If you’ve had to stop and pause an episode of “Yellowstone” because you couldn’t put your finger on why Kelsey Asbille, aka Monica Dutton, looked so familiar, you probably originally knew her as Gigi Silveri from “One Tree Hill.” Asbille, who was credited back then as Kelsey Chow, was only on 18 of the teen drama’s 187 episodes, but she left a lasting impression for fans during Seasons 3, 4, and 6. Her character dated Mouth McFadden (played by Lee Norris) before breaking up with him, only to later try getting him back. Asbille’s “One Tree Hill” run lasted from 2005 to 2009, and then she became a Disney Channel star on the Disney XD series, “Pair of Kings,” from 2010 to 2013.
Unlike many of her former “One Tree Hill” co-stars who took the leap to Hallmark, Asbille didn’t go on to star in Hallmark projects. Instead, she’s been taking on much darker, more serious roles, such as “Yellowstone,” the Netflix psychological thriller “Don’t Move,” and a recurring role on the TV series “Fargo.” Though her character didn’t always have short hair, Asbille’s “Yellowstone” persona eventually rocked a cute bob haircut, and so did her character in “Don’t Move.” But if you take a closer look at the actor, you’ll see how much she’s changed since her “One Tree Hill” era: she had longer hair and wore glasses on screen. Instead of the jet-black hair that Asbille’s fans recognize her with today, she had brown hair that sometimes included blonde highlights — like when she attended the premiere of “Rush Hour 3” in 2007.
Her roles have evolved over the years too
In addition to Kelsey Asbille rocking a new look since her “One Tree Hill” days, her career has evolved too. The success of “Yellowstone” turned Asbille into a household name, and the show is totally different from “One Tree Hill.” Whereas that series was more of a drama moonlighting as a soap opera aimed at teenagers, “Yellowstone” is a Western epic aimed at adults. There are still love triangles, but “Yellowstone” also includes nudity, profanity, and violence not seen on the teen-focused show.
The characters Asbille plays now are much grittier than Gigi Silveri ever dreamed of being. Some of them also tend to focus more on heritage. In an interview with W Magazine in 2018, Asbille shared, “As a person of mixed race, as you get older it matters more to you who you are and where you come from.” She also told the outlet, “So to be able to get in touch with that side of my heritage [on ‘Yellowstone’] has been amazing. I’d like to do that with all aspects of my heritage in the future.” The outlet reported that Asbille is part Chinese, English, and Cherokee.
While Asbille’s “One Tree Hill” character’s main focus was on her boyfriend, that isn’t the motivation for her more recent characters — such as Iris in “Don’t Move” and Natalie in “Wind River,” films which explored deeper, darker themes. While there’s nothing wrong with playing a teen character experiencing typical high school problems, Asbille has clearly grown as a performer and moved onto more complex storylines.