Lily Gladstone has become the talk of the town recently after her role of Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Playing an Osage woman living in 1920s Oklahoma, she brings her A-game to the silver screen. As the leading lady of the movie, she stole the scene despite the presence of actors like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Her simple yet stunning characteristics make her the perfect person to play the female lead in the Scorsese directorial. After working in Certain Women, she wanted to be part of projects related to stories concerning the natives, and that is what she did with the 2023 movie. But did you know that she also auditioned for a project that people would consider the complete opposite of a Native American story?
Lily Gladstone Auditioned for Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone
As an actor, you cannot become typecast into a certain role or position. That will only hurt you as a professional in the long run. So, it was a given that an actress of Lily Gladstone‘s caliber started auditioning for roles that were not related to Native Americans. What might surprise many is to know that she also auditioned for the Taylor Sheridan show Yellowstone. And not just once! Unfortunately, she was never cast in the show.
She called the whole thing
“Delusional! Deplorable!” but also added, “No offense to the Native talent in that. I auditioned several times. That’s what we had.”
Yellowstone revolves around family drama at a ranch and the bordering Broken Rock Indian Reservation. There’s also the Yellowstone National Park and developers who are trying to drive the ranch owners out of their homes. So, there is a significant part for natives in the story, even if the story is told from a white man’s perspective. But Gladstone’s experience, given her comments, even after multiple auditions, does not seem to be too positive.
Killers of the Flower Moon Casting Director Chose Lily Gladstone Right Away
When reading the script of a project, casting director Rene Haynes has a view of who would fit a role best. After working with the actress in Winter in the Blood, Lily Gladstone’s debut movie in 2013, Haynes knew right away that the role of Mollie, in the Martin Scorsese directorial, would fit Gladstone like a glove.
As she said, “[She knew] from the outset, this was Lily.”
It was Haynes who had gotten Gladstone her first role, who hadn’t even auditioned for the 2013 movie but was only helping out during the auditioning process. But Haynes found herself looking at the direction of the actress often and soon asked her to take a chance.
“She wasn’t stealing the spotlight or anything like that. But she was just so riveting.”
After her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, anyone would agree that Lily Gladstone has something about herself that mesmerizes the audience and captures their attention, and we are happy to surrender to her charms.
Killers of the Flower Moon is available on Apple TV Plus.