One of the best additions to Yellowstone came in Season 3 with antagonist Roarke Morris. Played to perfection by Josh Holloway, Roarke’s presence shakes things up in a big way for the Duttons – and then some. Turns out, Holloway himself is as big a fan of the show as the rest of us, too.
Speaking to USAToday, Josh Holloway revealed just how big a fan he is – and how his casting on Yellowstone came to be.
“I would sit down and watch ‘Yellowstone‘ with my wife and I’d be like, ‘One day, I’ll get a show like this, Babe,'” he tells the trade in a virtual interview. “And I still can’t believe I’m on the show.”
Yet his Yellowstone dream didn’t turn out exactly like he had hoped.
“When I got the call, I was so excited that I was finally going to get to be a cowboy, because in 18 years of acting, no one has cast me as the cowboy, for God’s sake,” the actor laughs. This is, in all honesty, as surprising to us as it is Holloway.
The actor was raised in rural Georgia, immersed in his family’s farm, horses, and other livestock, and is known for his classic southern accent, charm, and swagger.
“I was like, finally. Thank you, Taylor… And nope. He cast me as a Wall Street guy. I was like, ‘Taylor? Really?’ He thought that was the funniest thing,” Holloway smiles.
The actor references Taylor Sheridan, creator, producer, and writer of Yellowstone – and friend of Holloway’s. The two used to ride horses together before Sheridan’s career “blew up like a rocket,” Holloway adds. Sheridan’s success with films like “Sicario” (2015), “Hell or High Water” (2016) and “Wind River” (2017) would lead directly to working on Yellowstone for Paramount.
Taylor Sheridan Crafted Roarke Morris for Josh Holloway
All of this, however, didn’t deter Holloway from taking the role. Not in the slightest. In fact, Sheridan went as far as to base the character of Roarke Morris on Josh himself.
When we meet Morris, he’s waders-deep in a stream, fly fishing to his heart’s content. Fly fishing happens to be one of Holloway’s favorite pastimes. He owns a place in Wyoming, as well, with the mountainous West being another great love. And then, of course, there’s his horseback history with Sheridan, too.
“(Taylor) wrote [Roarke Morris] specifically for me, among other things I may be doing in the show,” Holloway smiles. As such, Sheridan crafted the role as an outdoorsman who excels at business – rather than the other way around.
Regardless, Josh Holloway still describes Roarke as “a hedge-fund baller” with a smirk to USAToday.
“I like to describe Roarke as the inevitable march of progress. You can’t stop him. He’s the slow steamroller, he’s just going to keep going,” Holloway adds of his character.
Yet as fans of the show know, any steamrolling he plans to do to the Duttons will be far from easy. This ultimately leads to one of the show’s most iconic exchanges between Beth Dutton and Roarke – among other brilliant moments courtesy of Holloway.
“I’m getting ready to be dragged through the sagebrush,” Holloway continues. “The man himself, Kevin Costner, leaned into me and said, ‘You think you’re winning? I’m about to teach you the rules, boy.’ So, yeah, I’m going to get hurt.”
How things pan out for Josh Holloway and his non-cowboy Roarke Morris in Season 4, however, is anyone’s guess. Stick with us here at Outsider.com for all the latest from Yellowstone until S4’s premiere this summer.
