As Season 5 of Yellowstone begins, we discuss what lies ahead for Thomas Rainwater.
Gil Birmingham hardly was an unknown quantity before he signed on to portray Chief Thomas Rainwater in Yellowstone. Long before Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount Network series became a fully-fledged, 24-karat TV phenomenon, the multitalented San Antonio-born actor had grabbed attention and made his mark in everything from the Twilight movie franchise (as Billy Black) to the acclaimed Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, from the Freeform fantasy Sirens to the Cinemax crime drama Banshee.
To say nothing of his powerful performances in two feature films written and/or directed by Taylor Sheridan: Hell or High Water (which gave him the chance to bond with co-star Jeff Bridges) and Wind River.
But Yellowstone pushed Birmingham up to another level, and introduced him to an even wider audience. He was the second star of the show (after Kevin Costner) to grace the cover of C&I, and we have continued to keep our eye on his Thomas Rainwater ever since. Just as important, we’ve been following Birmingham in other projects he’s pursued during Yellowstone season breaks — most notably, the well-received Hulu miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven.
We welcomed the opportunity to speak again with Birmingham about Yellowstone, which kicks off Season 5 on Sunday, Nov. 13, during a recent “virtual junket” hosted by Paramount Network.