Mo Brings Plenty on 'Marshals.'

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Mo Brings Plenty, an enrolled member of the Lakota Nations, was frustrated with the cultural misappropriation that he saw onscreen until Yellowstone came along. Thanks to a collaboration with prolific hit-maker Taylor Sheridan, not only did Plenty land a role in the mega-hit series as the right-hand man to Broken Rock Tribe chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), he was also hired behind the scenes as the show’s American Indian Affairs coordinator. And it’s a role he’s now continuing on the CBS Yellowstone spinoff Marshals, which follows Kayce Dutton (played by Luke Grimes).

Marshals has become a huge success for the network, repeating as the top series — network or streaming — two weeks in a row. Below, when chatting about Sunday’s fourth episode of the hit season (it’s already been renewed for season two), Plenty speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about both his onscreen role — as Mo (also the name of his character) — and the authentic input he gave behind the scenes in season one.

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He also opens up, for the first time in an interview, about the untimely death of his nephew, Cole Brings Plenty, a star in the Yellowstone-verse who was found dead between seasons one and two of the prequel series 1923. “For his murder to go uninvestigated, and for it to be written off as ‘no foul play,’ because they didn’t want to invest anything into it? It’s heartbreaking,” he says. “We’re not letting it go.”

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When were you first approached about being a part of Marshals?

I received a call from my team, and I said, “Absolutely. If Luke [Grimes] and Gil [Birmingham] are involved, I’m in.” It was an easy yes to carry on these characters. These are such iconic characters and I so desired to carry them on. I was kind of sad when we were finishing up Yellowstone. Those were some amazing guys. And then all of a sudden, here we are. We’re back. It was just great news to me. I was doing cartwheels in my mind and a happy dance that I would not want the world to see (laughs).

We spoke to star Luke Grimes and your showrunner Spencer Hudnut about how they had to find the right way to reopen Kayce Dutton’s story since Yellowstone gave him such a beautiful ending, especially involving your character with the Duttons giving the land back to the Broken Rock Reservation. Did you have any hesitations about revisiting that ending?

I didn’t have any reservations, especially knowing that Luke was going to be involved, and Gil. Obviously, Luke isn’t going to just sign up for something that wasn’t going to be good for those characters, and Spencer too. Getting the opportunity to work with him, I can’t say enough good things about him. It’s like I never left. It’s like being back home. I’m just so thankful for this opportunity to carry him on.

Mo Brings Plenty (left) with Gil Birmingham and Luke Grimes in Marshals.

How did you react when you found out that the hook to the show would be that Monica Dutton [Kayce’s wife, played by Kelsey Asbille] dies?

Boy. At first, I was like, “Why?!” Because that was our connection to the Duttons. There’s always been a connection between the Dutton family and Broken Rock, but Monica was more of a connection. So to lose that, at first, my reaction was like, “No.” But we gotta tell a story. And the blessing of that occurring is that Kayce has to fill that void now. So that connection is still there. Not just for the fact that Rainwater adopted and took him in as a brother, but I think the warriors that Mo and Kayce are, that brotherhood has always been there, but it’s become even stronger.

They could have continued this story without Broken Rock. How happy are you that they went this way?

I’m ecstatic. I’m so extremely grateful that they didn’t leave Broken Rock out of it, and that they didn’t leave Indian Country out of it. They could do whatever they want. But if you want layers and diversity, what better way than to incorporate the original inhabitants?

Spencer said that Kelsey Asbille wasn’t available for Marshals, so he wasn’t involved in the conversations about her not being a part of the show. Have you spoken to her at

'Marshals' Star Mo Brings Plenty Seeks Justice for Nephew After 'Murder'