She’s known for her work on shows as varied as crime drama Big Sky, family comedy The Goldbergs, teen sci-fi fantasy The Gifted and comic-book thriller Gotham.
Now Natalie Alyn Lind is putting on a pair of cowboy boots to enter the world of Yellowstone, the modern Western franchise created by Taylor Sheridan.
“Oh my goodness, I mean, insane,” Lind tells The Watchlist, almost with a squeal, of starring in sequel series Dutton Ranch.
“It’s still me pinching myself every day.” Lind had devoured all five seasons of the flagship Yellowstone series – in which Kevin Costner stars as John Dutton, the patriarch overseeing the family’s Montana cattle ranch – before bringing her “feisty and free-spirited” character Oreana to life in the spin-off, which focuses on fan favourites Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler (Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser) as they build a new life in South Texas.
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“She wears her heart on her sleeve,” Lind explains of Oreana. “I just love how unpredictable she is. You can never really see her next move coming and she’s not afraid to say what everybody else is thinking.”
Dutton Ranch also welcomes Hollywood veterans Ed Harris and Annette Bening, both multiple Academy Award nominees.
It also features Australians Jai Courtney and Finn Little; the latter reprises his Yellowstone character Carter, the troubled boy who is like a son to Beth and Rip.
“I want their accents so badly,” Lind admits of her Aussie co-stars.
“They have the best Southern accents as well,” she adds of their ability to capture the singular American drawl. “They have perfected it.”
Aside from anchoring the series, Reilly and Hauser also serve as executive producers. “They’ve been so deeply involved with the story and the development that it has been amazing to watch them work,” Lind says of the Yellowstone veterans.
“Especially knowing how deeply they understand this world.”
As for how her own fandom for the show manifested, Lind says the anticipation she felt as a viewer of the show was mirrored in her experience on set.
“Having to wait for the new scripts to come out just felt like I was having flashbacks of having to wait for episodes,” she explains.
Lind is just as enthusiastic about the arc of her whole career, in which – like the Duttons – she is part of a dynasty.
Her mother, Barbara Alyn Woods, is best known for playing series regular Deb in One Tree Hill, while her father, John Lind, is a producer and first assistant director.
Her two younger sisters, Emily and Alyvia, are successful actors, too.
“Growing up, my mum specifically never wanted it to be something that came easy to us,” Lind says. “She wanted us to work for it.
“And obviously, we’re very grateful because she was able to pave the way for us.
“But at the same time, we had to love it and maintain the passion that goes behind it, and that’s something that all three of us have – a passion for this industry, and for the artistry that goes into it and creating characters.”
The three siblings can currently be seen on major streaming shows, with Emily starring in the Prime Video mystery-romance series We Were Liars, which is set to return for a second season later this year, and Alyvia appearing in the Toni Collette-led 2025 psychological thriller Wayward on Netflix.
“We’ve all worked pretty consistently, but it’s the first time that all three of us are regulars on a show,” Lind tells The Watchlist.
“I mean, we wouldn’t be in the positions that we’re in right now without my mum, but she definitely made us work for it.
“It is so much more satisfying when you work towards things as well; if anything is ever given to me, it just doesn’t feel right.”
It’s that same mix of familial ties and independence-seeking that drives Dutton Ranch, a series Lind says is “fiery, raw and full of surprises”.
“I think that in this entire Yellowstone universe, the sole basis of it has always
come from a place of family, and that’s something that’s staying the same for this one,” she reveals of the sequel.
“Sometimes the messiest relationships in life are family relationships, and the people that can hurt you the most are the ones you love the most.
“That is a common thread throughout this entire series.”
Dutton Ranch premieres this Friday on Paramount+. See the full cover story on Dutton Ranch in a new issue of The Watchlist, out in the Sunday papers.