Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Yellowstone’s Denim Richards

Yellowstone star Denim Richards is a multifaceted artist who challenges himself each and every day to step outside his comfort zone. That dedication to growth and vulnerability has served him well throughout his life and career. He’s taking the lessons he’s learned and passing that knowledge through his craft and platform.

We recently spoke with Denim about the upcoming season of Yellowstone, his biggest takeaway being a part of the series, and why the most difficult decisions are the most rewarding.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Denim: The arts have been with me from birth. But I know that the first time that I had my first taste of it was when I was five years old. I was always this very outgoing kid in school—even in preschool and in kindergarten. I would do plays and they would tell me, “All you have to do is this.” Because you’re in kindergarten, there isn’t a lot of responsibility. [laughs]

They were like, “In this play, you’re just going to go out and hold this sign. You just have to stand there. That’s all you have to do.” I would go out and do it. Then I would do something completely different than what they told me to do. Finally, one of the teachers said, “Hey, we have this performance that’s coming up. We think your kid would be great to sing a solo in it.”

I ended up singing in front of six hundred people at five years old. It was the most amazing thing ever. I saw the reaction from all the adults and children. I was like, “Man, I love this. I love the way that they feel while I’m doing what I love to do.” That’s how it all started. Slowly from there, it started to take off.

I was doing theater. I was doing plays. Then I was doing musical theater and it continuously evolved. It’s almost like I don’t know what life would be like if I wasn’t an artist.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Denim: So many people. As an artist, you go through so many different cycles. Everything isn’t always easy. We always want the perfect story where you’re born and everything’s easy. You take off and whatever you put your mind to, you get. But the biggest influence has been the Most High. I’m very, very spiritual. I’m very, very connected. I’ve always been watched. I’ve always been taken care of. I’ve been really blessed to have different people that have come in and out of my life through different seasons.

You’ve had people on the other end that never thought you were going to be able to do anything. But I’ve had a really good family that’s always supported me in my endeavors, even though they didn’t always agree or think that I should be doing it, because they wanted me to go to Harvard or something. But it’s always been a journey.

My pops has been a very, very big influence on me. He’s the one that’s always looked at me and has always instilled greatness, if you will. He’s always been a person that’s like, “You were born for greatness. You were born to do everything that you put your mindset to.” He’s always that person, even when you’re down, he continues to pump you up. I’ve been very, very blessed and very, very guided through certain situations and things. I’m very blessed and very lucky to have been able to have made it through all of those times and be able to be where I am now.

PC: You’ve had tremendous success already in your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Denim: There was a time where I started taking auditions and everything very vainly. There was a point where I was trying to make this transition from theater into film and television. That was really, really difficult. I can’t tell you how many times I got turned down. I can’t even tell you how many agents and managers just said no. I was starting to get really down on myself. I would go into these auditions and phone it in.

After a while, I got this recharge. Like I said, the Most High just works in the ways that he wants to work. I was like, “You know what? I’m going to go into every single audition. I’m going to put everything that I have into it.” It started with a little short film that I was doing for college. That helped me get back into the groove of things. Once I got that, I was like, “I remember this feeling.”

Then came Chickasaw Rancher, which is the first feature film that I’ve ever costarred in. It required such a unique talent. You’re playing a man of color, based off of a true story, and it takes place in the 1800s. You have to be able to ride a horse. You have to be able to sing. You have to be able to shoot guns. There were all these different qualifications that I was like, “Oh, but I do all those things.” It was like, “They’re talking about me!” So I went into the audition, then into three callbacks. I always went in and I was like, “This is just my role. It doesn’t matter who’s there or what it is. It’s just mine.” That elevated and rolled into Yellowstone.

In my opinion, when you want something, time will tell if it’s really for you. The only thing that you can do is be obedient to it. If you put everything that you have into it, there’s going to be some type of positive result at the end of it. That’s how it started. But it all started from a little short film.

PC: What was the biggest lesson you learned about yourself during that challenging transition? Who or what instilled that tenacity/perseverance in you?
Denim: I think the biggest lesson is that you learn there’s a point where you have to make changes. We as human beings get very stuck in our ways because they can be very comfortable. Because of that, we often surround ourselves with people that enable us to be where we are and to stay where we are. I was in a position where I had a really, really solid group of friends. But the problem with that was that I wasn’t being pushed. I was just doing the everyday thing. I was chilling.

I was getting up and playing video games. If it was nice outside, I’d go play basketball. It was like the world’s my oyster and I’d turn the switch on whenever I wanted to. After a while, you start looking at the television and other things and you’re like, “But I can do all of those things.” But if that’s what you want to do, what about your situation, your circumstances, are suggesting that that’s actually what you’re trying to go after?

I had many, many years where I had no money or a negative balance in my bank account. You get to the point where you’re like, “I’m willing to make drastic changes. I’m willing to cut things out of my life.” I would say that it’s about humbling yourself. People can instill and say anything that they want into you, but if you’re not willing to be humble about who you are and what you are, it’s impossible to make any real changes.

For me, I kept getting beat down. Finally I was like, “Okay, I got to make some changes. I can’t continue on this path.” Once I started humbling myself, I was able to start focusing on things in a different way. I truly believe that that’s when the Most High was like, “All right. Now you can start to go after some things and actually get some blessings.” But you can’t do it when you feel like you know everything.

Yellowstone

PC: You were talking about blessings earlier. Yellowstone Season 3 is premiering today. What can fans expect from this new season? What can you tease about your character’s arc?
Denim: This is a really, really exciting season for Yellowstone. In Season 1 and 2, there was so much action and intensity. In Season 3, you’re also going to get a lot of the action and intensity, but you’re also going to get a really, really steady dose of all the characters emotionally where you actually see them in a much more humanized role—where you are getting the connection of the family dynamic and the connection of the ranch.

For Colby, this is a season where he starts to find who he is as a person. At the end of Season 2, there’s a lot that was going on in the bunkhouse. There are people leaving. There are people coming back. There was this line that was beginning to be created where you had to begin to take sides. This is a season where Colby starts to pick that side but also starts to discover who he is, what he wants to do, and the type of person that he’s looking to be on this ranch.

This is going to be such an amazing transition from Season 1 to 2 where we’re not cheating the audience of any type of entertainment, but we’re being more open and transparent about the characters emotionally. I think it’s going to be really rewarding for the audience because it’s something that we haven’t touched on in depth in Season 1 or 2.

PC: Having embodied this character since Season 1, has anything surprised you about his journey? Which of his relationships has been your favorite to explore and why?
Denim: In Season 1 of any show, you’re finding your legs. In Season 1, we’re seeing a family that’s already going through things. You’re getting thrust into the middle of all the chaos.

As an artist and somebody that’s coming into that, it’s cool because you play the elements. You’re not thinking too much about “where am I going and what am I going to do—what’s this going to be?” You just play in the scenarios, and then as the world continues to grow, you understand more about positioning and what everything looks like. It’s been an awesome thing to be able to see the camaraderie, especially with the men in the bunkhouse, because we’re not only friends in the bunkhouse on camera, but we’re also friends off of camera. We spend a lot of time together, especially when we’re filming. A lot of times, we’re shooting in the middle of nowhere. So we become another family.

That’s also a beautiful thing. Being able to take those off-camera relationships and bring those on camera has helped develop everything. For my character, it’s been really awesome to see him be able to cultivate these relationships the higher and higher up the rank it goes from the beginning all the way up to Rip Wheeler, which is Cole Hauser’s character. He’s also become a really, really close friend of mine off camera. It’s a prelude to how amazing Taylor [Sheridan] is. He is being able to bring all these amazing artists together and understanding their dynamics. It’s really, really exciting to be able to be in that and to have the opportunity to continue to explore that.

PC: This is a breakout TV role for you. What’s been the biggest takeaway thus far?
Denim: I’ve learned so much. One thing that I’ve always said is I feel like as an artist I’ve gained twenty years of experience being on this show, not only because of the phenomenal writing of Taylor Sheridan but because you have somebody like Kevin Costner, who’s heading this entire thing. I’ve grown up watching a lot of his movies. Being able to actually work with him and see the way that his mind works, the way his eye is, and how he helps bring everybody up around him, it’s been such a beautiful experience. Sometimes in entertainment, it can be really hit or miss, especially when there are people that are stars or have had stardom for decades and decades. Oftentimes, there can be this possibility that they lose touch with people around them that are not at that same level.

It’s been such an amazing thing to be able to be on this show and have him talk to you about different things and sharing his experiences. He’ll be like, “If you ever get into directing, make sure that you think about this, this, and this.” You have him, and people like Cole Hauser and Luke Grimes. You have all these amazing artists that have been doing this for such a period of time and they bring you in. You’re not being looked at as you’re the new one that doesn’t belong. They’re like, “We’re all on this show. If Taylor picked you, you deserve to be here.”

We’ve become such a family. It’s been such a beautiful thing because you learn so much. Being able to see them perform and being able to talk with them and pick their brain, it’s helped me be able to do other things, like when I’m doing my own projects, writing, or directing.

PC: Speaking of other projects, you’re also an author. How did Mastering the Mind come to fruition?
Denim: I pray and meditate a lot. I’ve spent a lot of time in stillness. I have always had this thing on my social media pages where I’ll post some type of inspirational quote that comes to me during my prayer or meditation. When the COVID-19 situation happened, I was like, “There’s going to be so many people that this is going to affect. Everyone is going to be affected by this.”

I wanted to have something that was going to be inspirational and a way for people that maybe are used to being caught up in their everyday lives that when you have this opportunity where you don’t necessarily have to be running around, going to work, or taking the kids here and there, to meditate on. I wanted to create a little book that’s essentially a month-long challenge. Every day there’s a new meditational thought, and I expound upon that thought to give us something to work towards. I want to use my platform to encourage other people to focus on themselves and to also build up the people that are around them. That has always been really, really important to me.

Mastering Your Mind is an extension of that. It’s saying, “Let’s go in there. Let’s challenge ourselves. Let’s build ourselves up, and let’s kill the negativity.” If we kill that negativity, we can lay a new foundation of positivity, and that will allow you to have some beautiful fruit to eat in the future.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Denim: This is crazy. I haven’t watched it in a couple of months, but I’ll say this is the guilty pleasure. I used to watch Murder She Wrote every single night. I have no idea why. It was always a thing. I’ve always been into the mysteries, and I always found it fascinating for whatever reason. But it’s definitely a guilty pleasure. It’s definitely something that people will be like, “What in the world is Murder She Wrote?” Look it up. It’s pretty interesting.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Denim: I watch The Lion King a lot. I’m big on Lion King. It’s another thing where I know every single word. It was a musical that I always wanted to perform in when I was younger.

PC: Favorite book?
Denim: I have so many. The most recent book that I finished is a book called Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It’s a very, very dense book talking about life as a child that had grown up in the South during times of segregation and X, Y, and Z and being sent up to New York and being able to find themselves.

I’m also very, very spiritual. I’m trying to see how much of the Bible I can read and finish before I have to go back to work a second time—hopefully some time in August. That’s been the main focus. We have billions and billions of stories, and so that also helps me be able to take a lot of these life lessons and apply them to them all as well.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Denim: I would say my favorite musical is Les Misérables. I played Javert the first time I was ever in the musical, and that was the most difficult role that I had ever played in my life. I never realized how much work it took. But I absolutely loved it, and still, to this day, out of all the musical theater shows that I’ve been in, I absolutely love it.

My favorite play is probably still Fences. It really connects to a lot of things. The writing and the story—there’s a lot of depth in there. There’s a lot of things to continuously explore outside of just the conversations that the characters are having.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Denim: I listen to jazz, and I listen to opera. Johnny Hartman is my favorite jazz vocalist, and Leontyne Price is my favorite opera singer of all time. I listen to them a lot.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Denim: That’s a hard one. Can I be perfectly honest? I would love for it to be me. That’s the most honest thing that I could get. Who can play me better than me?

To keep up with Denim, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Catch the new season of Yellowstone every Sunday at 9/8c on Paramount.

Photo Credit: Diana Ragland