Who's That Actor I Recognize in 'Yellowstone'? Cast List Explained

Yellowstone’s unprecedented success is partly down to creator Taylor Sheridan, but it can also be attributed to the talented cast he’s assembled.

The actors in the Paramount Network show are a good mix of recognizable faces, following the casting of unknowns as well as real-life cowboys. Now Yellowstone has reached Season 5, and we’ve seen dozens of major characters come and go throughout the course of the show.

At this point, everyone knows Oscar winner Kevin Costner, who plays John, the patriarch of the Dutton family. Everyone is also familiar with Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley and Luke Grimes, who play the Dutton children Beth, Jamie and Kayce, respectively.

Here’s a guide to the actors you’re most likely to recognize in Yellowstone Season 5.

Who Plays the Animal Activist on Yellowstone?

Summer Higgins returned to Yellowstone Season 5 after John Dutton, Montana’s governor, pardoned her, releasing her early from her jail sentence. Dutton’s foe-turned-love interest is played by Piper Perabo.

Piper Perabo and Summer Higgins Yellowstone — Piper Perabo, famous for starring in “Coyote Ugly” plays Summer Higgins in “Yellowstone.”
Amy Sussman/Paramount Network / WireImage

Perabo’s breakthrough role was in the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly. She went on to star in such films as Cheaper by the Dozen, The Prestige and Looper. She also played CIA agent Annie Walker in the TV show Covert Affairs.

She first appeared in Yellowstone in Season 4 as an animal rights activist before eventually hooking up with John.

Who Plays Rip on Yellowstone?

Trusted ranch foreman Rip Wheeler has been an integral part of Yellowstone since Season 1, and now that he’s happily married into the family, he’s not going anywhere.

Cole Hauser and Rip Wheeler — Cole Hauser has played Rip Wheeler for five seasons on “Yellowstone.”
Valerie Macon/Paramount Network / AFP via Getty Images

Rip is played by actor Cole Hauser, who has appeared in an impressive roster of movies. As a young man, he starred in the 1992 movie School Ties before starring in other ’90s hits like Dazed and Confused, Good Will Hunting and The Hi-Lo Country. In the following decade, he appeared in Tigerland as well as 2 Fast 2 Furious. On TV before Yellowstone he had main roles in K-Ville and Rogue.

Who Plays Walker on Yellowstone?

Walker is a ranch hand at the Yellowstone ranch who’s shown he’s got musical abilities too. That’s because the actor who plays him, Ryan Bingham, is mainly a musician.

Ryan Bingham at Oscars and in Yellowstone — Musician, singer, songwriter Ryan Bingham won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind” in the movie “Crazy Heart.”
Jason Merritt/Paramount Network / Getty Images

Bingham has released six studio albums, with his third effort, Junky Star, reaching No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart in 2010. His single “The Weary Kind” was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Crazy Heart. He played the character Tony in the movie, and his song won him an Academy Award.

Who Plays Sarah Atwood in Yellowstone?

Sarah Atwood is a new character joining the show this season, but Yellowstone fans will recognize her as Claire Dutton in the show’s prequel series, 1883.

Before playing dual roles in Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe, she appeared in such TV shows as Heroes, House of Lies and Secrets and Lies.

Dawn Olivier 1883 prem and Yellowstone — Dawn Olivier first starred in Taylor Sheridan’s “1883” before appearing in “Yellowstone.”
Greg Doherty/Paramount Network / Getty Images

Who Plays Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone?

Hard-core Yellowstone fans will know the answer to his one. Horse trader Travis Wheatley and 1883’s Charles Goodnight are both played by the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan.

The showrunner and creator for Yellowstone, 1883 and the upcoming 1923, he also created Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown. And he wrote the Sicario movies, Hell or High Water and Wind River.

Prior to his career as a writer, producer and director, he was an actor who had small roles in Veronica Mars, Star Trek: Enterprise and Sons of Anarchy.