“It was surreal,” says the actress of the news that she’d been cast in Tyler Sheridan’s *Yellowstone* prequel.

Isabel May

Ahead of Sunday’s 1883 finale, the Hollywood starlet looks onward

By Bridget Arsenault

There are certain empty lines that get thrown around a lot in Hollywood. “We should work together.” “I can’t wait to read this.” “I’ll get right back to you.” Which is why, in March of last year, when California-born Isabel May unsuccessfully auditioned for a lead part in the crime series Mayor of Kingstown and the show’s director, Taylor Sheridan, said he’d be in touch—that he had something else in mind for the actress—May didn’t give the comment much thought.

“I’m an optimistic person, but I don’t necessarily have a lot of faith in Hollywood,” she says. “I admired [Sheridan] greatly but had zero expectations.”