Kebbel: ‘Yellowstone’ spin-off ‘Marshals’ is exciting responsibility

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) — The Vampire Diaries and I Can Only Imagine 2 actress Arielle Kebbel says she is a huge fan of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone and was eager to expand on the Dutton family story in the spin-off, Marshals.

“I really respected the world that they created in Yellowstone because a lot of people tried to recreate it since and it’s just not the same. They had a special sauce in launching that show,” Kebbel, 41, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

“So, to be a part of the continuation of it, it’s a huge responsibility and an exciting responsibility,” she said.

“But I’m also a fan of Taylor Sheridan’s work in general — Wind River, Lioness, Landman — they’re all such different shows with such distinct characters and he does such a great job of really getting to know these characters. They stand out. I was just, for a long time, wanting to know what that felt like as an actor.”

Set to premiere Sunday on CBS and Paramount+ Monday, the contemporary Montana drama follows Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he begins his career as a U.S. Marshal, following the death of his father John (Kevin Costner) and the sale of most of the Dutton family’s ancestral ranch.

Kayce, a rare mix of cowboy and Navy SEAL, joins an elite law-enforcement unit, which includes Kebbel’s Belle, Pete (Logan Marshall-Green), Andrea (Ash Santos) and Miles (Tatanka Means).

Kebbel said Belle was initially described to her as “Martha Stewart in cowboy boots” and that resonated with her.

“I was like, ‘Do they know me?” Now, listen, I’m not pretending to be Martha. She’s phenomenal. But she was my neighbor,” the actress said.

“So, I did feel like I had a very good understand immediately of who Belle is and was, so, just from that moment forward, it’s just felt like this kind of dream in real life, every day, happening before my eyes.”

For 10 years, Belle worked undercover for the ATF before making the move to the Marshals where, like Kayce, she now finds herself policing her neighbors in the place where she grew up.

“Sometimes we’re on a crazy car chase in the middle of nowhere and [the team] kind of turns to her, to rely on her for direction, because she knows the land,” Kebbel said.

“She knows her way around. That’s one of the interesting connections between Belle and Kayce,” she added, noting they also understand the difference between the law and justice. “Belle is very skilled at her job. She loves her job. She’s a bad-ass, but she’s also very protective of her personal story and who she lets in and who she doesn’t.”

Used to being away from her husband and son while she is working, Belle now has to switch into “mom mode” at the end of a busy and often dangerous day on the job.

“She’s really struggling with the fact that this is the first time that her work is in her backyard,” Kebbel said.

“What she learned throughout this season is: ‘OK, I got what I wanted, I’m closer to home, but then what does it mean to be closer to home?’ Because now I’m on these crazy missions during the day, but then I have to go home to my son and where is that decompression time? How do I make sure I don’t take work home with me? How do I make sure that my family’s protected, that these people don’t come after my family?”

Kebbel’s movie I Can Only Imagine 2 has been in the Top 10 at the box office for the past two weekends.

The film is based on the true story of Tim Timmons (played by Milo Ventimiglia), a Christian music star, who has survived for decades longer than doctors expected him to when they gave him his terminal cancer diagnosis.

Kebbel plays his wife Hilary.

“We really became a family and what a family to be a part of! Just heartfelt, raw, real conversation,” Kebell said of the ensemble, which included Sophie Skelton, John Michael Finley, Trace Adkins, Sammy Dell and Dennis Quaid.

“I’ve never played a real person before and to play the real Hilary Timmons, to get to know the real Tim Timmons, who Milo was playing, [was amazing]. He wakes up every day and puts an ‘X’ on his wrist to remind him that he got another day,” she added.

“He has a very rare form of cancer. He doesn’t know when his time is up. He’s really learned to walk with grief and gratitude and I have carried that mantra with me since meeting him and, so, it was just so special to be a part of a project that deeply impacted me and how I live my own life every day.”