'Yellowstone': Fort Myers teen Orli Gottesman plays Carter's love interest

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She’s guest-starring in one of the biggest shows on TV. Now if only her friends had a clue about “Yellowstone.”

When Orli Gottesman tells her teenage friends about her upcoming role on the Paramount Network show, she’s often met with blank stares.

They’ve never heard of it.

“‘Yellowstone,’ it’s kind of a mature show,” says Gottesman, 17, of Fort Myers, a Cypress Lake High junior. “So people my age don’t watch it. I tell them that I’m gonna be on it, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll get right on that.’”

Luckily, “Yellowstone” is an enormous hit with other TV viewers. More than 12 million people watched the Nov. 13 season premiere of the show’s fifth season, according to Nielsen.

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The modern-day Western follows Kevin Costner’s John Dutton and the rest of the Dutton Family, who own the largest cattle ranch in Montana. The story involves ongoing drama with the family, developers and the nearby national park and Broken Rock Indian Reservation.

Gottesman’s friends might not know "Yellowstone," but she says her teachers at Cypress Lake High can’t wait to see her play Carter’s love interest. And her parents love the show, too.

“The show is huge, and millions of people have seen it,” Gottesman says. “This is, like, a huge deal. So my family is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs right now (laughs)!”

More about the character Halie on 'Yellowstone'

Fort Myers teen Orli Gottesman on the set of the TV show "Yellowstone." She guest stars this December as Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).
Fort Myers teen Orli Gottesman on the set of the TV show "Yellowstone." She guest stars this December as Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).

Gottesman plays the teenager Halie on an episode scheduled to premiere Dec. 11. "Yellowstone" airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on the cable channel Paramount Network and also streams on its app.

Gottesman isn't allowed to say what happens on the show or if her character appears in more than one episode. But she describes Halie as an outgoing, sometimes nervous teen who’s got a thing for Carter (Finn Little), the foster child for Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and her new husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).

“Halie, she’s this real bold girl,” Gottesman says. “She’s got some sort of interest in Carter, and vice versa. And so there’s obviously some kind of tension.”

Entertainment Weekly offered more details in an October article about Gottesman joining the “Yellowstone” cast: “Halie becomes that person who gives Carter the chance to come out of his shell. ... He finds himself always wanting Halie to be around."

It's Gottesman's biggest-role yet as an actor.

“This is, like, a huge opportunity,” she says. “I’m super, super honored.”

Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Season 5 of "Yellowstone."
Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Season 5 of "Yellowstone."

How Orli Gottesman landed on 'Yellowstone'

Gottesman was already a fan of the "Yellowstone" prequel series “1883,” which she got into through her parents. Then, once she auditioned for the role of Halie, she binge-watched "Yellowstone," itself, and loved that, too.

“My whole family loves the show,” she says. “It’s so good. The story is so good.”

Now she gets to be a part of the show she loves.

Gottesman and her family were vacationing in Mexico this summer when her manager called with the news: The producers of “Yellowstone” wanted her to come to Montana to play Halie.

Right now.

“It was after the first night in Mexico,” she says, “So we were like, ‘OK.’ But that’s kind of just how it happens.”

Cypress Lake High student Orli Gottesman will guest star on the TV show "Yellowstone" in December. She plays Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).
Cypress Lake High student Orli Gottesman will guest star on the TV show "Yellowstone" in December. She plays Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).

She and her dad dropped everything and flew to Montana. They stayed there seven days, and she says she’s been back three more times for more filming.

Gottesman says they were impressed with the sheer beauty of Montana. It’s just as glorious as it looks on TV.

“The scenery — everything you think is fake and edited, it’s not,” she says. “It was just stunning. … It gave me chills.”

She admits she got a bit starstruck being around Costner, Luke Grimes and the rest of the actors from “Yellowstone.” “My face got red when I was meeting all of the cast,” she says. “It was crazy, just being in their presence.”

At first, she felt a bit out of place, she admits.

“I feel almost like a poseur, because I’m not a cowgirl, necessarily,” she says. “And so I walk in there in my little Air Forces, and I’m like ‘OK…’”

Then she saw Grimes wearing white sneakers instead of cowboy boots when the cameras weren't rolling. And she realized: Oh yeah, they’re just acting.

“All these people, they’re just playing their characters,” she says.

Gottesman bonded on set with actor Finn Little, who plays her love interest Carter on “Yellowstone,” she says. They chatted about his home in Australia, school and lots of other things.

“He’s obviously a teenage boy, and he’ll mess around with the people on set," she says. "But he’s super mature and an amazing actor, and he can switch into character really quick. He’s got the whole cowboy thing down.”

Fort Myers teen Orli Gottesman on the set of the TV show "Yellowstone." She guest stars this December as Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).
Fort Myers teen Orli Gottesman on the set of the TV show "Yellowstone." She guest stars this December as Halie, a love interest for the character Carter (Finn Little).

Proud parents

Gottesman’s parents, Lisa and Oren Gottesman, can’t quite believe their daughter will be appearing on one of their favorite TV shows.

“Ironically, we’re not really big TV people,” Lisa Gottesman says. “I watch a couple of shows — Oren even less than me. We’re more into movies.”

But “Yellowstone” is an exception, she says. “After the first episode, I was hooked."

That’s why it was so “insane” when the audition for “Yellowstone” came along, she says, and then their daughter landed the part.

“Seeing her on TV, I’m sure it’s going to be very, very weird," Oren Gottesman says. "Just to see her on a TV show that’s been going on for so long. ... I’m very excited."

They're also excited about where "Yellowstone" might lead for their daughter's acting career. Her dad is expecting even bigger roles in the near future.

“This is going to be the breakthrough,” he says.

Gottesman's acting career has come a long way since she started modeling at around age 4 and later acting in TV commercials (that’s her sitting in a car in the rain for a recent FPL commercial). She’s also appeared in small roles in the indie movies “1-800-Hot-Nite” and “Adeline."

Orli has worked hard to get to this point, her father says. And she's known from a young age that she wanted to be an actor.

“She’s very, very focused,” he says. “And she’s very passionate. … She works hard, and these are the results.”

Gottesman's future after 'Yellowstone'

So what’s next for Gottesman after "Yellowstone'? She’s not quite sure yet, she says.

She's been flying back and forth to Los Angeles for lots of auditions. And then there’s high school to finish.

Gotteman is also very active in the Cypress Lake’s vocal and theater departments. She’ll appear in the school’s musical “Big Fish” this December.

“I do have a life outside of TV acting,” she says. “I wake up at about 5:30, I get in my car and I drive myself to school. I take all AP classes and honors classes.

"And after school, I’m super-immersed in the vocal and theater department. So I’m always working on that.”

Gottesman can't wait to see what happens next in her career. But whatever comes, she says, she’s already experiencing her acting dream come true.

“It’s kinda cheesy, but I feel like I’m living it,” she says. “I’ve been wanting some huge opportunity for so long. I’ve always dreamed about being on television and doing what I love.”

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Yellowstone: Florida teen Orli Gottesman plays Halie on TV show