There are many elements you are sure to find on a Taylor Sheridan movie or TV series, and one of them is a superb cast. The Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter has crafted stories that attracted Hollywood A-listers like Jeff Bridges, Jeremy Renner, Emily Blunt, and even Sylvester Stallone. That’s why it was not surprising that Sheridan managed to get film legends Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren to star in the Yellowstone prequel and spin-off series 1923. In an interview to Deadline, however, Sheridan revealed that getting them on board was easier than he imagined.
In the interview, Sheridan revealed that having the attention of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones star was as easy as inviting him to spend a couple of hours on a ranch. However, the filmmaker and showrunner underscores that he had to stand his ground in order to get both Ford and Mirren to agree to take part in 1923 before there was even a script. This happened because Sheridan states he needs to know who he’s writing for:
“He flew down. I said, ‘We’re going to do this thing together.’ He goes, ‘Can I read a script?’ I said, ‘You can when it’s written, but it ain’t written yet and you got to commit to it now. I need to know who I’m writing for. I’m done wondering who I’m writing for, and I have to go try to chase the person I had in my mind and I can’t get the person because they’re doing some fucking Netflix show. I don’t do that shit anymore. So, are you going to do it or are you going to watch Chris Cooper do the next great thing? What do you want to do?’ I poured about two bottles of wine down him. He said yes. I got him on the plane as fast as I could, closed the deal and said, send me the next one. Then came Helen, and same thing. Have a glass of wine. [Then] I sent them the script and he called me and he goes, ‘It’s fucking perfect. When do we start?’”
Harrison Ford Previously Revealed to Collider How Thrilled He Was About 1923
In a roundtable interview with Collider, Ford commented about accepting his first starring role in a television series with 1923. He underscored what all of us TV lovers have realized: The lines between feature films and television series are now more blurred than ever:
“We used to think of television as having less ambition, perhaps, than feature films. It's no longer the case at all. This is one of the most ambitious undertakings I've ever taken on, and I'm so pleased with what I've seen so far. […] I've been enjoying working with very high-quality actors and actresses, and we have the technical capacity and ambition to shoot this the way it was a feature film. It's quite beautiful to look at. I'm thrilled with the whole project.”
Ford is right, of course. Not only because you can see the ambition of a massive project like 1923 simply by watching the trailer, but also because Sheridan revealed how much it cost to put Season 1 of 1923 together – and the price tag was as high as a blockbuster movie’s.
1923 takes place between the Kevin Costner-led flagship series Yellowstone and prequel series 1883. It follows Jacob (Ford) and Cara (Mirren), the ancestors of the Dutton family as they run the Yellowstone ranch facing the challenges of the era including prohibition, a pandemic, a historical drought, and the looming threat of the Great Depression. The cast also features Jerome Flynn, Sebastian Roché, Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph, James Badge Dale, Marley Shelton, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Jennifer Ehle, Julia Schlaepfer, Brandon Sklenar, and Robert Patrick.
1923 premiered this week on Paramount+. You can watch a trailer for the series below: