Gil Birmingham: The Journey to Chief Thomas Rainwater on Yellowstone
The Bobby Bones Show
Premiere Networks
4.8 • 10.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of The Official Yellowstone Podcast, host Bobby Bones sits down with Gil Birmingham, the talented actor behind Chief Thomas Rainwater, to discuss the multifaceted nature of his role on Yellowstone. Gil reflects on how he brings nuance to playing both a "good guy" and "bad guy" and shares fascinating insights into his diverse journey—from his early career as a petrochemical engineer to his unexpected path into acting. Listen as Gil opens up about his bodybuilding days, his experience with Taylor Sheridan’s films, and the deep connection he has to his character. Plus, Gil shares his love for music, life philosophies, and thoughts on the future of the entertainment industry. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Episode 5 of the official Yellowstone podcast. |
| 0:10.2 | I am your host, Bobby Bones. |
| 0:12.9 | The first four episodes have gotten great feedback. |
| 0:15.0 | Thank you so much. |
| 0:15.7 | A lot of downloads. |
| 0:16.8 | So thank you so much for that. |
| 0:17.8 | This has been crazy at how much you guys wanted this. And I think I've done an adequate job. So the fact that you guys are listening so much means you just, you love Yellowstone, which is completely understandable. This episode has Chief Thomas Rainwater, whose real name is Gil Birmingham, major character. And I just talked to him about how he's able to be |
| 0:37.8 | like a bad guy and a good guy. And obviously, he's very cerebral as an actor, so he doesn't really see |
| 0:43.6 | it like I do watching where I'm like, bad guy, good guy, bad guy, good guy. But Gil, like the actual |
| 0:48.5 | person, has a crazy journey getting into his career as an actor. He was an engineer. Then he kind of got into acting |
| 0:56.5 | and there's some bodybuilding in there. You're going to hear about all this. Gil has been in a few |
| 1:00.5 | of Taylor Sheridan's movies. Heller Highwater, Wind River, has had a role in a bunch of other big time |
| 1:05.6 | shows. His character in Yellowstone, again, it's so awesome because he took you on the journey of, |
| 1:12.7 | I like him, I don't like him, I don't like him, I don't know if I do or not, I trust him, I don't trust him. |
| 1:17.0 | So we were pumped to get him on the podcast. |
| 1:19.0 | You can follow him on Instagram at Gil Birmingham. |
| 1:22.4 | Here he is, Chief Thomas Rainwater, aka real name, Gil Birmingham. |
| 1:36.8 | Music Chief Thomas Rainwater, aka real name, Gil Birmingham. Hey, Gil, I'd like to say this, that why I'm such a fan of your work is because through Yellowstone in general, and I've seen you |
| 1:45.7 | and other things too, but you were able to both be a bad guy and a good guy. And that, |
| 1:51.1 | there is some range to that that I don't even understand. And as an actor, whenever you're a, |
| 1:58.4 | we think you're a bad guy, right? Because we're like, oh, the Dutton's, |
| 2:01.4 | whenever you're a bad, are you playing that at all different facial expressions? What's the |
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