Movies - TV
How Bone Tomahawk Reminded Kurt Russell Of Tombstone
By ANDREW HOUSMAN
Although Kurt Russell could be seen as an outstanding example of the typical hero found in the genre, the actor hasn’t been in many Westerns as he takes his choice of roles in these types of films seriously. However, his parts in “Tombstone” and “Bone Tomahawk” appealed to Russell, not because of their brutal action but because of their refreshing dialogue.
Russell landed the role of Wyatt Earp in 1993’s “Tombstone,” helping modify the dialogue and taking up a bulk of directing duties to see the project to completion. Where “Tombstone” took inspiration from historical events, “Bone Tomahawk” combined Western elements with horror and “weird fiction,” but the actor noted how remarkably natural the dialogue sounded.
Russell explained, “The people talked this way. I believe that. I don’t think this is a Hollywood western dialogue movie. This has a style to it. It lends itself much more to the credibility of reality than almost all westerns. It doesn’t have a modern day sound to it.” They may be different, but Russell seemed attracted to how both films used dialogue to humanize their characters.