‘Yellowstone’ Brought in Lilli Kay’s Real-Life Partner for Her Makeout Scene
Yellowstone fans were surprised when season 5 revealed the show’s first LGBTQ character. Lilli Kay joined the cast as Clara, John Dutton’s assistant, who proves she is pretty comfortable with the cowboy way of life. In episode 7, Clara shared a kiss that got fans talking. Kay recently revealed that she was making out with her real-life partner in this scene.
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 included the show’s first LGBTQ kiss
Lilli Kay joined the cast of Yellowstone in season 5. Kay plays Clara, John’s new assistant, who helps him run his day-to-day in his new role as governor. Clara proves to be pretty comfortable with ranch life when she accompanies John to the spring gathering.
Later, at the fair, John sits in the grass with Summer. When she is worried about kissing him in public, John points out that “my press adviser is behind me, making out.” Sure enough, Clara is in the grass behind John kissing someone, and this kiss caused quite a reaction from fans.
Lilli Kay was kissing her real-life partner in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5
When Lilli Kay shot this scene in Yellowstone, she hardly expected it to be such a big deal. “I’ll tell you something about that. We were in our Covid protocol,” the actor told Deadline.
“It was written that Clara is making out with someone in the background behind John and Summer. And we were trying to figure out who was easy and comfortable [to cast] who was also in the testing cycle.”
“My partner, Juli Kocemba, was there with me in Montana, so they said, ‘oh, let’s just have you guys make out in the background.’ My partner’s non-binary, so we were like, ‘well, it’s a gender-fluid makeout in the background,'” Kay continued. “We thought nobody’s gonna make a big a big deal about it. And then a lot of people made a very big deal about it.”
Juli Kocemba is a professional model who has been featured in Elle (Sweden), Marie Claire (Russia), and Têtu Magazine. Kocemba also recently worked with Etam, a French lingerie brand focused on empowering women.
Of the kiss, Kay added, “It was very funny because I did not expect anyone to even really catch it. And then people were like, ‘lesbians on the range!’ It was very, very funny. But it was a fun little evening. We got to listen to some really good music and hang out and quietly make out in the background. Lesbians on the ranch!”
The makeout scene was awkward for director Stephen Kay
The kissing scene with Lilli Kay in Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 7 included an interesting dynamic. The episode was directed by Stephen Kay, who is nonother than Lilli Kay’s father. He is also the husband of Piper Perabo, who plays Summer in the Taylor Sheridan series.
“My father was the director. He was really wonderful and great,” Kay told Deadline. “It was also the most awkward day for him at work, directing his wife kissing Kevin Costner and his daughter making out with her partner.”
Yellowstone Season 5 returns with new episodes this summer, 2023.
