How Arielle Kebbel 'Manifested' Her Marshals Role — With Help From Martha Stewart

When Arielle Kebbel found out that CBS' "Yellowstone" spin-off was casting a character specifically described as "Martha Stewart in cowboy boots," she had the perfect response: "I know Martha, she's my neighbor!"

Premiering Sunday at 8/7c, "Marshals" stars Luke Grimes as his "Yellowstone" character Kayce Dutton, now patrolling Montana as a U.S. Marshal. Kebbel also stars as Belle, a member of Kayce's team who suffers neither fools nor cheap beer. So, how does Stewart factor into all of this? It all began when Kebbel relocated to a horse-friendly community in Upstate New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, totally unaware that one of her new neighbors would be the domestic goddess herself.

"Martha is a rock star, as we all know, but it's also really beautiful to see how involved in the community she is," Kebbel tells TVLine. She shows up all the time, she's always doing stuff at her farm in support of the community, and she has some of the most beautiful horses I've ever seen." 

Kebbel happened to have posed in a photo with Stewart and one of her horses during an event several years earlier, so when she the official character description for Belle came through, Kebbel immediately sent the picture to her manager.

"My manager was like, 'Honestly, if you don't get this role, I'm not sure I can ever talk to you again,'" Kebbel recalls with a laugh.

Arielle Kebbel's role as Belle on "Marshals" also marks her on-screen reunion with Luke Grimes, with whom she appeared in the third 'Fifty Shades of Grey Movie' back in 2018.

"When we were doing 'Fifty Shades Freed,' and I was being skanky Gia with her red nails, who knew we would be brought back together on this show?" Kebbel remarks. "And let me tell you something, what an evolution from Gia to Belle."

As viewers will come to realize, Kebbel's Belle and Grimes' Kayce actually have quite a bit in common, specifically that they both come from families whose reputations precede them — and never for good reasons. There's a degree of understanding between Belle and Kayce, from more direct conversations to just as many "unspoken moments."

"Because they have this relatable backstory, you actually don't need a lot of words," Kebbel says. "They just get it. They've both lived it. And especially when you're protecting family secrets, it's always better to say less. ... As the season goes on, and more is revealed about Belle, you'll see even more similarities between the two characters.

Arielle Kebbel, whose TV career began with roles on shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "The Vampire Diaries," has pivoted in recent years to action-focused shows like "9-1-1" and "Rescue: HI-Surf." That pivot, she explains, wasn't intentional — not in the way that "Marshals" was.

"This was actually the first job in my life where I got texts from friends that would say, 'You manifested this,'" Kebbel tells TVLine. "That's such a powerful thing to read, because I have been envisioning what it would feel like and what it would be like to be a part of this world and how much my soul would love it. I've imagined what it would feel like to combine these things that I love — horses and acting. Now that I'm here, I can look back and go, 'Oh my gosh. 'Rescue: HI-Surf,' '9-1-1,' 'Lincoln Rhyme,' they were all preparing me for this. I just didn't know it."

She continues: "We don't know what life is setting us up for, and when that moment happens, you get to look back and see all the stepping stones. That's very special to take in and to never lose sight of. When a role like this happens, it's so important for me to just go back to gratitude and not take anything for granted. These are magic moments, and the what makes them magic is that they don't happen all the time."

"Marshals" premieres Sunday, March 1 at 8/7c on CBS. Read TVLine's review here, then drop a comment with your thoughts. Will you be watching?