Riley Green, who joined the “Yellowstone” universe as former Navy SEAL Garrett in “Marshals,” is a familiar face to many, but not for the reason some TV fans might expect. “Marshals” marked Green’s first professional acting role. He’s better known as a country music star.
Green is the voice behind top Billboard hits such as “Worst Way” and “Change My Mind.” His collaborations with other high-profile artists like Ella Langley, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett have also done well on the charts. Even if you’re not a country music aficionado, you may recognize Green from his most unconventional partnership yet: “Alabama Vs. Tennessee,” a duet with former quarterback Peyton Manning about a major college football rivalry.
Green has appeared in front of the camera before, but only in connection with his music career. He’s filmed several music videos and debuted as a coach on Season 30 of “The Voice.” Despite his lack of prior acting credits, Green’s “Marshals” performance has garnered praise from audiences. “This was real acting, and I’m so glad,” he told TVLine in April 2026. “I didn’t want to tiptoe into this world where I show up as a country singer and play a song. I wanted it to be a real role, and man, what an awesome place to start in the acting world on a show like this.”
Riley Green used his music career to inform his Marshals performance
Although Riley Green wanted his “Marshals” role to be more than a musical cameo, his music career still came in handy. In Episode 9, the singer played one of his own songs, “My Way,” for Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and the rest of the team around a campfire.
Green’s experience onstage also helped him convey Garrett’s emotions on camera. “When you write a song, you’re coming up with these thoughts for the first time so those emotions are real … But when you go and you perform that song over and over and over again, you have to keep it feeling real, even when maybe it’s not so much,” he explained in an interview with People. “So for me, if I’m playing a song that’s a really emotional song, there is a feeling that I need to get to go and perform it that way. And acting’s very similar in that sense.”
Green hasn’t announced any additional acting projects as of this writing, but he’s still interested in taking on more roles. “I’d really like to be able to go to one place and kind of settle in,” he said in the same interview. “I think it’d be helpful to stay in that world for a little.”
