Ransom Canyon cast: Meet the feuding ranchers and hot cowboys of Netflix’s answer to Yellowstone
In the vein of Dallas and Yellowstone comes Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, a soapy, Texas-set series about the titular town’s ranchers feuding over land and love.
The Western drama was created, written, and executive produced by April Blair, whose credits include Netflix hits You and Wednesday. It concerns three ranching families, all of whom have plans for their land as they reckon with personal feuds and burning desires.
“At its core, Ransom Canyon isn’t just a town, it’s an idea,” Blair told Tudum. “It’s the painful longing for your first love. It’s the burning desire to protect your family. It’s cowboys and lovers, grifters and thieves. Lust, deceit, heartache, home … Ransom has it all.”
That’s a lot of big ideas, and the series has an equally stacked ensemble. Read on for Entertainment Weekly‘s Ransom Canyon cast and character guide, unpacking the town’s heroes and scoundrels — and where you’ve seen them before.
Josh Duhamel as Staten Kirkland
Actor (and doomsday prepper) Josh Duhamel began his career as All My Children‘s Leo du Pres, a role that scored the young actor a Daytime Emmy. From there, he went on to star in 106 episodes of NBC’s Las Vegas (2003–2008) before leading films like Win a Date With Tad Hamilton (2004) and When in Rome (2010). He played military man William Lennox in four of Michael Bay’s Transformers films (2007–2017).
Duhamel plays Double K Ranch owner Staten Kirkland, a cowboy grieving the loss of his wife and son. “He’s been in a pretty dark place,” Duhamel told Parade.
Speaking to the character’s efforts to reconnect with life while grieving, he said, “The relationships that he has have sort of fallen off. He’s forgotten how much a lot of these people really meant to him, and how much they’ve actually done for him to get through all this. It’s this guy who’s really kind of shut off to the world, coming back to the world of living.”
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Minka Kelly as Quinn O’Grady
Minka Kelly broke out as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights (2006–2009) before leading ABC’s short-lived Charlie’s Angels series (2011). She played Dawn Granger, a.k.a. Dove, on Max’s Titans (2018–2021) and appeared in the second season of HBO’s Euphoria (2022). In 2023, Kelly became a New York Times bestselling author with the release of Tell Me Everything: A Memoir.
Kelly’s Quinn O’Grady runs a local dance hall after a stint in the big city working as a concert pianist. Her push-and-pull attraction with Duhamel’s Staten is a driving force of the story. “They’re both so on point and their antagonistic chemistry just crackles,” Blair told Tudum. “It just really set the whole season in motion.”
In an Instagram post from last summer, Kelly called the series “some of the best work I’ve ever been a part of.”
Lizzy Greene as Lauren Brigman
Nickelodeon fans (or parents who watch Nickelodeon with their kids) may recognize Lizzy Greene as Dawn on Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, & Dawn (2014–2018), a role that landed the young actress three Kids’ Choice Awards nominations. The young actress followed it up with a five-year stint on the ABC drama A Million Little Things (2018–2023).
Greene’s Lauren is a popular cheerleader with a quarterback boyfriend and a talent for drawing and gymnastics. She’s also restless, aching for more from life.
“She’s spunky. She’s driven. She’s very fun to play, I will say,” Greene told Vestel. “When I got the audition, Lauren already felt like such a part of my life. My mom was a University of Texas cheerleader, and Lauren is aspiring to be a NCA cheerleader. It takes place in Texas. I’m a Texan. I love Texas so much.”
She continued, “The show is all about love, family, and priorities in life. Plus, it’s athletic and I’ve always wanted to do something that would require me to get back to doing gymnastics. And so that really excited me as well.”
