1923 Star Brian Geraghty on How the Prequel’s Zane Davis Compares to Yellowstone’s Rip Wheeler

When it comes to Paramount Network’s hit series Yellowstone, there’s one character that is nearly universally loved by fans: Rip Wheeler. Played by Cole Hauser, Rip is the ranch foreman at the Yellowstone and John Dutton’s right-hand man. He’s deeply loyal to the Dutton’s and the ranch in the present-day iteration of the family and it would seem that a previous generation of Duttons have their own counterpart to Rip as well. Paramount+’s 1923 sees Zane Davis, played by Brian Geraghty, serve as Jacob Dutton’s (Harrison Ford) right hand, but while the two men serve similar roles, they’re different characters. Geraghty told TV Insider that while both Zane and Rip would do anything for the Duttons, their approaches are very different.

“When they said [Zane is like Rip], I said, ‘Well, you hired the wrong actor,” Geraghty said. “And they’re like, ‘No, no, don’t be like Rip.’ I wanted to play it different. I want to play a more straight down the line, more earnest [cowboy], in a way. Rip is a great, fun character, but I feel like the way Zane was written, it didn’t have that in it, although they have the exact same jobs. I feel like the circumstances are the same — they will do anything [for the Duttons].”

Geraghty also said that while both men would do anything for the Duttons, their approaches would differ.

“I think Zane would go and try to have a conversation with him,” he said, rather than throw a snake in a bag in the same vein as how Rip dealt with someone in a previous season. “And if this guy didn’t like it, he may or may not pull out his gun.”

What is 1923 about?

1923, the next installment of the Dutton family origin story, will introduce a new generation of Duttons led by patriarch Jacob (Ford) and matriarch Cara (Mirren). The series will explore the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west, and the Duttons who call it home.

In addition to Ford 1923 also stars Helen Mirren, Darren Mann (“Animal Kingdom”), Michelle Randolph (“A Snow White Christmas”), James Badge Dale (“Hightown”), Marley Shelton (“Scream”), Brian Geraghty (“Big Sky”), Aminah Nieves (“Blueberry”), and Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones”).

The first two episodes of 1923 are now streaming on Paramount+.