1923 Star Calls Yellowstone Franchise an "Examination" of American History
With shows like 1883 and 1923, and more on the way, Taylor Sheridan has created a whole franchise out of the Paramount Network hit series Yellowstone, but 1923 star Helen Mirren doesn't necessarily see the fan favorite universe as simply a franchise. During a screening event for The Wrap, Mirren explained that she sees the world of Yellowstone as an examination of American history.
"I don't see it as a franchise. I don't see it like that," Mirren said. "I know this is going to sound super pretentions, but I see it more as an examination of the history of America, in the way that War & Peace was an examination of part of the history of Russia, seen through the eyes of the families, family members. I see it much more like that."
She went on to say that while she hadn't really seen Yellowstone before signing on for 1923, she signed on for Sheridan's writing.
"I personally hadn't seen a lot of Yellowstone, but mostly I jumped on board because of Taylor's writing in his films that is so very, very good and it transpired that he is a brilliant writer. He really is," Mirren, who plays Cara Dutton in 1923 said. "The scripts arrived as complete things that you didn't want to change a word, you didn't want to add anything, you didn't want to take anything away. They were psychologically interesting to play, as an actor."
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 (Harrison Ford) and matriarch Cara (Helen 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 and Mirren, 1923 also stars 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 season of 1923 is now streaming on Paramount+. Season 2 does not yet have a release date.