Yellowstone’s cast is going in a lot of different directions after working on the hit series. Some of them will stay in the universe by acting in the next installment of the Taylor Sheridan-created franchise. Though Yellowstone season 5 has ended, the series will be getting a sequel show starring Beth and Rip. While other stars from the series are expected to be featured, this means that at the very least, Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser will stay in the Yellowstone universe in their next major project.
Some of the show’s ensemble members are relative newcomers, when other Yellowstone actors come from other established TV shows. Such is the case with Dawn Olivieri, who plays villain Sarah Atwood in the series. Prior to her appearance as a villain in the Sheridan series, Olivieri appeared in 41 episodes of the series House of Lies. Now, she has grown more and more as a television actor, playing a role in two episodes of Lioness as well as playing Claire Dutton in 1883. Olivieri is now in a new movie, which is very different from Yellowstone.
Dawn Olivieri Plays A Very Different Role In Homestead
She Is A Hero In The Film
Olivieri describes what it was like to go from Yellowstone to Homestead. In Homestead, Olivieri steps away from television to act in an action-thriller movie. Homestead is a 2024 post-apocalyptic film about an ex-Green Beret who joins a doomsday prepper compound and unites with the residents after an attack on the United States sends the world into chaos. Olivieri plays one of the lead roles, taking on the part of Jenna Ross in the film. In addition to Olivieri, Homestead features a leading cast including Neal McDonough, Susan Misner, Bailey Chase, Jesse Hutch, Kevin Lawson, and Kearran Giovanni.
In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant, Olivieri explains how different it was going from Yellowstone to Homestead. The actor details that she had to film the roles back-to-back, with one being a villain and the other being a hero. She explained how the idea of the villain and the hero are “forever interlocked,” because “you can’t create a hero without having a villain.” She decided to lean into the “cool juxtaposition” of these two figures, making the most out of these starkly different characters. Check out the full quote from Olivieri below:
Well, for me, it’s a bit like a Matrix glitch in my mind, because I have to [makes zip sound]. It was so back to back, filming those characters, I really had to reach down and access the goodness in me. For one character, I’m feeding the clever darkness of, “How can I get what I need, no matter what?” Jenna is not that way — [she is] in a way, but Jenna uses goodness to do the same thing. So, the villain and the hero are always, forever interlocked, one supports the other. You can’t create a hero without having a villain, because it’s that pressure that creates that diamond. So, just like a villain feeds the hero, now I’m being on the other side of that diamond creation, but I still need to use the darkness to create the light.
So, those two characters, for me, are really symbiotically linked. So, to get to play those two parallels, like you’re saying, is a fascinating opportunity as an actress. But, I definitely have to tweak things sometimes when I’m working, because, “Well, I gotta look at it this way. I can’t look at it that way.” [Laughs] There’s more to unfold there. But I’m really, really grateful to be able to do that and to play this character in this show.
And who does that? Who goes and plays this massive villain, and then jumps and plays this this big hero, this heroine? It’s a cool juxtaposition, and if I can pull it off, we’re gonna be on to something. [Laughs]
Our Take On Dawn Olivieri’s Back-to-Back Roles
Both Are High Drama
On their faces, Yellowstone and Homestead could not be more different, as they are made in separate mediums and with a different genre focus in mind. They both have elevated drama wherein loyalties are tested in a community. So, while her character in Homestead was far afield from Sarah Atwood, there may have been threads of drama that Olivieri recognized. Luckily, she got this “fascinating opportunity,” allowing her to try very different types of roles at this stage of her career.