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‘Yellowstone’: Piper Perabo on Why She ‘Couldn’t Wait’ to Appear on Show

On “Yellowstone,” Piper Perabo played the enigmatic and passionate Summer Higgins, animal rights activist. Perabo herself is an activist, and she married the two things she loves with this role: acting and activism.

In conversation with Schön!, Perabo spoke about the change she fights for, plus her roles on “The Big Leap” and “Yellowstone.” She’s been busy being an actress and an advocate, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

When asked what it was like working with a cast that was already familiar with each other, Perabo replied, “I am a huge fan of ‘Yellowstone’ from the very first episode, and I know a number of people in the cast, including my genius husband Stephen Kay, so I couldn’t wait to get in there.”

Her husband, Stephen Kay, is a producer and director on “Yellowstone.” He’s directed a number of episodes from seasons 2, 3, and 4. For seasons 3 and 4, he directed the first two, and the last two episodes. He put his touch on the wild stuff we saw in the openers and finales.

Perabo continued, mentioning the atmosphere of the sets. “Plus they have the best food of any show I’ve ever worked on,” she said. “Gator, who plays Gator on ‘Yellowstone,’ also cooks for the cast and crew everyday in real life. Sometimes he’ll have two smokers going at once, and it smells delicious. Even if you get to work in the cold, dark before dawn, Gator’s got biscuits, scrambled eggs, pulled pork and hot coffee already going.”

Sounds like a dream. I’d be excited to be on the “Yellowstone” set too, if not just for those gorgeous views.

‘Yellowstone’ Star Piper Perabo Talks About Activism

In her interview, Perabo did more than just talk about her “Yellowstone” role. Playing Summer Higgins brought together two very important aspects of her life; Perabo also spoke about her role as an advocate for social change.

“Speaking out in defense of our civil rights has become very important to me,” she said. “Over the last five years, I’ve marched and participated in organizing in defense of civil rights, like the freedom to vote, a fair judiciary, environmental justice, choice.”

Her other endeavors include “registering voters, raising money for a teen center at Standing Rock, and supporting activists on the ground working to stop an oil pipeline through the aquifer in Memphis.”

She approaches activism by learning all she can first. Perabo says that knowledge is your most important tool when getting into a cause. “When I first started getting involved,” she stated, “I was advised to choose one issue and concentrate on that. I had heard Dream Hampton say she told John Legend, when he told her he wanted to get involved in incarceration reform, to listen for a year before he spoke. So I started going to speeches, meetings, protests and rallies, listening and reading more when I got home. I stopped working, and did this for a year.”