‘Marshals’: Arielle Kebbel on Belle’s Dynamic With Kayce & Joining ‘Yellowstone’ Universe

Meet the newest badass in the Yellowstone universe. Belle Skinner is a little bit bunkhouse, a little bit Beth Dutton, and has a lot of secrets in the spin-off Marshals, where she’s on the same law enforcement team as Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes). She’s played by Arielle Kebbel, who’s known for taking on fearless characters.

“There is a piece in me that craves adrenaline, excitement,” Kebbel says. “Roles have found me. I’ve been doing 10 years of pretty tough stunt work, athletic, strong characters.” She was a freelance assassin on Midnight Texas, a cop on Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, a firefighter on 9-1-1, and a lifeguard on Rescue: HI-Surf.

Below, Kebbel tells TV Insider more about Belle, what it’s like stepping into this storied franchise, and why this role is closer to her heart than any she’s ever played.

Was it intimidating to join an iconic universe like Yellowstone?

Arielle Kebbel: I definitely felt pressure. Everyone knows the Yellowstone characters. They’re beloved. How are people going to feel about new characters coming into this world?  It is a huge legacy that deserves the respect that it’s gotten. The thing that I’ve noticed the most [about the production] is they demand authenticity. It’s showing up ready to work no matter what, whether the sun is going down, extreme weather, changes in the script last minute. You have to be there for your team, be there for your character.

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And you came right off such an intense show with Rescue: HI-Surf!

Rescue: HI-Surf was so much harder than people realized. I was loving all the challenges, but I didn’t have time to understand the effects on my body until we wrapped. It took me months to recover. That was the beginning of me looking at, OK, I do love these athletic roles that pushed me to my limits and the strong female characters, but I am getting older!

Tell us more about Belle.

Belle comes from a very wealthy, highly publicized family. She carries her family’s secrets and has a path that she keeps very secret. She’s not sure who she can trust. Having this job, she worries about her family and how to protect them. She appears to be put-together, but inside, she’s an adrenaline junkie trying to find her outlet. Something I love is the feminine aspect to her. In my own life, as much as I love the adrenaline, I’m settling into embracing the quiet, feminine energy and how powerful that can be.

Do Belle and Kayce get along?

Immediately there’s an unspoken understanding between the two. Both are afraid to let their guard down too much. Belle respects Kayce. There’s a lot of moments where even if there’s not spoken dialogue, she’s turning to him, checking in with him. He’s been through s**t that [the rest of the team] hasn’t, and Belle is hiding s**t that she’s been through that they don’t know about.

Does Belle clash with anyone?

Belle and Andrea [Ash Santos, Pulse] could not be more different. They don’t see eye to eye. That leads to some comedy. As the season goes on, they learn to care for one another. Ultimately, the job is to protect your team.

Sonja Flemming / CBS

How is Belle most like you?

I’ve waited my whole life to blend my love of art and acting with my deepest passion, which is horses. That lights up my soul. As a young kid, I turned to sports as my outlet for all my emotional rage. My first way of learning how to cope was going to the barn and being with my horse and being in that energy. I started riding when I was five, doing hunter jumper. I was highly competitive, number one in the state of Florida when I was 8 years old. As I got older, I got into wild horse rescue. I serve on the board of Skydog Sanctuary. I have a rescue mustang I adopted a night before slaughter. Her name is Snow White. I’m Arielle. You can’t make it up! I’m involved in a documentary doing the festivals right now called Blue Zeus about a famous stallion named Blue Zeus, who was rounded up. Claire Staples, the founder of Skydog, made it her mission to find him and reunite him with his family. It tugs at the heartstrings.

Was there a Marshals horseback-riding moment that was super-exciting to shoot?

In the premiere, coming around the side of the mountain and going down the ravine. I wasn’t sure if they were going to let me. I told everyone, “I can do it!” I sent the video to my dad who texted back, “Do they know that you would pay them to do this?”

Did you have to learn any new skills for the role?

I’d carried a lot of pistols, a rifle. This was the first time running down rocky terrain while shooting.  You have to know how to move with your team — the language, eye contact, footwork. Ryan Sangster, a former Navy Seal who worked on SEAL Team with [Marshals series creator] Spencer [Hudnut],would grab us any break we had on set and use an empty room that had doors or small spaces to keep working those drills. Doing a stunt with Ash, we got it in one take and looked at each other and high-fived and screamed. 

Just how dangerous does it get for Belle?

Every single character on the team at one point or another is in danger. In these high-stakes moments, we learn a surprising fact about their past or realize what we thought was happening is not happening at all. Whether the team have the OK [from higher ups] or not, we go fight for them.

Marshals, Series Premiere, Sunday, March 1, 8/7c, CBS