Just because someone stars on a Taylor Sheridan show doesn’t mean they get the chance to meet the Yellowstone cocreator.
Marshals star Arielle Kebbel dropped a surprising bombshell when she revealed she has yet to cross paths with Sheridan, telling People on Sunday, April 12, “It’s funny. I was talking with some of the cast of his other shows, and at least in my experience, Taylor’s like the man behind the curtain.”
Kebbel joked that “no one ever sees” Sheridan, 55. “The man is busy,” she added. “So I actually have not met him.”
Sheridan created Yellowstone in 2018, with the show running for five seasons and expanding with spinoffs including Dutton Ranch and Marshals. Sheridan, for his part, has taken on more of a producer role with Marshals, which follows Luke Grimes‘ character Kayce Dutton.
“For our show, it’s a bit of a different story because our show is truly a hybrid of the Yellowstone universe, with Taylor’s blessing and Taylor executive producing and 101 Studios behind us,” Kebbel added. “Also, Spencer Hudnut is our show creator. He has worked really hard to bring [this world to life].”
She continued: “So, just in terms of the character development and story arcs, it’s really a merger of the world that Taylor [created with Yellowstone] with this new chapter that Spencer’s created.”
In addition to the Yellowstone universe, Sheridan has released other shows such as Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness and Tulsa King. News broke in October 2025 that Sheridan closed a major with NBCUniversal. The five-year overall deal for film, TV and streaming will begin January 1, 2029, after Sheridan’s TV deal with Paramount — which goes through 2028 — officially ends.
Paramount will retain the rights to Yellowstone and the other franchises Sheridan created under his deal with the company, so he is expected to create brand new IP for NBCUniversal. Sheridan’s move came after Paramount’s recent merger with Skydance.
Sheridan previously opened up about not wanting to “compromise” on his storytelling vision, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2023, “I spent the first 37 years of my life compromising. When I quit acting, I decided that I am going to tell my stories my way, period. If you don’t want me to tell them, fine. Give them back and I’ll find someone who does — or I won’t, and then I’ll read them in some freaking dinner theater. But I won’t compromise. There is no compromising.”
Sheridan praised Paramount in the past for supporting his vision.
“Because Paramount trusts me and gives me the time to go shoot 10 to 14 days for a television episode, we can treat it like a movie, and it looks like a movie,” he told Deadline in January 2022. “We can take the time to rehearse it and light it and build these set pieces. And if I call them and say, ‘I need two helicopters in one day,’ they just go, ‘Alright.’”
He added: “At the end of the day, to go to some of these locations where most people have never been, where you’re opening up a new world, and all of these places or characters in the story, to me, it’s fascinating.”
Marshals airs on CBS Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
