Sarah Atwood From Yellowstone Is Gorgeous In Real Life

Fans of the Western drama "Yellowstone" will recall the corporate shark Sarah Atwood, who arrives in Montana to take down the Dutton dynasty. While she's ruthless on-screen, actor Dawn Olivieri is much more complex, gorgeous, and real IRL. While "Yellowstone" was a big moment for her, Olivieri's acting credits are long and plentiful. She played Andie Star in "The Vampire Diaries," Monica Talbot in "House of Lies," and Amy Nelson in "SEAL Team." Olivieri also has her own history with the "Yellowstone" franchise, playing Claire Dutton, James Dutton's widowed sister, in the show's prequel "1883."

While Olivieri has been in films and TV since 2004, it's arguably her role in "Yellowstone" that has put her on the map. She's in good company, with incredible stars, and many strong, female leads. The character Teeter is a stunner in real life, and the ruthless Beth Dutton is also gorgeous both on and off screen. There seem to be similarities; these women are powerful and gorgeous, and Olivieri is no different. In fact, Olivieri got her spot in "Yellowstone" because of a makeover montage. And she really belongs on a Western TV set. Her love of chic, western-inspired fashion is no facade. Olivieri is a horse woman at her heart.

Before she was in "Yellowstone," Dawn Olivieri got cast to play Claire Dutton in two episodes of the prequel, "1883," created by the same visionary, Taylor Sheridan. Since the show is set in the long past, Olivieri's character is an unglamorous woman in the wild west, with her hair pulled back in a prairie-marm bun. She doesn't look like the bombshell we know her as in her other work, and it seems like the cast and crew didn't see that either. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in January 2023, Olivieri spoke about how she navigated the "1883" premiere in Las Vegas. "I told hair and makeup that I wanted them to make me real bombshell-y — the complete opposite of Claire," she explained. She joked that on the red carpet, no one from the show recognized her. Then she saw Sheridan at the event and waited to speak to him. He didn't recognize her at all and was absolutely stunned by her transformation. At the event, the star showed up in a sparkling black gown, with her brunette hair styled into loose waves that hit at her shoulder.

"All the hair and makeup was just for that moment, because [Sheridan] was so blown away that there I was, completely different," Olivieri explained. "He said, 'You're coming to work for me now.' I was real cool about it, but after I went into the corner and screamed like a little girl! Because it's like your dream offering." So that's how she got the part of Sarah Atwood on "Yellowstone."  Fans also took notice of the makeover on Instagram, with many commenting expressing awe over Olivieri's glamorous red carpet look.

Dawn Olivieri is such a natural in the Montana landscape of "Yellowstone" because she's a legit animal person and lives out west. This wasn't always the case, though. Olivieri told The Hollywood Reporter that she grew up in big cities, and situated herself in Los Angeles to focus on acting because she thought she needed to be close to the action. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic hit and she realized that she could send in audition tapes over the internet, Olivieri let go of city life in exchange for the country. "I was 40 years old, looking at available houses with tiny yards and close neighbors, and I wanted to flip the table," she began. "I wanted acres. That was my keyword search when I started to move away from the city limits." Olivieri bought property in Arkansas. "What I wanted was animals, space and the forest. Los Angeles doesn't have that, so I just went and got it," she added. 

Amazingly enough, as soon as she did this, she started getting roles. She got cast in "1883" and of course, later in "Yellowstone." The lure of the west, and of horses, seems to speak to her. On her Instagram page, Olivieri talks about horses in her bio before she talks about acting. "Slaughter-bound rescuer of wild Reservation horses," she wrote in her bio. Her social media presence is almost entirely about horses, so it's clear she's in her happy place: a great acting career and a horse lover.