Jack Schumacher is bringing a fan-favorite drifter with a heart of gold to life inRansom Canyon. The Netflix series serves as Schumacher’s biggest role to date, playing series regular character Yancy Grey, a traveler who harbors a mysterious secret in his past that comes to the titular town and builds a connection with a local woman and the family of a large family ranch, only for his past to catch up with him. Prior to the series, Schumacher played supporting roles in the likes ofTop Gun: Maverick,Welcome to ChippendalesandS.W.A.T.
Joining Schumacher inRansom Canyon’s ensemble castareBuddy Games' Josh Duhamel,Titans' Minka Kelly, Lizzy Greene, James Brolin, Eoin Macken, Meta Golding, Marianly Tejada, Garrett Wareing and Andrew Liner. Adapted from Jodi Thomas' book series by April Blair, the series also explores the rising tension between the three local ranching families, the Kirklands, the Fullers and the Collins, which Yancy inadvertently finds himself pulled into and must decide where his loyalties lie.
In anticipation of the show’s premiere,ScreenRantinterviewed Jack Schumacher to discussRansom Canyon. The star opened up about the Netflix series bringing him his biggest role yet and the lengths he went to in order to land the part, including his anxious wait for word of casting decisions amidst the 2023 WGA and SAG strikes. He also shared a tease about what’s to come from Yancy’s storyline, praised working with the show’s ensemble cast and why it’s more than aYellowstoneorVirgin Rivercopy.
Ransom Canyon “Exists In Its Own World” In The Western Genre
“…That Was Very Important To Me…”
Ransom Canyon’s premiere comes at a time in which the Western genre is enjoying a modernized boom on television, thanks in part toTaylor Sheridan’sYellowstoneuniverse, as well as other such shows as Netflix’sVirgin River. In looking at the genre as a whole, Schumacher recognizesthere are elements his show shares with similar titles, but promises that “it exists in its own world” and that he’s “really proud” of how the show sets itself apart from others.
“I think with the success and the popularity of the modern Western, and all those shows that you mentioned — which are phenomenal, I watch them all — I think that part of the fear is like, ‘Okay, are we trying to imitate one of these?’,” Schumacher explained. “But the thing that walking away from Ransom Canyon that I’m really excited and proud of is that it doesn’t try to be Yellowstone. It doesn’t try to be Virgin River.
“Of course, it has elements of those things,” Schumacher continued, “it’s about love, and other struggles, and fighting new ways of life coming in, all through this lens of the modern Western and the backdrop of the American frontier. But it’s not a knockoff, and that was very important to me because. You don’t want to do that, you don’t want to just be like, ‘Oh, that’s that knockoff show.'”
Schumacher Did A Deep Dive Into The Books After His First Audition
He Also Promises The Show Stays Very Faithful To The Source Material
Having been an actor for the better part of a decade,Ransom Canyonmarks a big chapter in Schumacher’s career as it’s his first main role in a project, which he hasn’t taken lightly. As he reflected on his gratitude at getting to “do anything in this industry”,he pointed to Yancy as being “a special character” to get to play, recalling the character breakdown describing his “mysterious past and these secrets that he was holding on to”, combined with its modern Western genre as being “something that, right away, I wanted to do.”
With there being seven novels thus far in Jodie Thomas’ book series, there was a wealth of material for Schumacher to dive into along with showrunner April Blair’s scripts, thoughhis path of learning everything he could about the character came at an interesting time for the star, and the entire film and TV industry. “The day after the chemistry reads — and I remember doing the chemistry reads, and I’m like, “I got this, I know I got this” — the actor strike happened, so they couldn’t do anything, they couldn’t talk about casting and all this sort of stuff,” Schumacher recalled.
While waiting “sort of in limbo” for any updates on both the strikes and the show, Schumacher began diving into the books and audiobooks to glean as much as he could, which led him to “start to imagine what the character might be”,while also reminding himself “don’t get married to anything"given “things change all the time” in the industry. “That’ll happen with scripts where you’ll get a draft of script, and you’re like, ‘I love this. I can’t wait to do this.’,” Schumacher explained. “And then, ‘Oh, hey, we scrapped that. None of that’s happening.’ You’re like, ‘Oh, all right.'”
With that said, Schumacher does indicate there are a few changes to the source material, namely in that the show is “going for a much darker tone” than Thomas’ books, buthe still promised that “the overall objectives of Yancy stay true"in the adaptation. This process also led Schumacher to reach out personally to Blair in the hopes of further selling himself on landing the part.
“I had all the time to read the books, and I wrote a letter to April when I was trying to get any information,” Schumacher recalled. “It was basically just saying, ‘Hey, I haven’t ever had the luxury of thinking about a character for this long, and I just want you to know that I’m super passionate about this. I’ve read all these books. I’ve been exploring what I think that this character would look like, and I hope that we can work together.’ She was super kind, and called me after that, and we chatted about it.”
Viewers Won’t Have To Wait Long To Learn About Yancy
He Also Sought To Retain A Few Key Elements From The Books
With Yancy’s past being full of secrets, Schumacher is careful not to reveal too much abouthisRansom Canyonjourney,though did tease that “you’re not gonna have to wait a long time” to learn more about his character. “From the first episode, you’ll be like, ‘Oh, all right. What’s this guy up to?’,” Schumacher teased. “Each episode does reveal more, and that’s, I think, the fun, exciting part about this guy is that there always seems to be something else.”
This mysterious past, though, is part of a larger journey for Yancy in which “he’s looking for his home”, “for a community” and for “a family”. This motivation, Schumacher warns, “doesn’t always mean that you’re going to make the best decisions” as it “can take you to dark places and make you make a lot of mistakes”. All of this, along with “trying to balance the past and run from some ghosts that seem to be catching up” to Yancey, were"the most important elements” that Schumacher wanted to “keep alive” from the books.
“April was on the same page before I even said any of this, and April is just such a phenomenal showrunner and writer,” Schumacher beamed. “I’m very grateful to have her and the team of writers that we had, because you don’t always get to collaborate in that way. Sometimes, you’re given the script, and they’re like, ‘Say everything, don’t add any ums or ahs, say it.’ And you’re like, ‘Right, okay, I understand.’
“And then, there are times like this, where they’d be really open to like, ‘Hey, what if I did this, or what if I did that?’,” Schumacher continued. “And most of the time, you get shot down. I always approach it where I’m like, ‘Hey, I had an idea. Tell me it sucks, and then we’ll drop it.’ And often, they’d be like, ‘No, that’s not happening,’ and I’m like, ‘Great.’ But then other times, you have a moment where you’re like, ‘This is really, I think, important,’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah, do it.’ That’s one of my favorite parts about this, is that collaborative team effort to make something come to life.”
Another important element coming from the book is Yancey’s relationship with local woman Ellie, played byOne of Us is Lyingalum Marianly Tejada. Reflecting on his experience with his co-star,Schumacher praised Tejada as being “phenomenal” and “an incredible actress”, while also recalling the feeling of “She is the one” when doing chemistry reads together. “I think casting saw that, as well, so it was very easy to build that over time, getting time spent on set, rehearsing this and that,” Schumacher shared.
He also recalls there being “an enormous amount of time” spent with his co-stars both while filming and “a lot of downtime” between the actual filming. This, in turn, led to Schumacher getting “to know these people on a very personal level”,which he felt “bleeds into your performance”. “People can feel when there’s a real chemistry there, so that’s always important to me to try and bring that,” Schumacher explained. “Especially in the beginning, I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s grab lunch, let’s go have dinner and stuff, and just talk. I want to know you. I want you to know me.’ You just kind of figure that stuff out, and it lets you create this relationship a little bit easier in your mind.”
Schumacher also acknowledged that not having worked with Tejada before made it fun to “play it from this instant attraction” dynamic. “You can let yourself just go from the ground up and explore what that sort of blossoming relationship looks like,” Schumacher explained. “But Mara’s such a great actress, and she’s so generous and kind to work with. It makes it very easy to play with.”
Josh Duhamel Kept The Set Feeling Light & Fun
Schumacher Also Found Himself In Awe Of James Brolin
As the show sees him pulled into the heated three-way war for land between the local ranching families,Ransom Canyonsees Yancy interacting with a good range of the cast, but primarily withLa Brea’s Eoin Macken, who plays Davis Collins, whom Schumacher calls “just the coolest dude”. But with him also sharing scenes with Emmy winner James Brolin and Josh Duhamel,Schumacher delighted at the opportunity to glean what he could from the established stars.
“Each of them have more experience than me,” Schumacher acknowledged. “They’re older than me, and I always approach [my co-stars] like, ‘Hey, if you have any advice for me, if you see me doing something, and you’re like, ‘What are you doing?’ Tell me, I’m open to notes. I want to make this the best that it can be.’ There’s always a really good dialogue that I think comes from doing that, and being receptive to another person’s ideas.”
After humorously recalling that there would be times he would be lost watching them perform, reminding himself, “Okay, sorry, I gotta act”, Schumacher recalled howDuhamel really kept the set feeling lively. Describing theTransformersalum as “a big kid”, he went on to recall how, when Duhamel would arrive, “he’s just having the best time”, and that his continued passion for acting is “a quality that you want to hold on to”. He also shared how a note from his acting coach paralleled Duhamel’s on-set personality:
I remember my acting coach, I work with Ivana Chubbuck, and I was doing a lesson with her one time, and she just stopped me, and she’s like, “I’m not having any fun.” And I was like, “Oh, okay.” And she’s like, “I’m not having fun because you’re not having fun. So, remember that this is supposed to be fun.” That’s something I always go back to, because you can get really serious about this, and it is serious, especially when you’re doing a heavy scene or playing a heavy part, you want to bring the most you can to it, and you want to serve the text and serve your fellow actors. But at the end of the day, man, you gotta have fun, and it is fun. We’re playing pretend. It might be the coolest job in the world. If it’s not enjoyable, then people aren’t going to enjoy watching you. So, I always try to catch that, and Josh is great at doing that. When you see him, he’s always messing around, always making people laugh.
Schumacher also went on to praise Brolin for being “phenomenal at always trying something new”, something that the younger star believes is “one of the best things that an actor can do”. Describing having heard tales of “the greats” being willing to try things, even if “most of it’s not going to work”, asthey’re “not being afraid to fail” is “one of the key things that takes practice” for a rising actor, and was one of his biggest takeaways from watching Brolin work.
“It takes time to get comfortable doing that, where you’re like, ‘Alright, I’m going to do a take and fall on my face here.’,” Schumacher expressed. “But maybe, you strike gold. James was so good at doing that, and there’s so many examples in the show where I see him do something, and I’m like, ‘Man, that was good.’ He just throws it out there. So yeah, I learned something from everyone, and they’re all just so great to work with.”
“…There’s A Trickle-Down Effect…”
Prior to starring inRansom Canyon, Schumacher was part ofthe cast ofTop Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s second-best-reviewed film and highest-grossing of his career. In addition to helping further build his star profile,the long-awaited sequel also saw him and Cruise develop a bond during production, as Schumacher is now one of the few people Cruise follows on social media.
In reflecting on his work with Cruise on the movie, Schumacher humorously shared that he could “talk aboutTop Gunfor an hour” about all of the “lessons and things I learned from the people on that cast”. He did, though, denote that the biggest lesson he ultimately learned from his time on the movie’s production was the “elevated way” Cruise’s professionalism was on set,praising the blockbuster star for “his enthusiasm and his passion [being] infectious”:
Especially on a set, if you have the lead of a show, or if you have a director who’s just down and angry and yelling at people, there’s a trickle-down effect. It’s toxic to a set, and that can really make for a terrible day. Everyone’s stressed out. But what Tom would do is he would roll up, he would get out, and he’s like, “We’re making a movie!” You could see this dude is more stoked than anyone, and that gets everyone else pumped up. And that’s especially important on days where things might not be going right, and there’s problems with cameras, there’s problems with this, there’s problems with that, the lighting is getting messed up, you’re running behind, there’s all these things. But to have a guy who’s the captain of the ship, who is maintaining his cool, knows everyone’s name, is clearly more excited to be there than anyone. That, I think, is one of the keys to that. And then also, whether you’re playing a big part or a small part, wanting to be on the winning team. That’s something that I’d heard him say, where it’s like, “Yeah, it’s more important to be on a winning team than the star on a losing team.” So, all of those things I’ve tried to maintain to where when I show up on set, show up and be ready, and be excited, because then other people are excited to see you. Other people are excited to work with you, and just take the time to get to know people.
More About Ransom Canyon
Welcome to Ransom Canyon, where love, loss, and loyalty collide beneath the crimson mesas of Texas Hill Country. With three ranching family dynasties locked in a contest for control of the land, their lives and legacies are threatened by outside forces intent on destroying their way of life. At the center of it all is stoic rancher Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel), who is healing from heartbreaking loss and on a quest for vengeance. Staten’s only glimmer of hope rests in the eyes and heart of Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly), longtime family friend and owner of the local dancehall. But as the battle to save Ransom wages on, a mysterious cowboy drifts into town, dredging up secrets from the past. Vise tightening, Staten fights to protect the land he calls home, and the only love that can pull him back from the demons that haunt him.
