Yellowstone Creator Taylor Sheridan's Secret Casting Weapon Is Wine, And Lots Of It
The following post contains mild spoilers for the premiere of "1923."
The Paramount+ series "1923" is the second prequel after "1883" for the drama "Yellowstone." The history-spanning saga of the Dutton family and their Montana cattle ranch comes to us from Taylor Sheridan, the current king of the western genre and a man who clearly does not require sleep as the rest of us do. He's also got a few other projects going, including "Mayor of Kingstown" with Jeremy Renner and "Tulsa King" with Sylvester Stallone. "1923" just had the biggest debut in Paramount+ history when it began streaming on December 18, 2022.
Sheridan's series are full of huge names, with "1883" alone counting Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Sam Elliott and guest stars like Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and Billy Bob Thornton among the members of its ensemble. "1923" is no different and features a cast led by Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren (who is a mere Grammy away from an EGOT) and Academy Award-nominee Harrison Ford.
How does Sheridan get people like Ford and Mirren to join his television series? He gets them drunk, of course! Okay, there's a little more to it, like how Sheridan continually turns out well-received work while keeping viewers captivated by his small screen western sagas. Still, wine does play a part, according to an interview Sheridan did with Deadline.
'I'm done wondering who I'm writing for'
When Taylor Sheridan was asked how he managed to get so many big names in a series, he replied, "Truth? I called [Harrison Ford] and said come down to my ranch, and he flew down. I did the same with Helen [Mirren]." You have to have some serious clout in Hollywood to get Ford to jump in a plane when you call before a discussion has even taken place, or wine gets poured.
Sheridan added that Ford flew down in his own plane and asked to read a script. The former, however, famously doesn't write that far ahead and often doesn't let the actors know what's coming. In fact, in a roundtable interview for "1923" that I attended with Mirren, she said the "1923" cast only had scripts for the first three episodes in their hands when they began shooting.
Sheridan didn't have anything to show Ford, either, and for good reason. He explained to Deadline:
"[Ford] 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 f****** Netflix show. I don't do that s*** anymore."
Mirren said something similar in the roundtable interview, explaining that Cara Dutton was written for her the same way Jacob Dutton was written for Ford because Sheridan "likes to write for the actor and the personality of the actor that is going to play the role."
'Have a glass of wine'
Where does the wine come in? There were two bottles of it, Taylor Sheridan said, but first, a little ribbing:
"'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 [Harrison Ford]. 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 [Mirren], and same thing. 'Have a glass of wine.'"
Must be nice to have that sort of power. Of course, you don't get that (or a chance to get Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren drunk) these days without a great script. They both obviously liked the one for "1923." In fact, Sheridan said of Ford, "I sent them the script and he called me and he goes, 'It's f****** perfect. When do we start?'" Having seen the first episode (and every episode of "1883"), it's hard for me to argue with that.
"1923" is currently streaming on Paramount+.