Gil Birmingham Was In A Taylor Sheridan Western Before Yellowstone — And It Was Better

Before the sprawling ranch drama of Yellowstone made Taylor Sheridan a household name in prestige television, he was quietly building one of the most compelling bodies of work in modern American storytelling — and one of his best projects came in the form of a lean, sun-scorched neo-Western film that deserves far more attention than it typically gets.

Gil Birmingham, widely recognized today for his role in Yellowstone, appeared in a Taylor Sheridan-written Western two years before that show ever aired. The film was Hell or High Water, released in 2016, and many critics and viewers who have seen both consider it the stronger work — tighter, more focused, and quietly devastating in ways that a long-running television series rarely gets the chance to be.

If you’ve only discovered Gil Birmingham through Yellowstone, there’s a very good reason to go back and watch what came before.

What Hell or High Water Actually Is

Hell or High Water is a modern Western set across the dusty plains of West Texas. Written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by David Mackenzie, the film follows two brothers — played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster — who embark on a series of bank robberies targeting branches of the same bank that is foreclosing on their family’s land. Chasing them down is a pair of Texas Rangers, one of whom is played by Jeff Bridges and the other by Gil Birmingham.

The film operates on multiple levels simultaneously. On the surface, it’s a crime thriller with a ticking clock. Beneath that, it’s a meditation on poverty, legacy, desperation, and what people are willing to do to protect what little they have. It arrived during a period of real economic anxiety in rural America, and it felt like it was speaking directly to that moment.

Sheridan’s screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film itself received four Oscar nominations in total, including Best Picture. For a relatively small, independently spirited film, that kind of recognition was a significant statement about its quality.

Gil Birmingham’s Role and Why It Stands Out

Birmingham plays Alberto Parker, the partner of Jeff Bridges’ retiring Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton. Alberto is part Native American and part Mexican, and much of his screen time involves absorbing a relentless stream of jokes and jabs from Marcus — the kind of casual, weathered ribbing that passes between people who have worked together for decades and genuinely care about each other, even when it doesn’t look that way from the outside.

It’s a role that requires Birmingham to do a great deal with restraint. He’s often the quieter presence in scenes dominated by Bridges’ larger-than-life performance, but that restraint is precisely what makes Alberto memorable. There’s a dignity to the character that never wavers, and when the film reaches its emotional turning point involving Alberto, the impact lands hard — partly because Birmingham has spent the entire film making you trust him without ever demanding that you do.

That kind of performance is harder to pull off than it looks. And it’s a different register entirely from what Birmingham does in Yellowstone, where his character operates within a much larger ensemble across many more hours of story.

Why Many Viewers Consider It Better Than Yellowstone

Television and film are different mediums, and comparing them directly isn’t always fair. But there’s a specific argument to be made about Hell or High Water that goes beyond personal preference.

Sheridan’s screenplay is remarkably disciplined. Every scene earns its place. The dialogue crackles without ever feeling written. The themes — economic desperation, the erosion of rural communities, the complicated inheritance of land and debt — are woven into the action rather than stated outright. Nothing is explained when it can be shown instead.

Long-running television, even excellent long-running television, tends to expand. Characters get more storylines. Subplots multiply. The original emotional core can sometimes get buried under the weight of what a show becomes over multiple seasons. Hell or High Water doesn’t have that problem. It arrives, makes its case, and ends — and the ending resonates precisely because the film never overstayed its welcome.

For viewers who came to Sheridan’s work through Yellowstone and want to understand what he’s capable of at his most focused, Hell or High Water is the clearest possible answer.

Key Facts About the Film at a Glance

What This Means for Fans Discovering Sheridan’s Work Now

Yellowstone turned Taylor Sheridan into one of the most commercially successful creators working in American television. Its success spawned multiple spinoffs and cemented Sheridan’s reputation as the defining voice of a certain kind of modern Western storytelling.

But that success also means many people discovered him through the television work first — and may not realize the film career that preceded and informed it. Hell or High Water isn’t a footnote in that story. It’s arguably the clearest distillation of what Sheridan does best: moral ambiguity, economic anxiety, characters caught between loyalty and survival, and landscapes that feel like characters in their own right.

For anyone who has followed Gil Birmingham through Yellowstone and wants to see him in a different kind of role — and wants to see Sheridan’s writing at its most precise — this is exactly where to look.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hell or High Water about?
It’s a modern Western film set in West Texas, following two brothers who rob banks to save their family land from foreclosure, while being pursued by two Texas Rangers.

Who does Gil Birmingham play in Hell or High Water?
Birmingham plays Alberto Parker, a Texas Ranger and the longtime partner of Jeff Bridges’ character Marcus Hamilton.

Who wrote Hell or High Water?
The film was written by Taylor Sheridan, who later created Yellowstone, and directed by David Mackenzie.

How many Oscar nominations did Hell or High Water receive?
The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Taylor Sheridan.

When did Hell or High Water come out relative to Yellowstone?
The film was released in 2016, two years before Yellowstone premiered in 2018.

Is Hell or High Water worth watching if you’re a Yellowstone fan?
Based on the film’s critical reception and its shared creative DNA with Sheridan’s television work, it is widely considered essential viewing for anyone who enjoys his storytelling style.