Movies - TV
Don't Call Harrison Ford's 1923 Character A 'Cowboy'
By DREW TINNIN
While doing press for “1923,” Harrison Ford was quick to say, “I don't know what a 'cowboy' is!” Perhaps the term “cowboy” has been a bit overused, and admittedly, Ford’s character on the show, Jacob Dutton, is much more than just a cowboy — he’s an aging man who is trying to lead a simple life as a rancher as the world grows more complex around him.
Ford is definitely having a little fun with the semantics of the word “cowboy,” but from his comments, it's clear that he wants to accurately depict the real people of the times. The actor explained, “The guys who work on ranches are 'cowboys.' They work with cows. And many of them are boys! But [Dutton’s] a rancher, and a rancher is financially responsible as well as everything else for the outcomes.”
Ford, now 80, owns a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, and seems to relate to the hardships that ranchers have had to endure over the generations — he even helped herd cattle in subzero temperatures while filming “1923.” Ford is more than just an actor, and Dutton is more than just a cowboy — he’s a rancher, a businessman, and a state official of the Montana Livestock Commission.