Ash Santos Praises Taylor Sheridan’s Support for Actors

Ash Santos says Taylor Sheridan’s experience as an actor makes him especially helpful to performers working on his projects.

Santos, 33, stars in CBS’ Marshals, a spinoff of Yellowstone that follows Kayce Dutton, played by Luke Grimes. She said getting a role in a Sheridan series had long been a goal.

“I met him about a month before I tested for Marshals, because I was testing for another project of his,” Santos told PEOPLE. She previously spoke with Sheridan while auditioning for Mayor of Kingstown, when he called to explain what he wanted from her audition.

“Because he was an actor, he very much cares about the actor’s process,” Santos said. She added that Sheridan is direct and focuses on clearly communicating what he wants from a performance.

Other actors have also praised Sheridan’s approach. Nicole Kidman previously called him “an incredible acting coach,” saying he can explain how to play a scene in just a few words. Landman star Ali Larter has described him as a “provocateur” who creates original characters designed to provoke strong reactions.

Sheridan is less directly involved with Marshals than with some of his other series. The show was created by Spencer Hudnut, who developed the spinoff within the world Sheridan established.

Santos praised Hudnut for taking Sheridan’s characters and setting and building a successful series of his own.

“That’s not an easy thing to do — taking characters someone else created and then making them your own,” she said. “So I’m really proud of him.”

Marshals Season 2 premieres Oct. 4 on CBS. Season 1 is currently streaming on Paramount+.