Marshals—Kayce Dutton’s Yellowstone spinoff—premieres on CBS on Sunday, March 1, and if you ask actress Ash Santos, who plays Andrea Cruz, it might just usher a whole new wave of fans into the Yellowstone universe.
“I think it’s fun because you could have been a fan of Yellowstone, or you could also have never seen an episode of it, and still tune in and find it enjoyable,” she tells Country Living. “You don't need to have watched the entire previous series—there's enough of a fresh story [to draw you in]—but if you are a Yellowstone fan, there is so much that still feels familiar.” Ultimately, that was the Marshals’ cast and crew’s goal: To maintain the heart of Taylor Sheridan’s cult-favorite neo-Western series while simultaneously taking it on an entirely new journey.
Ahead, Ash reflects on landing her role, working with Luke Grimes, the trajectory of Marshals, and where she hopes this will all lead her career. Keep reading to get acquainted with the latest sassy Yellowstone universe character who’s bound to keep you tuning in every week.
On Landing Her Marshals Role
Ash, like many, has been a loyal fan of Yellowstone since it first premiered. So when she landed an audition for Andrea Cruz on the CBS Marshals spinoff, she could hardly contain her excitement. Then, when she actually got the role, it felt nothing short of meant to be. “I live in Utah, so it was a huge coincidence that we were already going to be shooting in Park City,” the 32-year-old actress shares.
Beyond the proximity to her real life, landing the Marshals role felt like a natural fit thanks to the character showrunner Spencer Hudnut and director Greg Yaitanes created. “The character is so similar to me in a lot of ways—I'm also from the Bronx; my father was also in law enforcement,” Ash reveals. “Greg and Spencer really wanted her not to feel like a caricature, but as if it were authentic, and so I did get to bring more of a New York accent; I get to be as brash as I want; I get to add as much personality as I want to.”
Getting to be herself while fulfilling a dream role is a blessing for Ash. “It's one of those kismet moments where you end up with your favorite job ever, and then it almost feels like it was written for you,” she says.
As similar as Ash is to Andrea, she still feels like she’s reaping a life-altering reward from playing her on screen. “The most rewarding part has been what Andrea has taught me,” Ash says. “I really feel like this character came to me at a time in my life when I needed her, and she has brought me so much strength. And so playing her really feels like a privilege because I take away so much from her that I then use in my own life.”
On Playing Characters That Ooze Confidence
Something Ash takes away from Andrea is her unshakable confidence and grit. Of course, this isn’t the first character she’s portrayed who is seemingly entirely self-assured. She played Nia Washington, a confident, scrappy, and ambitious Miami-Dade paramedic, in Netflix’s medical drama Pulse, as well as Coco, a tough and resilient nightclub worker, in Taylor’s Mayor of Kingstown. The reason she’s so drawn to these characters? They remind her of the badass women she watched and idolized growing up.
“I grew up watching women like this on screen—Angelina Jolie in Gone in 60 Seconds and Michelle Rodriguez in Fast & Furious,” Ash shares. “I come from such a conservative background—my parents are immigrants, and we were Mormon, and I just didn't see women like that in real life. So when I saw them like that on screen, I was so drawn to them.”
It’s her hope that women and girls who see her on Marshals feel the same. “I really hope that little girls or younger women can kind of see that in me, because I really feel like I saw Andrea for who she is, and who Spencer and Taylor created her to be, and I found her humanity—you know, I love her hard edges, but I also love her softness, and I love the dichotomy between the two,” she says.
And one more thing? Don’t be afraid to fake it ’til you make it. As much fun as Ash has playing these characters and benefitting from the lessons of perseverance and self-worth that they teach her, she admits that her real life couldn’t be more different than many of the big city roles she takes on. “I live right near the mountains; I'm not in the city, I’m very suburban,” she shares. “I'm a mother. I have a nine-year-old daughter; I have a seven-year-old son. If I'm not working, I'm taking my kids to soccer practice and basketball; I'm at Trader Joe's twice a week. It's funny because I play this city girl, but I'm very much actually more country, suburban.”
On Being the Outsider—and the Lessons That Can Be Learned From Such
Given her rural roots, Ash adored getting to combine her love for a gritty, city girl role with a storyline that crosses into the wilderness. She also enjoyed getting to explore the idea of being the outsider amongst her fellow marshals. “I think it's an interesting take, especially nowadays, when we're so divided as a country,” she explains. “I think it's fun to be able to see on screen that people can come from such completely different backgrounds culturally, and still find what they have in common, and find the things that they're similar in—and you can have appreciation for both.”
Heck, the way Ash sees it, Marshals may even inspire viewers to adapt and grow. “As the season goes on, the team really takes an understanding, and they almost adopt a little bit of Andrea's rashness and toughness, and then Andrea takes on [some of their characteristics]—there's just such a wholesome quality to living in Yellowstone and to the lifestyle here; it's sort of a slowdown pace instead of hurry up, and I think that really starts to affect her in a good way,” Ash says.
On Kayce’s Epic Marshals Trajectory
Now, everyone’s wondering how becoming a marshal is going to affect Kayce’s trajectory. What can fans look forward to in the new prime-time spinoff? “Kayce Dutton is such a huge character on TV, and there are very few people at this point who aren't familiar with his character,” Ash says. “I think that fans are going to be the most excited to watch his journey, and how much he changes, because I do feel like he goes through a much bigger shift than he did in Yellowstone, and that’s really fun to watch.”
Beyond the series storyline, Ash says working with Luke in general was a blast. “Luke’s the easiest to work with—he's like a Golden Doodle,” she admits. “He’s always in a good mood; he's so funny and just so sweet, and he leads by the best example. So I feel really fortunate to get to work with him.”
On Kayce Becoming a Potential Love Interest
In the initial trailer for Marshals, Ash is seen commenting on Kayce’s hat in what some fans have dubbed a flirtatious way. This, of course, begs the question of whether or not a new romantic relationship could be on the horizon. “I'm really excited for fans to see that [Andrea and Kayce] start off… they’re not quite enemies, but she has an aversion to him,” Ash says. “As the season goes on, they find that they have so much more in common than they thought, and she learns a lot from him and what he's been through; it's so similar, she'll come to know, to what he's been through. And there's just this bond that they start to form, that I really hope audiences will find interesting.”
On What’s Next
As it stands, Ash couldn’t be happier about landing her role on Marshals. While many are hoping for the show to be renewed, she continues to keep her eyes ahead on what could come next for her career. “I really love this new take on my career—I’ve been fortunate with the last indie film I did, which is yet to come out, and then this,” Ash shares. “I get to step into this physical prowess, and I would love to keep that going. I love Lioness. And Zoe Saldaña and I, we look kind of similar, so can I come and be her little sister? I just love [Taylor’s] stuff. I find it so fun to watch and very captivating, so that’d be cool.”
Marshals airs Sunday nights on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
Photographers: Greg Terry & Bill Anderson. Stylist: Sophia Holmes @rhapsody.court. Hairstylist: Tenesha Luckett @tenesha_styles. Makeup Artist: Jocelyn Vallecalle @beautywithjocelyn
