Over the course of its blockbuster four-and-a-half-season run, “Yellowstone” has helped make low-key celebrities of many a supporting actor, including several who had never acted before the show. And of that motley crew, few were less likely tabbed for screen stardom than Chef Gabriel Guilbeau, whom “Yellowstone” fans likely know better by his nickname, “Gator.”
As it happens, the man who plays the Dutton family cook on the show is actually a cook in real life, serving as the head of craft services on “Yellowstone.” And according to the chef’s comments during a recent chat with Delish, preparing a moveable feast for the series’ cast and crew can be tricky from one day to the next.
That’s particularly true since some of the cast are a little harder to feed, including headliner Kevin Costner, who, Gator lovingly said, “is a very picky eater” — so much so that the chef claimed Costner was legitimately disgusted when he plopped a dish of grilled octopus down in front of him for one particular scene.
“In no way, shape, or form would he ever eat the grilled octopus,” Gator said, noting Costner’s reaction to the dish was all the more authentic because the actor had no idea what the octopus would look like for the scene. “I set this big sea spider down in front of poor Kevin Costner. … he gave me this look, and it was [a] genuine reaction that you see in the show of ‘Gator, what the h*** is that?'”
Costner is still a big fan of Gator’s cooking on the Yellowstone set
But Kevin Costner didn’t say “h***” in the moment, dropping a full-on f-bomb in reaction to the octopus and promptly asking his dinner companions to send a plate of potatoes his way. Authentic as the reaction is, Costner’s read on the scene makes for one of the funnier moments he’s delivered in the largely laughless skin of John Dutton.
But even as Costner’s dietary habits were played for laughs in the moment, Chef Gabriel “Gator” Guilbeau was quick to note those habits are not due to the actor adhering to some strict Hollywood diet. In fact, in Gator’s opinion, quite the opposite might be true, with the chef stating, “Kevin Costner is a pretty difficult person to feed, mostly just because he’s very simple. Simple ingredients and simple recipes, like bread pudding, are great.”
Gator went on to add, “Before he met me, I think Costner solely may have lived off of canned chili and hot dogs,” laughing that dropping a Mediterranean feast on the man was quite the ruse indeed. Nonetheless, Gator said Costner is always interested in what he’s cooking up on set, particularly if that something errs on the side of sweet. It seems Costner is not the only cast member enamored with Gator’s cooking either, with Ian Bohen, Denim Richards, and Jefferson White heaping praise on the man in multiple “Stories from the Bunkhouse” segments. And to hear those bunkhouse boys tell the tale, Gator easily ranks among the most important and universally beloved members of the “Yellowstone” team.