Yellowstone’s Lainey Wilson Almost Quit Playing Abby in the Middle of Filming: ‘The Doctors Told Us He’s Not Gonna Make It’
Did you know Abby, the aspiring country singer on Yellowstone, is also a singer in real life? Keep reading to learn more about who plays Abby on Yellowstone and why Lainey Wilson almost quit the show ahead of the Season 5 premiere.
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Yellowstone is the widely successful Western drama on the Paramount Network that focuses on the Dutton family, who own and operate Montana’s Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. The TV series premiered in 2018 and features Kevin Costner, who portrays John Dutton III, the six-generation patriarch of the Dutton family. The show follows John, his family members and cowboys (and cowgirls) as they protect the Yellowstone ranch from those attempting to take their land, including wealthy land developers.
Yellowstone is currently in the fifth season — and while new episodes are expected to be released this summer — the second half of Season 5 could very well be delayed. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2023 that the second part of Yellowstone was set to start filming in March 2023, but the date was pushed due to drama surrounding Costner’s exit. The news also comes as Matthew McConaughey was confirmed for a Yellowstone extension series “regardless of whether Kevin Costner returns,” said Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Paramount Media Networks, to The Hollywood Reporter on March 28, 2023.
Season 5, part one of Yellowstone introduced a few new characters, including Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), the business heavy hitter from Market Equities and Clara Brewer (Lilli Kay), Governor Dutton’s new assistant. We also met Abby (Lainey Wilson), the rising country singer who is cowboy Ryan (Ian Bohen)’s love interest. Abby first appeared in the Season 5 premiere, “One Hundred Years is Nothing,” at the Governor’s inaugural bash. When the bunkhouse boys were goofing around (like they usually do), she was staring at Ryan. When Beth (Kelly Reilly) asked Abby “That one yours?” she replied, “None of them are mine. I’m too smart to date a cowboy.” Eventually, Ryan approached Abby and she shut down his advances right off the bat. “It ain’t gonna work,” she said, to which Ryan asked, “What ain’t gonna work?” Abby said that she was just “window shopping” and he asked her to dance. After she said no, but he insisted and tossed his lasso around her body. Talk about a meet-cute moment.
Who plays Abby on Yellowstone?
Who plays Abby on Yellowstone? Abby is played by Louisiana country singer and songwriter Lainey Wilson. In 2022, she won two CMA Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the 56th Annual Country Music Awards. She has two major studio albums, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ (2021) and Bell Bottom Country (2022). Lainey made her acting debut on the hit Paramount Network series. Her music was used on the show’s soundtrack several times before creator Taylor Sheridan approached the country star and asked her to be involved onscreen.
“[Sheridan] is good to the people he believes in,” Wilson said in an interview with the Associated Press in November 2022. “And he’s been good to me from the very beginning. And the music supervisor, Andrea [von Foerster]. They just believed in me. So, he called me in February, and said, ‘I want to create a role specifically for you. I want you to just wear what you wear, and sing your songs, and pretty much be yourself.’ And without even thinking, I said yes.”
Why did Lainey Wilson almost quit Yellowstone?
Why did Lainey Wilson almost quit Yellowstone? On Dutton Rules: A Yellowstone 1923 Podcast in 2023, Lainey revealed that she considered leaving the show because her dad was dealing with a health scare. “In the middle of filming Yellowstone, my daddy was in the hospital. He spent two months in ICU in Houston, fighting for his life. The doctors told us he’s not gonna make it, there’s a big chance he’s not gonna make it,” the singer told Adison Haager. Lainey added that while she felt she was “on the top of the word when it came to opportunities,” her family “were really, really going through it” at the same time.
However, it was advice that she received from her father that led her to continue with the show. “I was in Houston with my daddy standing next to his bed, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to film. I can’t do it. I can’t do it,’” she said. “And he woke up just in time before I really made up my mind, and he said, ‘I don’t care if it was my funeral, if you got a job that needs to be done you’d better go do it and not come back until it’s done.’” She continued: “And so, I had to kind of pull up my bootstraps and I had to think what would he want me to do… I had to find that courage from a place I had never actually had [dug] down so deep inside.”
You can watch Yellowstone, 1883, and 1932 on the Paramount Network, which is available to stream on services including Fubo TV, Philo TV, and Hulu+ With Live TV. The first four seasons of Yellowstone are also available to stream on Peacock.
Want to meet the real-life partners of your favorite Yellowstone stars? Check out the gallery below!
