“Something That Was Completely New to Me”: Riley Green on Making His Acting Debut in ‘Marshals’ with Luke Grimes

While chatting to SiriusXM's The Highway around the release of his brand new album, That's Just Me, Riley Green shed some light on his experience acting in Marshals with Luke Grimes.

Green made his on-screen debut as Garrett in the Yellowstone spin-off, with the Alabama native having touched on how he found it a challenge working on Marshals in the midst of a hectic touring schedule, as well as paying tribute to Grimes for his guidance.

While speaking to The Highway, Green explains how he noticed some interesting similarities between acting and touring, “It's very similar to touring in that it's a lot of ‘Hurry up and wait’. You get ready for the scene and you're just going over and over it in your head. And then you do it and it lasts a minute, two minutes, and then you're sitting around for another four hours, whatever it is”.

Even though there was a lot of hanging around, the ‘Think As You Drunk’ hitmaker underlines how much he enjoyed getting to work with the Marshals crew, “The collaboration aspect of it, of working with other actors and actresses, that was great, because...the part of music I love is collaborating with other artists”.

Green highlights the main misconception he had about acting before his first day on the Marshals set, “But it was different in the sense of me knowing nothing about acting, I thought it was all about remembering lines. That that was the big thing. And it's really not, it's a lot more about knowing the gist of the scene, what's the conversation about, and then just responding to somebody else”.

He goes on, “So as opposed to just sitting there going, ‘I'm saying this, I'm saying this’, over and over in your head. You're thinking about responding to what the other person says and trying to make it a real conversation. It was fun, like I said, it was fun to try to figure out, because it was something that was completely new to me”.

Green has underlined his appreciation for Grimes, who plays the lead, Kayce Dutton, in Marshals, previously, recalling how the role originated from a co-writing session, “I loved it. You know Luke Grimes? He's such a great dude. It happened so organically because he was starting his music career, coming to Nashville a little bit, and we wrote together, and he mentioned something about, maybe I should act, you know. I said, ‘Well, I'm interested in it’. He said, ‘I got this show...’”

Although - without giving away any major spoilers - we think it's safe to say Green won't be returning in Season 2 of Marshals, which premieres in October 2026, we'd love to see the ‘Worst Way’ singer-songwriter exploring acting again in the near future.

Green is currently enjoying an on-screen role of a different kind, with the ‘Different ‘Round Here’ crooner the latest addition to the judging panel in the new season of The Voice.

With a brand new album, That's Just Me, out in the world, and a multitude of tour-dates on the books for the rest of 2026, we're not sure Green will have any time to welcome any other acting gigs for the foreseeable future. But given how impressive he was in Marshals, we'd be surprised if it's not something he returns to in 2027.