From series creator David Milch and director Daniel Minahan, Deadwood: The Movie continues the story that first began in the critically acclaimed TV series that debuted 15 years ago. Celebrating South Dakota’s statehood has its own share of problems, when it comes to the inevitable changes that come with progress, and alliances are tested while rivalries are reignited and old friends are reunited. The movie stars Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Paula Malcomson, John Hawkes, Anna Gunn, Dayton Callie, Brad Dourif, Robin Weigert, William Sanderson, Kim Dickens and Gerald McRaney.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, actor John Hawkes (who plays Sol Star) talked about the long journey to finally getting this movie made, wondering if they’d ever actually get on set, why he thinks fans of the show kept pushing to make this happen for so many years, the concern about being able to recapture the magic of the original series, the joy of getting to see all of these characters again, whether he feels more of a sense of closure now, why he’ll always hunger for more, and what he’s loved about the opportunity to work with David Milch. He also talked about his experience working with Nicolas Winding Refn on the Amazon series Too Old To Die Young, and the unusual process for making that.

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Image via Warrick Page / HBO

Collider:  I’m so happy and excited to be talking to you about more Deadwood because, as the years passed, most fans, including myself, doubted and worried that we’d ever get to see this much talked about movie, so I’m just thrilled that it’s here.

JOHN HAWKES:  Yeah, and believe me, we were all feeling the same. There was some guarded optimism, but mostly a lot of that feeling of loss, that it’s gone and there won’t be any more. But, here we are.

This is something that’s been talked about for years. Were there times, over the years, that you thought it actually was getting close to happening, or did you always just feel like the day that you walked on set would be the day it was actually happening?

HAWKES:  Yeah. I started out, as a professional actor, doing theater, and I heard a stage manager tell me once, “In the theater, you don’t have the job until they buy the shoes your character will wear.” So, we kept waiting for them to buy the shoes. Like I said, it was a very guarded optimism, whenever any of those rumors came along. It would even go so far as occasionally getting a call from your agent or manager saying, “They’re thinking about doing it, I don’t know, about a year from now. Will you be available? Is it something that you’re interested in?” And I was always of the mind to say, “Yes,” immediately, and that I would try to find a way to do it, whenever it was happening. There were a few false starts along the way, definitely. There were opportunities that fell by the wayside, with the show, but we got there. They bought the shoes, and we made it, and here we are.

Even when you finally actually got a script, were you still like, “Okay, we have the script now, but that still doesn’t mean we’ll actually get on the set”?

HAWKES:  Yes. Every human being deals with this, but it might be heightened for actors, just the promise, in your mind, of how things will go, around your career or a certain project, more specifically, and then you’re disappointed. Most of us, in show business, if we’re going to last in this field, have a strong constitution, just to deal with a lot of disappointment and heartbreak, and that builds a guarded optimism. I always want to be a positive person, allowing good things to happen around me and trying to make them happen, but this was a frustrating one, along the way. With every year that past, it became less and less of a possibility, in my mind. And so, when it finally did happen and I got the script, yeah, I did have the feeling of, “Well, there’s a script, but will we really do it? We’ve been close before.” It’s such a gorgeous script, and I was elated when I knew it was real, and that we were finally there and getting ready to go.

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Image via Warrick Page/HBO

Every show has to end, at some point, and a lot of shows end before their time. What do you think it was about Deadwood that, even as year after year passed, kept the fans wanting more, and made the cast all willing to come back?

HAWKES:  Well, I just think it speaks to David Milch, and down the line. They’re such an extraordinarily talented group of people, from the writers and directors to the craftspeople. Maria Caso, who designed the whole show for those three seasons, and then came back and did the movie, is brilliant. And Janie Bryant, the woman who created all of that wardrobe, is phenomenal. It’s something that we all loved doing. Part of it is maybe the period and the uniqueness of the project, in that way, with its look, its sound, its feel and its smell. I don’t know. Everybody was just keen to go. Like you say, a lot of shows end early, and there was something almost fitting about Deadwood just stopping because that’s how life was then. It just wasn’t satisfying and perfect. It’s messy, in that way. But to get a chance to come back and really put a cap on it was gratifying, and I hope it will be, for fans of the show. Out of all of the projects that I’ve ever worked on, this is the one that people most have asked about, over the years. “Hey, when’s Deadwood coming back,” is something I’ve heard a lot – daily and weekly – depending on where I was going. That was something that was interesting to me. I was thinking, “It’s been 10 years, 11 years, 12 years since the show’s been on, and people still are fascinated by it and want more.” So, I was really relieved, when I saw the movie, that I felt like we really did put a beautiful cap on it. If somehow there was going to be more, I’d be the first one at the Melody Ranch gate, ready to shoot some more. Who knows what will happen. This may be the end, but it’s a good end if it is.

Were you ever hesitant, at all, or worried, that there would be no way to recapture all of this, especially so many years later, or did you always feel like, with the words of David Milch, it would happen?

HAWKES:  Yeah, well, I figured it would happen, but I didn’t know necessarily how we would do. It’s been a long time. This isn’t an episode of the show. It’s a different animal, to make a movie of our show. That had different rules and stipulations, as far as how we would tell the story, but I feel like we got there. By my count, I feel like it’s at least two dozen actors, and so many craftspeople and crew people, and producers, directors and writers, who have all returned to tell this story. I don’t know how it happened. It’s pretty miraculous, but we did it. And as much as I loved the actors that I got to know, over the time of the show, and got to really care about, when I got the script, it was really moving to just suddenly see their characters. I love their characters so much. There was Calamity Jane riding in on a horse and talking, and there was Al Swearengen waking up after a bad morning and feeling ill, and there was Sheriff Bullock walking down the street. Suddenly, all of these people were alive again. It was a very strangely moving experience to just read the script, before we began to shoot, because I realized these people were not dead. I’d gone to some wonderful parallel universe, where all of these people were alive again, and I got to watch them live again. It’s beautiful.

As much as I loved seeing these characters return and the cast playing them again, and I’m truly grateful to have this movie, it makes you long for even more time with them.

HAWKES:  Me too.

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Image via Warrick Page/HBO

Did having the experience of shooting this give you a sense of closure that you didn’t have when it ended originally, or did it make you wish you’d had more episodes, or gotten to do another season, instead of just the movie?

HAWKES:  It’s really both. We have to be really happy, in this life, for whatever goodness and joy comes our way, but yeah, it was bittersweet. We’re all aging, and that was interesting to see, but everyone’s still so vital and on top of their game, which was joyous. But man, driving off the lot, the very last night that I shot, which was maybe the second to last night of the shoot as a whole, at 3:00 in the morning, on a cold December night, the only way that I could really drive away was to think that maybe I’d be back some day, somehow. It’s a long shot, but its always been a long shot with this show, from the pilot on. I’m thankful for what we did, but I will always hunger for more.

From everybody that I’ve talked to, that’s been a part of the show, it sounds as though working with David Milch was both a gift and a challenge because the material was incredible, but the way that he worked could be exhausting. Whether from the original series or this movie, what are your strongest memories of working with him?

HAWKES:  Well, David is one of the kindest people that I’ve ever known. It’s not like he’s a glad-handing guy, who’s a good fellow well met. He’s a complicated and incredibly brilliant man. I think he’s the smartest person I’ve ever gotten to spend time with. Kindness and humanity are things that you don’t fake. He just has a real understanding of human beings and of life on our planet, I feel like. He might blush at that and say that he knows no more than anyone else, but I feel like he’s somehow been able to take the experiences he’s had in his life, and his brilliant mind and tireless work ethic, and craft such a beautiful piece of art. He’s behind it all, for sure. It’s a collaborative art form. It definitely takes a lot of people to make his work, but without David, it never would’ve happened, at all. So, yeah, it’s a challenge, as an actor. His language isn’t easy on paper, but it all makes sense, if you can delve deep enough into the world and just do the things that an actor does, which is to figure out why they’re there, in that moment, why are they’re saying what they’re saying, in that moment, and figuring out what they want and need. I always look at the bigger picture of, what is the story, and how can I serve the story, in this moment? Even if the writing is difficult, when someone is thoughtful and has vision, as David does, you’re going to do okay. If you just do your work and do your best, it’ll come off. I didn’t have a lot of incredibly difficult monologues, like many of the characters did, but there were still challenges for me, just trying to figure out what the hell I was saying sometimes. Sometimes I would only get it later on and realize, from watching the show, “Oh, that’s what that meant. Okay.” That happened particularly early on. After awhile, the world became more second nature to me, as any character does, when you play them for awhile.

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You’ve also done Nicolas Winding Refn’s Amazon series, Too Old To Die Young, and he’s also such an interesting storyteller. What was the appeal of that project and character for you?

HAWKES:  I honestly didn’t know Nicolas’ work that well, at the time, but he was a fascinating guy to talk to. We had two very long sit-down conversations, and I couldn’t figure him out exactly, but I didn’t mind that. There was no script. We just talked about what the character might be, and whether I’d be the right person for it. I actually mentioned other actors, in case I didn’t work out for that. It was a very unusual process, and I felt like this guy could maybe be unusual to work with. I didn’t know her, but the idea that Jena Malone was coming back, after having worked with him before, and the idea that an actor wanted more time with him, gave me some comfort. I’m really glad I did it. He’s a very, very unusual guy, and a pretty wonderful presence on set. I think the whole crew fell in love with him, over the nine months that we shot.

What was it like to go from having a conversation and signing on to do something without a script, to actually shooting it and working with him? How do you feel about the way that all turned out?

HAWKES:  I haven’t gotten to see it, but I hope it turned great. It was another really fascinating job, as an actor. I didn’t really know what was coming because there weren’t scripts out ahead. Sometimes he would begin to tell me a possibility, down the line. He said, “You maybe want me not to tell you this.” And I would say, “Yeah, let’s just let it happen.” So, I was pretty in the moment with it all. Actors always like to say, “My character wouldn’t do that,” but with Nicolas, I learned that humans are complicated people, and we do things that are out of character for us. I was always surprised at what was happening, on a given day, but figured out a way to make it make sense. It was challenging and really enjoyable. I loved working with him, and with that whole group.

It sounds like such an interesting way to work.

HAWKES:  Yeah, it truly was. He’s just got a whole set of different rules. We worked 10-hour days without a lunch break, and that’s incredible on any project that you’re filming. I think that was an interesting way to work. It was a very humane way to work because it was a long shoot, particularly for the crew, who have to be there, every day. I think that it was also singular. There’s really nothing like that one, either. They’re all different, but Deadwood and this project, in particular, are more different than most things.

You talked about the enjoyment of reading the Deadwood movie script and seeing those characters alive again, but what was it like for yourself to learn about where your character was now, and see what his life had led him to, all of these years later?

HAWKES:  I was prepared for that because, over the years, when I’d speak to David or have lunch with him, he’d mention the idea of where Sol and Trixie would be. I thought it was fantastic. It just brought a lot for Paula Malcomson and I to chew on and work on. Every character on Deadwood has a richness. If you got one line, there was usually something about it that was great. Every character on Deadwood, to me, is fascinating to watch, whether they have a small part or not. Everyone was so well cast, and the writing is so beautiful. I read a lot about the period and I’ve spent time in Deadwood, itself, and I know that, in those years, it became slightly less of a lawless place, with less gunplay. Certainly, in the movie, things go a little south and it gets violent, which was still true to the town, but the town had grown up. It started out as a baby, in the pilot, and then the town had grown up a bit and we’d all grown up with it, yet there are still many complications and dangers inherent in just being there. So, it all made sense to me to take Sol and Trixie to a new place that’s a more settled place, or at least an attempt to try to find some stability in their lives. Of course, it doesn’t happen easily because this is Deadwood, but I thought it was a really great idea to give them more responsibility.

Well, I’m just so thrilled that this movie exists, and I tremendously enjoyed watching it and everybody in it again.

HAWKES:  Hopefully, the movie will do well and, who knows, maybe we’ll get to do more someday. I don’t know. I’d be surprised, but I’ve been surprised before, and that’s a good thing.

Deadwood: The Movie premieres on HBO on May 31st. All three seasons of Deadwood are currently streaming on HBO NOW.