Brecken Merrill (Tate Dutton)
Brecken Merrill was 8 years old when he was cast as Kayce and Monica’s son, Tate. Merrill had appeared in two episodes of This Is Us before landing this role, but he credits Yellowstone with awakening his desire to pursue acting as a career.
In a 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Merrill recalled shooting a scene with his character’s grandfather, John, out on location in the bitter cold. “Kevin says, ‘Do you really, like, wanna do this? Is this what you really wanna do?’ I thought about it for the next month, and he kind of guided me to that area of, yeah, this is what I wanna do,” Merrill said. “This is my career. This is my passion. It’s super cold. It’s zero degrees, but I’m loving it.”
“People have seen that I’ve grown up and that I’m really taking acting seriously,” he continued. “I think Taylor is gonna recognize that, too, and he’s going to write more grown-up scenes for me.”
Merrill will star in the upcoming film We All Got Up To Dance, which takes place during the period of the Vietnam War.