We didn’t get to meet your character for that long in this first episode. So what can you tell us about him?
So Zane is the ranch foreman for the Duttons. And he works with Jacob and does anything that really Jacob needs, and sometimes not even pertaining to the ranch. He’ll take care of him. But his job is a bit like Robert Duvall in “The Godfather.” You know what I mean? He’s behind … trying to make sure everything’s going well.
He’s described in some places as “fiercely loyal,” but he’s not actually a member of the family. So is there a backstory there or anything you can let us know about?
Yeah, I think there is. I don’t think we quite brush on it yet this season, but I feel like we may. But I think you’ll see. Yeah. I think Jacob really helped him out, and I think he’s got loyalty beyond his job title.
Is this a backstory that you have for yourself, or did you get some hints from [series creator] Taylor [Sheridan]?
Yeah, it was something that I made up for myself. I thought, “That’s my job. Let me figure this out.” And the higher stakes it was for me, then the more it would be … “loyal” is a very general word. How loyal? And I figured, “Well, if we’re making a TV show about it, it’s got to be the nth degree of loyal. Or what’s the point of even playing the part, right?” So yeah, I did it myself, and maybe I’ll share it with Taylor. But I wouldn’t even want to do that. I’d just rather him just write his great words, and then be like, “Oh, it’s this.” Because you go through the front door, you go through the back door, it’s going to tell the same story. Either way, I’m loyal. Right?
That’s true. And he is obviously very set in this world. So were there any pointers, any information that you got from him that was really useful?
Well, he set up a two-week cowboy camp for us. And so we all rode horses and learned and were sore and felt like we were terrible, and then got good. Yeah. So it was just about repetitive — just time in the saddle, time around the ranch, time in my boots, my chaps, really getting used to wearing my spurs, kicking the horse with them. We had two weeks. We didn’t start shooting with horses for about six weeks, and that’s right when I felt like I was in a [good] place. Granted, I’ve ridden horses before, but when you’re working with Taylor, that’s the bar, because he’s a real cowboy.