Mind games tv pilot movie#

I don’t have to do that because that’s not necessarily my job, but that’s just who I am and who we are. If I’m on set and I see something that’s not right, or a horse needs shoeing, I just do it. We’d love to know what having a “ Cowboy State of Mind” means to you.Įthan Lee: Well, it’s just stepping up to the job and helping any way I can. So long story short he made me part of the cast and I’ll always be very much appreciative of that because he could’ve easily chosen anyone.Ĭavender’s: That’s awesome, what a blessing. I told him that I’d be leaving and he said that I couldn’t because I was too established in shots around the ranch and in the bunkhouse. At the end of season two the work I was originally hired to do was over so I went and found Taylor Sheridan to shake his hand and thank him for the opportunity to work on the show.

Anything from riding to fighting, if the actor could get injured, I would step in. It’s been a total blessing for me and my family.Įthan Lee: When I first started Yellowstone, I was an animal wrangler and Ian Bohen’s stunt double. I said, “Yes sir.” So, they put me on a SAG contract, and everything snowballed after that.

The producer grabbed me and asked if I could say this one line and drive the wagon myself.

Mind games tv pilot movie#

My horsemanship led me from animal wrangling on movie sets, to doing stunts and being a stunt double for different actors and then becoming a SAG actor.Ĭavender’s: What exactly is a SAG actor and what would you call your big break?Įthan Lee: It’s an interesting story, so on the set of “Free State of Jones” there was an actor that didn’t feel comfortable driving a wagon with a team of horses across a narrow path with a deep ditch on both sides. I didn’t know anything about the film industry, but I knew it paid better than riding colts. The show wrapped on a Saturday and the following Monday they started filming “Magnificent Seven” with Denzel Washington which, long story short, I got hired for.Ĭavender’s: Isn’t it crazy where life will take you by following your passion?Įthan Lee: Absolutely. It led to a three-month stint as an animal wrangler on set. I talked to my wife about it and went for it. In 2013 they were shooting the civil war movie “Free State of Jones” about 30 minutes from my house, and I got a call from the head animal coordinator that they were needing some help. I’ve always had a mentality of being the best horseman I can be.Ĭavender’s: How did you go from making saddles to being on the sets of major motion pictures?Įthan Lee: Well, my name got around for what I did - horseshoeing, working with horses and such. To bring in income I started making saddles, horseshoeing, and riding colts. I started riding bulls and saddle bronc riding as I got older, and even wound-up performing trick riding and roping. As early as I can remember I was in Little Britches rodeos riding steers, team roping and always managed to have a rope in my hand.

We chatted with Ethan Lee recently about his life, what it means to be a father, and what it’s like working on the set of the hit TV show.Ĭavender’s: Take us back to the beginning, where you grew up and how your surroundings impacted you as you got older.Įthan Lee: Well, I grew up around horses and my father raised Angus cattle. Ethan plays himself on the show and is one of the many reasons that Yellowstone is revered for its authenticity. “My whole life has been a preparation for what I do now.”Ĭavender’s is proud to feature Ethan and his family in their “This is How We Live” brand campaign TV commercials.Įthan is most known for his role as one of the bunkhouse wranglers on the national sensation TV show Yellowstone. “Any direction you look is snowcapped mountains, the weather is perfect most of the time, and it’s just simply gorgeous,” says Ethan Lee on his fifth return to Montana to shoot the fifth season of Paramount Networks popular TV drama Yellowstone. Cavender's talks to Ethan Lee about following his passion of saddle making and cowboying and how it led him to become a character on the TV show Yellowstone and give his family a life he’s proud to give.