Gil Birmingham: Walking in Purpose, Acting on Faith

by Cyrus Webb

The career of Gil Birmingham is one that is to be marveled.

Depending on what chapter of his journey you came in on, you were surely taken in by the way he embodies characters from project to project. For me, I got to really pay attention to him with the Twilight franchise. Most recently, audiences around the world have been captivated by him on Yellowstone.

As the show was coming to an end, I had the pleasure to spend some time with Gil talking about his career and success.

 Gil, it is a true honor to speak with you. I really appreciate the time.

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

 It is my pleasure. Gil, you've been doing a lot of these interviews. I was watching your interview with Entertainment Tonight recently, and I love what you said there when you talked about where you are now, especially when it comes to this series (Yellowstone). You said it's the beginning of a new journey. What has it been like for you to reflect on this journey of your career and all the great roles you've been able to bring to life?

Well, you know, you can only really embrace each project as it comes, and you never really know the level of success or the viewership span that it might touch. We're just very grateful and I think our last season here was somewhat nostalgic and reminiscent of knowing such a great run of practically seven years of our lives together was going to come to an end. I’m very curious as to what the future journey might be. It’s been nothing but spectacular and awesome, and the fans have really made it such.

 That's right. Especially on social media. Gil, I felt the same thing with you and your career when it came to the Twilight Saga. That was something that really just kind of swept in and really took over so many different generations and interests. When you started with Yellowstone bringing the character Thomas Rainwater to life, did it feel like something special from the very beginning?

Well, I had done two other projects with the writer Taylor Sheridan, so I already had a sense of the great talents that he possessed. He actually mentioned Yellowstone to me during the filming of Hell or High Water. With the talent and exceptional writing, I just felt very thankful to be part of anything that he writes.

 Your career has been so remarkable in that you've been able to bring so many different types of characters to life along the way. Has that been part of the fun for you personally that you have been able to experience these different characters that are in different places and that have their own audiences?

It’s pretty special to enter into a created world that people are either in fantasy as Twilight was or real life drama as Yellowstone is. It’s just amazing. I don't know what the other word would be, but it's really an exceptional kind of experience to be able to be invited into… And for it to touch the public in such a massive way.

Gil, your appreciation is something that definitely comes through. You are also a person that really lets the work speak for itself. Is that something you've always known you wanted to do in your career?

That is really a great question. I think once you have a seriousness about the craft, you realize it's really the work that makes the difference. Then as an artist you don’t get distracted by the outside perspective or judgment. I think it permits me to really engage in the character as much as I can. When I do that hopefully it comes out the other end pretty good.