James Badge Dale And Marley Shelton On The 40 Years Between Taylor Sheridan's 1883 And 1923 [Exclusive Interview]
The following post contains mild spoilers for episode 1 of "1923."
Fans of "Yellowstone" and its first prequel series "1883" only have a few more days to wait until they find out more details about the early generations of the Dutton family in the new show "1923." The series stars Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton, the brother of "1883" star Tim McGraw's James Dutton. Helen Mirren plays his wife and matriarch of the family, Cara Dutton. Not bad relatives to have in the family, right?
The 1920s were a rough time in Montana, with pandemics, drought, the end of Prohibition, and the Great Depression, and the Duttons are about to face some rough times. James Badge Dale ("The Departed") plays John Dutton Sr., son of James Dutton and nephew to Jacob Dutton. (If you watched "1883," he was the little guy played by Audie Rick.) 40 years have passed since he made the crossing from the East Coast to Montana as a young boy, and John is married to Emma (Marley Shelton) and the two have a son of their own, who is about to get married.
I recently spoke to Dale and Shelton about the new series, their characters, and the hierarchy of the women on the Dutton ranch. Dale couldn't reveal everything about his character, but without giving spoilers, I can tell you that what happened after the finale of "1883" is made very clear in the first few minutes of the episode, as is the reason that Jacob is running the ranch and not James. Still, there is a lot of time to fill in with the two planned seasons of "1923."
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
'I could think one thing, and then Taylor's going to write something else the next day'
World War I has come and gone since we last saw John Dutton as a child. His younger brother, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), fought in the war, and is currently out of the country, trying to deal with his PTSD (not that they called it that back then). I asked Dale if John had fought as well, and though he couldn't tell me many details, he did speak about creating a character backstory with someone like series and franchise creator Taylor Sheridan, who doesn't often let actors know all the details:
"What you're dealing with is a 40-year gap here between '1883' and '1923.' And Marley and I, we actually had to talk about this: What happened in those 40 years? What are you filling in? And we get into this area of what's written on the page and what's also the work that we do [ourselves].
"I like to keep a lot of things personal, also because I could think one thing, and then Taylor's going to write something else the next day. Then all that work goes out the window. But part of the fun is showing up to work. And then those cameras roll, and you get to see all these actors and what they bring to it. Certain things I'm not going to tell you."
It's pretty mysterious, but it would stand to reason that he fought as well. When the show picks up, though, John is working on the Dutton ranch as the second-in-command to his uncle Jacob.
'I think they are in the trenches together'
We only get a glimpse of Emma Dutton in the first episode, but in the trailer, we see her in front of some gravestones, one of which is that of an "1883" character. What we do see is how Emma is working with her mother-in-law Cara, and what it's like to wait for their men who are off on a cattle drive. I asked Shelton about the relationship between Emma and Cara, and she broke it down for me:
"I think they are in the trenches together, for lack of a better word. When their men go off on these cattle drives, which is a major part, integral to their life, it's just that these two women running the show and literally holding down the fort. Obviously, they have to do all kinds of ranch life chores and tasks to keep everything going and moving. But I also think that helps them to have that structure.
"It staves off the loneliness and the fear that their men might not ever return. Also, it's a daunting concept to say goodbye with no cell phone or means of communication and know that they're going to be facing all kinds of danger and just not know. You have to live in this suspense of not knowing if they'll ever come back. So I think that because of that, I think the two women are bonded with that shared experience."
It's a terrifying prospect, and from the trailer, it appears that men on cattle drives will be the least of their worries.
"1923" will premiere on Paramount+ on December 18, 2022. Paramount Network is also hosting a linear airing of the debut episode following a new episode of "Yellowstone."