A Yellowstone Star Appeared In Some Of Disney Channel's Best TV Shows

"Yellowstone" was never afraid of killing off characters, but actor Kelsey Asbille made it through the entire show. The actor played Monica Long Dutton on "Yellowstone," and despite season 1 breaking her character, she stuck around for all five seasons, making her final appearance in the series finale "Life is a Promise." The character actually debuted in the premiere episode in which Lee Dutton met his fate, which means Asbille was part of "Yellowstone" from the very beginning, playing the wife of Luke Grimes' Kayce Dutton and the mother of Brecken Merrill's Tate Dutton and becoming an integral part of the series. Before her main role on the show, however, Asbille cut her teeth in multiple Disney Channel projects that couldn't have been more removed from Taylor Sheridan's hugely popular neo-Western.

Asbille started acting relatively young, finding moderate success fairly quickly. From 2005 to 2009, she had a recurring role as Gigi Silveri on the drama "One Tree Hill," which is set to return with a full reboot/revival in the near future (though Asbille hasn't been confirmed as being involved at the time of writing). This was the actor's first TV role, and saw her announcing alongside Lee Norris' Mouth McFadden at Tree Hill High School basketball games before securing her spot as a recurring guest. It was a significant step for the young actor, who was 13 when she first appeared on the hit teen drama. As such, it wasn't long before she started finding more TV work, beginning with multiple Disney TV projects.

In 2008, she had a guest role on "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," playing Dakota in the season 3 episode "Romancing the Phone." It was a fairly small role, with Asbille portraying Zack's (Dylan Sprouse) date in one scene. But that was just the beginning of her Disney tenure, as the actor soon went on to portray Matisse Burrows in the Disney Channel Original Movie "Den Brother." Matisse, the object of high schooler Alex Pearson's (Hutch Dano) affections, was a significant role for Asbille, who would soon find herself with a more secure Disney gig when she landed the role of Mikayla in the Disney XD sitcom "Pair of Kings."

"Pair of Kings" was aimed at older kids, hence its airing on Disney XD, and ended up running for three seasons between 2010 and 2013. It focused on two teenage twin brothers who discover they are actually the rulers of the Pacific island of Kinkow. Asbille played Mikayla Makoola, the tough daughter of Royal Advisor Mason Makoola (Geno Segers), who helps the brothers in their attempts to uphold their duty as rulers. Along with her machete, "Stabitha," Mikayla was a fearsome ally for the brothers, and Asbille remained with the series throughout its three seasons before Disney announced its cancellation.

But the actor quickly found fresh work, playing Tracy Stewart in MTV's "Teen Wolf from 2015 to 2016. Her supporting role in Taylor Sheridan's 2017 thriller "Wind River," which represented the "Yellowstone" creator's directorial debut (unless you count his horror movie no one remembers), was perhaps the most important pre-"Yellowstone" job for Asbille, as it put her on Sheridan's radar.

In 2018, Asbille was cast as Monica in "Yellowstone" and remained with the show throughout its run. She also found time for a recurring role in season 4 of the "Fargo" series, and in 2024, the "Yellowstone" star was plunged into horror with Netflix's serial killer thriller "Don't Move," in which she played the lead role of Iris. While Monica made it through "Yellowstone" without being killed off, however, it seems the character won't be appearing in the upcoming "Y: Marshals" spin-off, which follows Kayce Dutton after the events of"Yellowstone." Why the now 34-year-old Asbille has been left out of the show remains unclear, but here's hoping she turns up at some point.