Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: Marshals

Marshals Star Ash Santos on Living the Yellowstone Universe Dream

Ash Santos (Pulse) spoke with us about her latest role as U.S. Marshal Andrea Cruz in CBS's neo-Western and Yellowstone spinoff, Marshals.

Ash Santos is emerging as a rising star in Hollywood, with a little over a decade since her on-screen debut in 2015, across projects such as Thirst, We All Fall Down, I'm Not Ready for Christmas, and Once I Was a Beehive. Since then, she's appeared in several high-profile projects across film and television, including FX's American Horror Story, Paramount+'s Mayor of Kingstown, Netflix's Our Little Secret (2024), and medical drama Pulse. Her latest is a dramatic shift as US Marshal Andrea Cruz in the CBS neo-Western series, Marshals, which follows former U.S. Navy SEAL and rancher Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he joins a specialized group of U.S. Marshals tasked with protecting Montana. The actress spoke to Bleeding Cool about joining the Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone spin-off, doing cowboy camp, working with creator/showrunner Spencer Hudnut, co-stars, and stunt work.

Marshals Star Ash Santos on Joining the Yellowstone Universe

What intrigued you about Marshals?

I was always a Yellowstone fan, so that probably intrigued me the most, and the fact that it was going to be Kasey's story, and I didn't know anything about being a U.S. Marshal. I knew nothing about that branch of being a federal officer, so when I learned how tough they must be and how hands-on and gritty it gets, I was super excited.

What physical prep did you have to go through? Was there a boot camp? How do you compare this to your other work?

So we did a cowboy camp with the horses, and then we also had to go through extensive firearm training with a former Navy SEAL [Ryan Sangster], who's our fight coordinator. While I've used firearms before, like the film I had done that's yet to come out, I was carrying a rifle the entire time. This was a whole different beast, with how technical it is and how everything had to be so right. We were still undergoing firearm training throughout the entire season, up until the last episode.

What's it like being in that Yellowstone universe, and what do you like about working with Spencer [Hudnut] as a creative?

It feels oddly like I'm coming home to something. He brought so much of his SEAL Team crew over that everyone feels like just a warmth and familiarity that people have with each other. I felt like I naturally stepped into that, like everyone just made me feel so welcome. It's the warmest set I've worked on in terms of that, because people know each other so well. Everyone leads with so much respect, so I'm lucky that I get to work on a set like that.

What can you tell me about just sharing screen and working with Luke, Gil [Birmingham], Mo [Brings Plenty], Brecken [Merrill], and everyone else on the cast?

It was interesting because I've watched them for so long on TV and I know them as these characters. Getting to meet them in real life was so fun, especially Gil, who's so funny. Luke is like…it's fun getting to know people personally who you've fallen in love with on the screen, and they made it so easy for us as the newcomers joining the show. They made us feel so welcome and like it was our show, even though it's a spin-off. They made it feel like, "Okay, this is like a new thing on its own." We were really fortunate.

Is it a requirement to watch the original series, or could Marshals stand alone?

It's a standalone for sure, like if you had seen Yellowstone, then you'll naturally be drawn to it. Since it's such a fresh take on it and there's so much action, and then it's such a character-driven drama, you'll be drawn to it without ever having seen Yellowstone.

What was the most difficult aspect of filming the season? Was it just any prep work? Was there some scene work or some stunt that you struggled through?

Physicality took some getting used to. It's almost like the conditioning that I had to go through to get through those physical days, because it's a show where, when we're on the stages, we're doing all the dialogue-heavy scenes. So, you're doing a day where you must be so on it with your lines, and then a day when we were on location, it's all physical scenes, and so you get so tired. You must learn how to push through. We also had to deal with the elements a lot. We started shooting in August in Park City, where it was super-hot, and then by the time we wrapped, it was December. It was already snowing, and it was freezing, so you went from umbrellas and fans to heat warmers, thermals, and electrical thermals that turn on and keep you warm [laughs].

Was it rough when you were doing the horseback riding scenes?

No, I was lucky I got the most gentle horse I think out of the pack, his name is Ruben, and he was the sweetest guy.

Marshals, which also stars Arielle Kebbel, Tatanka Means, and Logan Marshall-Green, airs Sundays on CBS.

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