Ransom Canyon’s Garrett Wareing Shares Dos and Don’ts of Playing a Hot Cowboy: Training Camp and More

There’s a lot that goes into playing a hot cowboy — just ask Ransom Canyon‘s Garrett Wareing.

During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Wareing, 23, broke down the work that went into playing soon-to-be fan favorite character Lucas Russell, saying, “We showed up to New Mexico and we were aware that we were going to go through the ringer for cowboy training. I — being from Texas — wanted to claim this ownership of being a cowboy. But if I showed up to that cowboy camp and told them that I knew how to ride a horse the way that they knew how to ride a horse, they’d all laugh at me.”

Wareing recalled spending “three hours a day” for a month learning the tricks of the trade.

“We were learning how to rope. We also learned how to ride horses, hit marks on horses, ride in tandem with one another, get that walk into a trot, that trot into a leap and do that comfortably and safely, which was the most important part,” he detailed. “Then once we got proficient at that, they started incorporating the lasso. We started practicing on this roping dummy and then we would upgrade to a dummy that was a mechanical bull basically pulled by a horse. We would go behind this robot bull and rope it on horseback.”

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Getting to put in the physical labor was “the coolest experience,” with Wareing adding, “[It made me] able to become the cowboy I’ve always wanted to be — being from Texas. I felt like I finally earned my stripes as a cowboy through cowboy camp with all of my friends that definitely brought us together and we bonded through that.”

Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, which starts streaming on Thursday, April 17, is based on Jodi Thomas‘ book series of the same name about a Texas town full of drama, romance and promise. Wareing got the chance to play a self-proclaimed “golden retriever” character who doubles as a textbook cowboy

“[When it comes to] cowboy culture, the rules of being a cowboy include that your jeans always go outside of your boots. That’s a very important rule. They always told us on our horses that if our hats fell off, we owed a case of beer to our cowboy wranglers,” he recalled. “So you never wanted your hat to fly off. They also said, ‘Don’t touch your hat.’ Because every time we see cowboys on screen, they’re always messing with their hats. Once your hat’s on your head, it stays there and you’re not messing with it.”

Wareing continued: “Those are some secrets. [But] I think being a cowboy is a state of mind. It’s a state of being that’s a steadfast, sure and confident version of yourself.”

According to the official character description, Wareing’s character Lucas “is always on the outside looking in” but he’s “determined to achieve a brighter future” than Ransom Canyon has to offer. Wareing was grateful for the chance to be a kindhearted underdog that everyone would be rooting for.

“We took the world of Ransom Canyon and made our version of it. We take these character dynamics and these stories and our writers did a beautiful job at making it their own. I hope that the fans who loved these books for what they were also love our show for what it is,” he told Us. “They can see the parallels but also the newness that is brought to the world of Netflix’s Ransom Canyon.”

Wareing praised the writers’ room for how they presented Lucas, who has “very admirable” traits including wearing his heart on his sleeve.