted to help design the bunkhouse scenes for "Yellowstone," with his efforts impressing creator Taylor Sheridan so much that he wrote more of these moments into the show. What's more, Sheridan was seemingly impressed with Gabriel "Gator" Guilbeau's cooking abilities, as the head of craft services was eventually cast in an on-screen capacity as the Dutton family's chef.

Despite finding his way into scenes alongside Kevin Costner and Kelly Reilly, though, Guilbeau's main job was keeping the show's cast and crew fed. In fact, Guilbeau's work days on "Yellowstone" mostly entailed him waking up super early and having to cook in some random places, as he told The Pioneer Woman in 2023:

"Some days, I start at 3 a.m. It makes a difference to people to have food that's hot, homemade, and delicious when they're working 16-plus hours. My team will hightail it up a mountain in ATVs and set up tables in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Filming isn't as glamorous as you'd think."

During his time as the head of craft services on the hit neo-Western, Guilbeau also built a rapport with some of the series' main cast members. The chef-turned-actor revealed that Costner was especially fond of his apple pie, but the John Dutton III actor had a genuinely negative response to the sight of a grilled octopus — a reaction that makes it into season 2's "The Reek of Desperation" episode. That said, what led to Sheridan deciding to cast Guilbeau in an on-screen role?

Gabriel Guilbeau was cast in Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" franchise simply by being himself. In the aforementioned interview, the chef-turned-actor recalled showing up to the set after a busy day of cooking for the cast and crew, which led to Sheridan asking him to perform his regular day job duties on camera. As Guilbeau put it:

"I went to the wardrobe department with a greasy apron and ash from the barbecue on my face. And they looked at each other and said, 'This is perfect!' Taylor says, 'Okay, go do some Gator stuff.' I saw onions and potatoes, I had my chef's knife with me, so I started chopping them for a stew. And from behind the camera, Taylor goes, 'Oh, yes.'"

Guilbeau returned to feed the cast on the "Yellowstone" spin-off "1883," suggesting that his grub went down well with Sheridan and the gang. With more "Yellowstone" spin-offs on the way, there might even be more opportunities for the talented cook to return to this universe, whether that's as a chef, actor, or both.