1 00:00:01,969 --> 00:00:07,075 ♪ MTV ♪ 2 00:00:07,141 --> 00:00:09,310 - "1883" is... - Gritty. 3 00:00:09,377 --> 00:00:10,878 - Intense. - Beautiful. 4 00:00:10,944 --> 00:00:13,013 It's epic. There's no question about it. 5 00:00:13,081 --> 00:00:15,249 It's a young woman's coming of age story. 6 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:16,817 - It's massive. - Mind-boggling. 7 00:00:16,884 --> 00:00:18,219 It's a journey. 8 00:00:18,286 --> 00:00:21,955 There's excitement, danger, unpredictability. 9 00:00:22,022 --> 00:00:23,524 I don't care if I do any other show 10 00:00:23,591 --> 00:00:24,558 for the rest of my life. 11 00:00:24,625 --> 00:00:26,260 I only do Westerns from now. 12 00:00:26,327 --> 00:00:28,496 Those are the kind of stories I like to tell, 13 00:00:28,562 --> 00:00:30,698 and that's the way I like to tell them. 14 00:00:33,701 --> 00:00:40,841 ♪ ♪ 15 00:00:45,879 --> 00:00:48,616 The idea to make "1883" 16 00:00:48,682 --> 00:00:50,718 actually came from one of the studio executives 17 00:00:50,784 --> 00:00:55,556 asking me about the backstory of John Dutton. 18 00:00:55,623 --> 00:00:57,024 And I explained it to him 19 00:00:57,091 --> 00:00:59,360 from the origin of where they came, 20 00:00:59,427 --> 00:01:03,397 and he thought that that in and of itself was a TV show. 21 00:01:04,432 --> 00:01:08,436 I was intrigued by the idea, and so I wrote some flashbacks 22 00:01:08,502 --> 00:01:12,005 that people have now seen on "Yellowstone." 23 00:01:12,072 --> 00:01:13,474 So Taylor called, he goes, 24 00:01:13,541 --> 00:01:14,742 "Hey, man, I want you to be in the show. 25 00:01:14,808 --> 00:01:16,910 "I want you to be in 'Yellowstone.' 26 00:01:16,977 --> 00:01:18,312 Are you're interested in it?" 27 00:01:18,379 --> 00:01:20,881 And he says, "I got this idea. 28 00:01:20,948 --> 00:01:22,683 "We're gonna do a flashback, 29 00:01:22,750 --> 00:01:24,552 "and you're gonna play the original Dutton 30 00:01:24,618 --> 00:01:28,656 "who founded the Yellowstone ranch. 31 00:01:28,722 --> 00:01:31,125 You're also gonna have a wife in this." 32 00:01:31,192 --> 00:01:33,093 He says, "Do you think Faith would be interested 33 00:01:33,161 --> 00:01:34,862 in playing your wife in the flashbacks?" 34 00:01:34,928 --> 00:01:37,598 ♪ ♪ 35 00:01:37,665 --> 00:01:39,400 If you go in the handbook of directors, 36 00:01:39,467 --> 00:01:41,135 you're not supposed to hire a husband and wife 37 00:01:41,202 --> 00:01:42,903 to do a movie together. 38 00:01:42,970 --> 00:01:44,838 It's historically failed every time, 39 00:01:44,905 --> 00:01:48,442 but you're also not supposed to film kids or horses, so. 40 00:01:48,876 --> 00:01:51,145 We both watch the show, 41 00:01:51,212 --> 00:01:54,215 so we were excited to have that invitation 42 00:01:54,282 --> 00:01:56,917 and didn't know quite what to expect. 43 00:01:58,319 --> 00:01:59,520 Then I spoke with Sam Elliott 44 00:01:59,587 --> 00:02:02,590 about doing something in the space. 45 00:02:02,656 --> 00:02:04,525 ♪ ♪ 46 00:02:04,592 --> 00:02:08,128 I got a call from him. "I got something to show you," 47 00:02:08,196 --> 00:02:10,698 and he sent me this series of scripts, 48 00:02:10,764 --> 00:02:14,602 and there was no saying no, 49 00:02:14,668 --> 00:02:16,404 because it spoke to me. 50 00:02:16,470 --> 00:02:19,507 The character spoke to me. The show speaks to me. 51 00:02:19,573 --> 00:02:21,309 ♪ ♪ 52 00:02:21,375 --> 00:02:25,879 You know what I'm doing here? 53 00:02:25,946 --> 00:02:28,282 Looking for a reason. 54 00:02:28,349 --> 00:02:30,418 You wanna be my reason? 55 00:02:30,484 --> 00:02:32,019 I had not found the connective tissue 56 00:02:32,085 --> 00:02:35,823 between this origin story of James Dutton 57 00:02:35,889 --> 00:02:40,060 and this road to redemption story of Sam Elliott. 58 00:02:40,127 --> 00:02:41,995 I had not found the bridge. 59 00:02:42,062 --> 00:02:45,199 And the actress Isabel May read for me 60 00:02:45,266 --> 00:02:47,034 for another TV series, 61 00:02:47,100 --> 00:02:50,471 and it dawned on me that she was the bridge. 62 00:02:52,973 --> 00:02:56,043 I called the network, and I said, I found our lead, 63 00:02:56,109 --> 00:02:57,311 and I haven't written a word, 64 00:02:57,378 --> 00:02:59,179 and you're just gonna have to trust me. 65 00:02:59,247 --> 00:03:00,714 ♪ ♪ 66 00:03:00,781 --> 00:03:02,350 This is something different altogether, 67 00:03:02,416 --> 00:03:04,352 'cause you're seeing it through the eyes of a young woman. 68 00:03:04,418 --> 00:03:06,920 And I don't think that's ever been done before. 69 00:03:06,987 --> 00:03:08,756 Not in this way. 70 00:03:08,822 --> 00:03:13,193 We are seeing things through an 18-year-old girl's eyes. 71 00:03:13,261 --> 00:03:14,695 And it's a very different vision of the West 72 00:03:14,762 --> 00:03:17,598 because you see it, sort of her innocence 73 00:03:17,665 --> 00:03:20,167 and her magic that she's able to show us this world 74 00:03:20,234 --> 00:03:23,704 that has sex and violence and despair, 75 00:03:23,771 --> 00:03:25,873 but also hope. 76 00:03:25,939 --> 00:03:29,610 To play a character that narrates her own story 77 00:03:29,677 --> 00:03:33,080 as well as every other character story, 78 00:03:33,146 --> 00:03:35,048 it's extremely humbling. 79 00:03:36,450 --> 00:03:41,188 Freedom is riding wild over untamed land 80 00:03:41,255 --> 00:03:44,792 with no notion any moment exists 81 00:03:44,858 --> 00:03:47,728 beyond the one you are living. 82 00:03:49,330 --> 00:03:50,564 It's pretty phenomenal, right? 83 00:03:50,631 --> 00:03:52,400 If you just sort of look at a big family tree, 84 00:03:52,466 --> 00:03:54,468 it takes us back many generations 85 00:03:54,535 --> 00:03:56,637 and that survival and fighting for the land 86 00:03:56,704 --> 00:03:59,573 and doing what's right and protecting your family 87 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:00,874 are these similar themes 88 00:04:00,941 --> 00:04:03,076 that were handed down generation to generation 89 00:04:03,143 --> 00:04:05,012 until we get the John Dutton. 90 00:04:07,548 --> 00:04:09,450 ♪ ♪ 91 00:04:09,517 --> 00:04:11,952 - Good shot. - Yep. 92 00:04:12,019 --> 00:04:16,290 James is John's great, great, great grandfather. 93 00:04:16,357 --> 00:04:18,326 You can see the bloodline. 94 00:04:18,392 --> 00:04:21,462 You can see the strength in the bloodline. 95 00:04:21,529 --> 00:04:25,165 You can see the backbone that this family has 96 00:04:25,232 --> 00:04:27,901 and the power that they have, 97 00:04:27,968 --> 00:04:30,471 and their concern for each other. 98 00:04:30,538 --> 00:04:32,440 I believe in you, and I believe in that boy, 99 00:04:32,506 --> 00:04:34,542 and I believe in our daughter. That's all. 100 00:04:34,608 --> 00:04:38,045 That's why it's so important to the Dutton family 101 00:04:38,111 --> 00:04:40,247 present day to fight for his land. 102 00:04:40,314 --> 00:04:42,082 And, like, you see how fierce they are, 103 00:04:42,149 --> 00:04:44,117 fighting for what's theirs. 104 00:04:49,323 --> 00:04:52,360 God! 105 00:04:52,426 --> 00:04:57,197 "1883" is a journey of an unlikely group of people 106 00:04:57,264 --> 00:05:00,167 fighting against the forces of nature, 107 00:05:00,233 --> 00:05:02,570 the malice of humankind 108 00:05:02,636 --> 00:05:05,138 in search of change and a new home. 109 00:05:05,205 --> 00:05:07,174 ♪ ♪ 110 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,410 It's about freedom. 111 00:05:09,477 --> 00:05:11,812 It's about the American dream, which, you know, 112 00:05:11,879 --> 00:05:15,549 it's become this synonymous with the idea of freedom, 113 00:05:15,616 --> 00:05:19,119 about the beauty of it and the ugliness of it, 114 00:05:19,186 --> 00:05:21,655 and all the beautiful things 115 00:05:21,722 --> 00:05:23,357 people will do for their freedom 116 00:05:23,424 --> 00:05:27,395 and then also all the ugly things they do for it. 117 00:05:27,461 --> 00:05:29,763 I can be a good wife. 118 00:05:29,830 --> 00:05:34,034 Stop. Quit it. 119 00:05:34,101 --> 00:05:36,704 The thing about "1883," it's a tale that's been told. 120 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:39,306 It's a tale that we're all familiar with, 121 00:05:39,373 --> 00:05:41,074 the Oregon Trail. 122 00:05:41,141 --> 00:05:44,445 But it's never been done like Taylor's done it on the page. 123 00:05:44,512 --> 00:05:47,481 You think we're fools just because we-- 124 00:05:47,548 --> 00:05:51,952 You have no horses, no guns. You can't ride. 125 00:05:52,019 --> 00:05:53,654 You are a fucking fool. 126 00:05:53,721 --> 00:05:56,624 ♪ ♪ 127 00:05:56,690 --> 00:05:58,358 History is doomed to repeat itself 128 00:05:58,426 --> 00:06:00,928 because it's never taught accurately. 129 00:06:00,994 --> 00:06:02,963 As a storyteller, my job is to try 130 00:06:03,030 --> 00:06:05,365 and hold a mirror up to nature 131 00:06:05,433 --> 00:06:07,435 and reflect back the world as it was. 132 00:06:07,501 --> 00:06:10,170 I think that it's truth through fiction. 133 00:06:11,304 --> 00:06:15,342 There's a grittiness to it. There's an authenticity to it. 134 00:06:15,409 --> 00:06:16,810 It feels real. 135 00:06:16,877 --> 00:06:19,513 The struggles are all real. The people are all real. 136 00:06:19,580 --> 00:06:23,383 We're traveling with a caravan of immigrants. 137 00:06:23,451 --> 00:06:24,818 It was incredible for me 138 00:06:24,885 --> 00:06:26,286 because I am an immigrant myself. 139 00:06:26,353 --> 00:06:28,589 So I get to tell a story of someone 140 00:06:28,656 --> 00:06:33,494 who goes across the world to follow their dream. 141 00:06:33,561 --> 00:06:36,363 Most people who went West 142 00:06:36,430 --> 00:06:38,666 saw ads in newspapers in Poland 143 00:06:38,732 --> 00:06:43,403 and in Croatia and in Germany and answered those ads 144 00:06:43,471 --> 00:06:47,174 and saved up all their money, sold everything they had, 145 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,377 and hired a group that would take them on these wagons. 146 00:06:50,444 --> 00:06:52,079 In the 1800s, 147 00:06:52,145 --> 00:06:55,949 there's actually a large flight of immigrants to America 148 00:06:56,016 --> 00:06:57,685 because there's overpopulation. 149 00:06:57,751 --> 00:07:01,755 And there was a high rate of unemployment. 150 00:07:01,822 --> 00:07:04,692 It's actually interesting there has been a Texan-- 151 00:07:04,758 --> 00:07:08,295 a German Texan immigrant who wrote letters, 152 00:07:08,361 --> 00:07:10,964 like beautiful letters, 153 00:07:11,031 --> 00:07:13,000 how beautiful Texas is and everything, 154 00:07:13,066 --> 00:07:15,469 and these letters were printed in a German newspaper. 155 00:07:15,536 --> 00:07:17,705 And many Germans at the time read them, 156 00:07:17,771 --> 00:07:19,740 and that was their decision to come. 157 00:07:19,807 --> 00:07:23,511 I think people dreamed of change 158 00:07:23,577 --> 00:07:27,214 and creating something and having land 159 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,382 and being free. 160 00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:31,251 It's a free country. 161 00:07:31,318 --> 00:07:32,853 That's a free country. 162 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:34,922 That is Comanche land. 163 00:07:34,988 --> 00:07:36,957 Beyond it is no man's land, 164 00:07:37,024 --> 00:07:40,460 and that's where we're going. You ain't free yet. 165 00:07:40,528 --> 00:07:42,830 And these people didn't speak English, 166 00:07:42,896 --> 00:07:45,499 had no notion of what the Southwest was like 167 00:07:45,566 --> 00:07:46,867 or the Great Plains were like. 168 00:07:46,934 --> 00:07:49,269 Had no idea they were horribly unprepared, 169 00:07:49,336 --> 00:07:50,738 facing a whole new host of diseases 170 00:07:50,804 --> 00:07:53,473 that they've never been exposed to, 171 00:07:53,541 --> 00:07:56,143 elements they've never been exposed to. 172 00:07:56,209 --> 00:08:00,981 It was an extremely dangerous, dangerous journey. 173 00:08:01,048 --> 00:08:03,150 ♪ ♪ 174 00:08:03,216 --> 00:08:05,085 I'll push her. Now get to the back. 175 00:08:12,626 --> 00:08:13,827 This is what happened. 176 00:08:13,894 --> 00:08:16,964 This is the journey that our ancestors took, 177 00:08:17,030 --> 00:08:21,802 and it was horrifying and extremely difficult. 178 00:08:23,904 --> 00:08:25,606 It's nothing new. It's happened back then. 179 00:08:25,673 --> 00:08:26,907 It's happening now. 180 00:08:26,974 --> 00:08:28,375 We're all immigrants in this country, 181 00:08:28,441 --> 00:08:30,844 and this journey... it's so compelling, 182 00:08:30,911 --> 00:08:34,147 and it tells a story that just--it's gut-wrenching 183 00:08:34,214 --> 00:08:35,749 but it's truthful. 184 00:08:35,816 --> 00:08:40,153 And there's a lot of people in this journey 185 00:08:40,220 --> 00:08:43,557 that haven't been represented in other westerns. 186 00:08:45,258 --> 00:08:48,796 I don't think that there is a more misrepresented group 187 00:08:48,862 --> 00:08:51,765 in American cinema than the Native American. 188 00:08:51,832 --> 00:08:55,803 And what little I can do to correct 189 00:08:55,869 --> 00:08:58,939 that historical perspective in fiction, I'm gonna do. 190 00:08:59,006 --> 00:09:02,075 When historians write books about native people, 191 00:09:02,142 --> 00:09:05,613 a lot of times they put us in this box, right? 192 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:07,547 And they say, oh, they were hunter-gatherers, 193 00:09:07,615 --> 00:09:09,583 or they lived according to this way. 194 00:09:09,650 --> 00:09:11,351 It completely removes the idea 195 00:09:11,418 --> 00:09:12,753 that we were also individuals. 196 00:09:12,820 --> 00:09:14,487 We had our own individual tastes, 197 00:09:14,554 --> 00:09:16,089 our own individual attractions. 198 00:09:16,156 --> 00:09:18,525 And that's kind of the way the storytelling has gone 199 00:09:18,592 --> 00:09:20,460 in Hollywood for a long time. 200 00:09:20,527 --> 00:09:21,962 One of the most interesting things 201 00:09:22,029 --> 00:09:26,566 is the number one cause of death on these wagon trains 202 00:09:26,634 --> 00:09:28,335 was people falling off a wagon 203 00:09:28,401 --> 00:09:31,471 and getting run over. 204 00:09:31,538 --> 00:09:33,607 The number two cause of death 205 00:09:33,674 --> 00:09:36,209 was accidental discharge of firearms. 206 00:09:36,276 --> 00:09:38,846 Number three, it was drowning in river crossing. 207 00:09:38,912 --> 00:09:41,782 Number seven was Native Americans. 208 00:09:41,849 --> 00:09:44,151 I think in all the stuff that we learned growing up 209 00:09:44,217 --> 00:09:47,721 was the number one fear was Native Americans. 210 00:09:47,788 --> 00:09:51,258 And nine times out of ten, they were trying to help. 211 00:09:51,324 --> 00:09:54,027 I made the Native American community a promise 212 00:09:54,094 --> 00:09:56,563 that I was gonna tell their story truthfully. 213 00:09:56,630 --> 00:09:58,766 And so, every opportunity I get to do it, 214 00:09:58,832 --> 00:10:00,567 I try to fulfill that promise. 215 00:10:00,634 --> 00:10:02,970 ♪ ♪ 216 00:10:03,036 --> 00:10:08,842 It's rare to have the kind of story that we have been handed, 217 00:10:08,909 --> 00:10:11,411 to be honest with you. And I think for all of us, 218 00:10:11,478 --> 00:10:13,881 we feel the responsibility 219 00:10:13,947 --> 00:10:16,316 to do the best job that we can 220 00:10:16,383 --> 00:10:18,418 to bring these characters to life 221 00:10:18,485 --> 00:10:20,420 the way they were written. 222 00:10:23,824 --> 00:10:27,795 There's three classic struggles in these westerns. 223 00:10:27,861 --> 00:10:31,331 It's man against man, man against himself, 224 00:10:31,398 --> 00:10:34,034 man against the environment. 225 00:10:34,101 --> 00:10:37,805 In those struggles, we're all in this in spades. 226 00:10:37,871 --> 00:10:40,607 Let's go. 227 00:10:40,674 --> 00:10:44,812 ♪ ♪ 228 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:57,524 "1883" is the origin story of the Dutton family. 229 00:10:57,590 --> 00:10:59,893 The Duttons come from Tennessee originally. 230 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:02,262 There's a number of people who moved West 231 00:11:02,329 --> 00:11:04,297 out of desperation from the South. 232 00:11:04,364 --> 00:11:06,066 And America was unique in the fact 233 00:11:06,133 --> 00:11:08,435 that, wherever you were that you failed, 234 00:11:08,501 --> 00:11:11,371 you could simply move west to a new place 235 00:11:11,438 --> 00:11:15,475 and reinvent yourself and reinvent your life. 236 00:11:15,542 --> 00:11:16,810 The main characters are Tim McGraw, 237 00:11:16,877 --> 00:11:18,879 who plays obviously James Dutton. 238 00:11:18,946 --> 00:11:22,215 We have Faith Hill, who plays Margaret Dutton. 239 00:11:22,282 --> 00:11:24,017 We have Isabel May, who plays Elsa. 240 00:11:24,084 --> 00:11:25,719 Sam Elliott plays Shea. 241 00:11:25,786 --> 00:11:29,622 And then LaMonica Garrett plays Thomas. 242 00:11:29,689 --> 00:11:32,692 Elsa Dutton is a daughter of the patriarch 243 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,195 and matriarch of the Dutton family. 244 00:11:37,430 --> 00:11:40,700 At this time, we have two children, Elsa, 245 00:11:40,768 --> 00:11:43,236 and then we have John. 246 00:11:43,303 --> 00:11:47,240 I wanted to be John Dutton 'cause he was a boy, 247 00:11:47,307 --> 00:11:50,143 and he loves the outside. 248 00:11:50,210 --> 00:11:52,312 I love the outside too. 249 00:11:52,379 --> 00:11:55,916 Elsa, she's very naive. 250 00:11:55,983 --> 00:11:58,185 She's experienced very few things. 251 00:11:58,251 --> 00:12:00,220 They lived on a little farm. 252 00:12:00,287 --> 00:12:01,789 She'd seen the same people her entire life, 253 00:12:01,855 --> 00:12:05,158 and she was bored. She was desperate to get out. 254 00:12:05,225 --> 00:12:07,594 This child is spirited, 255 00:12:07,660 --> 00:12:10,297 and she's hard-headed and strong, 256 00:12:10,363 --> 00:12:11,899 but she's also very smart. 257 00:12:11,965 --> 00:12:14,067 Elsa is extremely independent 258 00:12:14,134 --> 00:12:15,903 at a time when a young woman 259 00:12:15,969 --> 00:12:18,505 is not allowed to be independent in such a way. 260 00:12:18,571 --> 00:12:20,740 There are certain things that we weren't allowed 261 00:12:20,808 --> 00:12:24,377 to say or voice. And as the journey continues, 262 00:12:24,444 --> 00:12:29,049 she sheds that civilized kind of costume 263 00:12:29,116 --> 00:12:31,618 and starts to flourish 264 00:12:31,684 --> 00:12:34,888 because she loves this world so much 265 00:12:34,955 --> 00:12:36,656 and what it has to offer. 266 00:12:36,723 --> 00:12:38,859 There's a fair chance you're too pretty for me. 267 00:12:38,926 --> 00:12:41,962 If you are, rather know now so I don't waste my time. 268 00:12:42,029 --> 00:12:43,530 Maybe you're too pretty for me. 269 00:12:45,398 --> 00:12:51,872 Right away, Ennis is just fully blown away by Elsa-- 270 00:12:51,939 --> 00:12:54,441 aside from her beauty, 271 00:12:54,507 --> 00:12:57,110 her wit, her brashness. 272 00:12:57,177 --> 00:12:58,545 And I think she's the first girl 273 00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:01,014 that ever makes Ennis speechless. 274 00:13:01,081 --> 00:13:03,350 Oh, my gosh, you're forward. 275 00:13:06,653 --> 00:13:08,655 Part of the storyline is, you know, 276 00:13:08,721 --> 00:13:10,958 they were escaping poverty and looking for a better life. 277 00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:12,225 And I think there's more to it 278 00:13:12,292 --> 00:13:13,861 than that in my mind for James Dutton. 279 00:13:13,927 --> 00:13:16,563 During the series, you find out that I was a captain 280 00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:18,665 in the Civil War for the Confederacy, 281 00:13:18,731 --> 00:13:20,733 put in a position that he didn't want to be in. 282 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,903 Tim's character was one of those who was drafted 283 00:13:22,970 --> 00:13:25,605 and conscripted into the army. 284 00:13:25,672 --> 00:13:31,444 And then endured, you know, years in a prison of war camp 285 00:13:31,511 --> 00:13:34,714 and then came home to a destroyed homeland 286 00:13:34,781 --> 00:13:36,749 and had lost faith in that society. 287 00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:38,685 He had a lot of pain and PTSD from that. 288 00:13:38,751 --> 00:13:40,453 I mean, you see it in the flashbacks, 289 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,822 and you see little glimpses of who James is, 290 00:13:42,890 --> 00:13:46,593 and you know that he's not as hard as he comes across. 291 00:13:46,659 --> 00:13:48,761 He really cares about people, but you also know that 292 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:52,132 his family's the number one concern that he has. 293 00:13:52,199 --> 00:13:53,901 He dreamed of a better place. 294 00:13:53,967 --> 00:13:56,303 He dreamed of a life where he could dictate 295 00:13:56,369 --> 00:13:58,405 his own fortune or failure. 296 00:13:58,471 --> 00:14:00,740 And his family trusted him. 297 00:14:00,807 --> 00:14:04,912 In my work as I become more invested in the people 298 00:14:04,978 --> 00:14:07,447 that we're trying to help as the journey goes on. 299 00:14:07,514 --> 00:14:08,815 You know, I'm always there for my family, 300 00:14:08,882 --> 00:14:11,184 and I'm always concerned about my family, 301 00:14:11,251 --> 00:14:14,354 but I think as the show goes on, 302 00:14:14,421 --> 00:14:16,056 you realize that James cares more about people 303 00:14:16,123 --> 00:14:17,690 than you think he does. 304 00:14:17,757 --> 00:14:20,360 It's better to double the latigo with him. 305 00:14:20,427 --> 00:14:23,196 Girl, I've forgotten more about horses 306 00:14:23,263 --> 00:14:24,898 than you'll ever know. 307 00:14:24,965 --> 00:14:28,268 Margaret, at the age of 17, 308 00:14:28,335 --> 00:14:29,769 was a nurse in the Civil War. 309 00:14:29,836 --> 00:14:32,472 That would change your life, basically. 310 00:14:32,539 --> 00:14:34,874 It would give you a perspective of life 311 00:14:34,942 --> 00:14:39,146 that a 17-year-old in this day and age could never imagine. 312 00:14:39,212 --> 00:14:41,448 I mean, she is really this sort of strong-willed, 313 00:14:41,514 --> 00:14:43,984 powerful woman of the West. 314 00:14:44,051 --> 00:14:45,618 She's raising a young boy 315 00:14:45,685 --> 00:14:48,221 and a young, you know, daughter who's becoming a woman. 316 00:14:48,288 --> 00:14:50,623 And obviously has to manage all of that while she sort of 317 00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:53,593 takes this family on this very treacherous, 318 00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:56,429 dangerous journey across America. 319 00:14:56,496 --> 00:14:59,166 Her heart, she becomes stronger and stronger 320 00:14:59,232 --> 00:15:02,269 and stronger as the journey goes on. 321 00:15:02,335 --> 00:15:04,737 The moment our first daughter was born, 322 00:15:04,804 --> 00:15:07,807 I'm a mom for the rest of my life, period. 323 00:15:07,874 --> 00:15:09,542 I mean, that is the first thing. 324 00:15:09,609 --> 00:15:11,111 That's the last thing. That's the middle thing. 325 00:15:11,178 --> 00:15:13,981 That's everything. My character is most concerned 326 00:15:14,047 --> 00:15:16,349 about what is this going to do to my family? 327 00:15:16,416 --> 00:15:18,551 Look after your brother. - I will. 328 00:15:18,618 --> 00:15:22,055 - "Yes, ma'am." - I said I will. 329 00:15:22,122 --> 00:15:23,390 I know what you said. 330 00:15:23,456 --> 00:15:25,725 What you didn't say is "Yes, ma'am." 331 00:15:25,792 --> 00:15:27,294 Women don't say that to each other. 332 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,330 - Oh, so you're a woman now? - Aren't I? 333 00:15:32,532 --> 00:15:35,402 Elsa has always viewed her mother 334 00:15:35,468 --> 00:15:39,139 as restraining her from, you know, 335 00:15:39,206 --> 00:15:42,976 being able to fully embrace all that life has to offer. 336 00:15:43,043 --> 00:15:46,779 And so, therefore, she kinda has it out for her mom. 337 00:15:46,846 --> 00:15:50,283 Margaret and Elsa have such a contentious relationship, 338 00:15:50,350 --> 00:15:53,753 as most teenage daughters and moms do. 339 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,789 Then she sees her mother in a different light 340 00:15:56,856 --> 00:16:01,628 because there's clearly a past that she's unaware of. 341 00:16:01,694 --> 00:16:03,863 Her mother can ride a horse beautifully. 342 00:16:03,930 --> 00:16:06,566 And so she kind of starts to understand 343 00:16:06,633 --> 00:16:08,968 my mother was something else in the past, 344 00:16:09,036 --> 00:16:10,737 and she gave that up, 345 00:16:10,803 --> 00:16:12,972 and maybe she gave that up for me. 346 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,975 That's the biggest part of James and Elsa's relationship, 347 00:16:16,043 --> 00:16:17,377 that he understands her, 348 00:16:17,444 --> 00:16:19,779 and he understands the passion that she has. 349 00:16:19,846 --> 00:16:22,515 And not only because it's a reflection of him, 350 00:16:22,582 --> 00:16:25,385 but it's a reflection of Margaret as well. 351 00:16:25,452 --> 00:16:27,854 She loves like Margaret. She fights like me. 352 00:16:34,594 --> 00:16:36,896 Having Sam Elliot come on board was just incredible 353 00:16:36,963 --> 00:16:39,132 because I think he embodies everything 354 00:16:39,199 --> 00:16:41,334 that the character of Shea should be. 355 00:16:41,401 --> 00:16:43,436 When I think of Westerns, I think him and Clint Eastwood. 356 00:16:43,503 --> 00:16:44,904 Like that's just what it is. 357 00:16:44,971 --> 00:16:46,506 Of course, my wife gets weak-kneed 358 00:16:46,573 --> 00:16:49,076 every time she's around him. I don't know a woman yet 359 00:16:49,142 --> 00:16:51,311 that hasn't been weak-kneed around Sam Elliott. 360 00:16:51,378 --> 00:16:53,213 And I told my mama that I was working with Sam Elliott. 361 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,315 She's like, "Oh my God, you're working with Sam Elliott." 362 00:16:57,750 --> 00:17:00,820 Shea is on a mission to get back to Oregon. 363 00:17:00,887 --> 00:17:03,190 Then at the same time, he has something in him 364 00:17:03,256 --> 00:17:07,026 that wants to help these other people get there as well. 365 00:17:07,094 --> 00:17:09,929 He knows that it's rife with hardship. 366 00:17:09,996 --> 00:17:11,831 There's no question about that. 367 00:17:11,898 --> 00:17:13,566 And a lot of them aren't gonna make it, 368 00:17:13,633 --> 00:17:15,202 but he's driven to get those 369 00:17:15,268 --> 00:17:19,406 that are tough enough to survive to Oregon. 370 00:17:22,409 --> 00:17:25,745 He is a troubled man for a lot of different reasons. 371 00:17:25,812 --> 00:17:27,980 First off, he was in the war. 372 00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:30,183 You know, he's suffers from that. 373 00:17:30,250 --> 00:17:31,551 He loses his family, 374 00:17:31,618 --> 00:17:33,686 and I think that's the biggest burden 375 00:17:33,753 --> 00:17:37,590 that he carries with him throughout the show. 376 00:17:37,657 --> 00:17:39,626 You know, Taylor talked to me about Shea rode 377 00:17:39,692 --> 00:17:41,060 with the Buffalo soldiers, 378 00:17:41,128 --> 00:17:44,164 which was an all-Black group of soldiers. 379 00:17:44,231 --> 00:17:49,236 Shea is very heavy-handed with everyone other than Thomas. 380 00:17:49,302 --> 00:17:52,539 And... I don't know. 381 00:17:52,605 --> 00:17:54,040 I get very emotional 382 00:17:54,107 --> 00:17:58,311 talking about the relationship of Shea and Thomas. 383 00:17:58,378 --> 00:18:00,647 They're close. Theye like brothers. 384 00:18:00,713 --> 00:18:03,049 Thomas's story is not unfamiliar 385 00:18:03,116 --> 00:18:04,784 to a lot of Black cowboys back then. 386 00:18:04,851 --> 00:18:06,386 He's a former slave. 387 00:18:06,453 --> 00:18:10,089 At 12 years old, he went inside the house, 388 00:18:10,157 --> 00:18:13,426 and the slave owner was passed away, natural causes. 389 00:18:13,493 --> 00:18:15,828 So Thomas just gets on a horse 390 00:18:15,895 --> 00:18:19,966 and just goes off and figures out life. 391 00:18:21,868 --> 00:18:24,171 All that happened in between then has helped shaped 392 00:18:24,237 --> 00:18:26,139 who he was, his integrity. 393 00:18:26,206 --> 00:18:29,209 And he met Shea during the war. He was a soldier. 394 00:18:29,276 --> 00:18:31,711 There were brothers-in-arms in the war. 395 00:18:31,778 --> 00:18:34,181 Began fighting together in the Civil War. 396 00:18:34,247 --> 00:18:37,116 So they've been fighting together for some 20 years. 397 00:18:37,184 --> 00:18:39,252 And that's how the bond with them, you know, 398 00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:41,954 became so strong. It's like an 1800s odd couple. 399 00:18:42,021 --> 00:18:44,324 What in the hell is a "toilette"? 400 00:18:44,391 --> 00:18:47,527 It's French for shitter. 401 00:18:47,594 --> 00:18:49,962 When did you learn French? 402 00:18:50,029 --> 00:18:52,399 Don't know French. It's just 403 00:18:52,465 --> 00:18:53,933 the French word for shitter. 404 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,836 Two men who grow old together trying to survive 405 00:18:56,903 --> 00:18:58,971 and protect each other. 406 00:18:59,038 --> 00:19:03,376 And so, relationships like that that have so much history, 407 00:19:03,443 --> 00:19:06,078 they don't have to say too much. 408 00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:10,717 Thomas, he's a kind person. He's an honest person. 409 00:19:10,783 --> 00:19:12,185 And he's a very loyal person. 410 00:19:12,252 --> 00:19:14,721 To me, he's the humanity of the show. 411 00:19:14,787 --> 00:19:16,823 He's the soul of the show. 412 00:19:16,889 --> 00:19:19,859 And he's the enforcer of the show. 413 00:19:19,926 --> 00:19:22,662 So it's not a show where it's, you know, "Yes, sir, no, sir." 414 00:19:22,729 --> 00:19:24,997 Yes--it's, if you look at him wrong 415 00:19:25,064 --> 00:19:27,200 or if you cross his moral code, 416 00:19:27,267 --> 00:19:28,501 he's gonna kill you. 417 00:19:28,568 --> 00:19:29,969 Get everything that was hers. 418 00:19:30,036 --> 00:19:33,773 Nothing was hers. It was his, and he's a thief. 419 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,808 Get everything that was hers. 420 00:19:35,875 --> 00:19:39,111 It was like it's a different Black cowboy take. 421 00:19:39,178 --> 00:19:40,447 And I'm so glad Taylor, 422 00:19:40,513 --> 00:19:44,016 you know, he chose me to bring that to life. 423 00:19:44,083 --> 00:19:48,388 Both Sam and LaMonica are character builders, 424 00:19:48,455 --> 00:19:51,624 and they really want to understand what's motivated 425 00:19:51,691 --> 00:19:54,327 the actions of the character in the screenplay. 426 00:19:54,394 --> 00:19:56,229 The show "Lonesome Dove," 427 00:19:56,296 --> 00:19:58,765 Danny Glover played the role of Deets. 428 00:19:58,831 --> 00:20:01,501 And Deets, the real-life Deets 429 00:20:01,568 --> 00:20:03,470 on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, 430 00:20:03,536 --> 00:20:05,305 was Bose Ikard. 431 00:20:05,372 --> 00:20:08,308 And I found out he was buried right there in Weatherford. 432 00:20:08,375 --> 00:20:12,579 So me and a few castmates, we went to the cemetery, 433 00:20:12,645 --> 00:20:15,482 and it just--it moved me. 434 00:20:15,548 --> 00:20:19,286 And it's, you know, 435 00:20:19,352 --> 00:20:21,754 it's a story I'm very proud to be a part, 436 00:20:21,821 --> 00:20:23,923 telling, you know, a story about Black cowboys. 437 00:20:23,990 --> 00:20:25,758 He goes back to the truth. 438 00:20:25,825 --> 00:20:29,161 The Westerns of post-Civil War 439 00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:32,765 that painted these matinee idol characters 440 00:20:32,832 --> 00:20:34,634 in these false roles 441 00:20:34,701 --> 00:20:38,004 and painted a really inaccurate picture of the American West. 442 00:20:38,070 --> 00:20:40,039 To tell the story truthfully and really show 443 00:20:40,106 --> 00:20:43,410 the American West or a version of it accurately, 444 00:20:43,476 --> 00:20:45,978 then you have to look at those relationships, 445 00:20:46,045 --> 00:20:49,248 and you have to re-examine a version 446 00:20:49,316 --> 00:20:51,684 that Hollywood portrayed that was wrong. 447 00:20:51,751 --> 00:20:55,021 ♪ ♪ 448 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,161 You know, I think my favorite moment 449 00:21:02,228 --> 00:21:05,432 is this incredible scene that we have Billy Bob Thornton 450 00:21:05,498 --> 00:21:08,701 walking down main street in the middle of the 1800s. 451 00:21:08,768 --> 00:21:10,737 And I look to the left, and I see Billy Bob Thornton. 452 00:21:10,803 --> 00:21:13,706 I look a little bit further, there's Tim McGraw, 453 00:21:13,773 --> 00:21:16,343 Sam Elliott, and LaMonica Garrett, 454 00:21:16,409 --> 00:21:17,944 and I thought this is a pretty good group 455 00:21:18,010 --> 00:21:19,512 to walk into a bar with. 456 00:21:19,579 --> 00:21:21,748 You know, you saw "Reservoir Dogs" growing up, 457 00:21:21,814 --> 00:21:23,950 you saw "Tombstone." They all had that walk 458 00:21:24,016 --> 00:21:26,453 where it was just these bad dudes going to find trouble. 459 00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:29,589 So I got to play out those childhood dreams 460 00:21:29,656 --> 00:21:31,924 of walking down that dusty road 461 00:21:31,991 --> 00:21:33,560 to a gunfight in the saloon. 462 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:36,228 And it just happened to be with all these icons next to me, 463 00:21:36,295 --> 00:21:39,031 but it was... yeah, it was amazing. 464 00:21:39,098 --> 00:21:42,034 Billy Bob Thornton, he's this easy-going guy. 465 00:21:42,101 --> 00:21:43,035 He's kinda unassuming. 466 00:21:43,102 --> 00:21:45,638 We get inside the saloon, 467 00:21:45,705 --> 00:21:50,176 and he just turns it on to this stone-cold killer and sheriff. 468 00:21:50,242 --> 00:21:52,211 Order this business on the Trinity. 469 00:21:52,278 --> 00:21:54,681 So I'm supposed to stop and have a line with Sam 470 00:21:54,747 --> 00:21:56,649 right before the end of the scene. 471 00:21:56,716 --> 00:22:00,019 And I got so caught up into watching Billy Bob perform, 472 00:22:00,086 --> 00:22:02,422 I just walked right past Sam, just blew right by 473 00:22:02,489 --> 00:22:04,524 and didn't say my line, walked out the door. 474 00:22:04,591 --> 00:22:07,394 And I looked at Sam and goes, "Sam, I'm sorry. 475 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:10,430 I know I'm supposed to give a line, and I forgot." 476 00:22:10,497 --> 00:22:12,231 And he goes, "I noticed." 477 00:22:12,298 --> 00:22:13,733 He's a powerful actor, Billy Bob, 478 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,535 and when he comes in at work, 479 00:22:15,602 --> 00:22:18,538 it's hard to take your eye off of him. 480 00:22:18,605 --> 00:22:21,140 Another incredible moment is this Civil War sequence 481 00:22:21,207 --> 00:22:22,409 that we have. 482 00:22:22,475 --> 00:22:24,176 And out of nowhere, 483 00:22:24,243 --> 00:22:26,178 Tom Hanks just shows up-- 484 00:22:26,245 --> 00:22:29,215 full beard, in character, and a really powerful scene 485 00:22:29,281 --> 00:22:31,518 between him and Tim McGraw. 486 00:22:31,584 --> 00:22:33,420 It starts with Antietam, 487 00:22:33,486 --> 00:22:36,055 and it starts with an original picture 488 00:22:36,122 --> 00:22:37,724 from the battleground scene 489 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:41,193 and morphs out of the original picture into a live shot. 490 00:22:41,260 --> 00:22:42,762 And everybody's dead. 491 00:22:42,829 --> 00:22:45,264 His whole company has been wiped out. 492 00:22:46,833 --> 00:22:49,301 Captain. 493 00:22:49,368 --> 00:22:52,739 Tom and I have been friends for such a long time, 494 00:22:52,805 --> 00:22:55,274 but no matter how good a friend you are, 495 00:22:55,341 --> 00:22:58,010 when you're sitting there in a scene that's that emotional, 496 00:22:58,077 --> 00:22:59,712 and then you turn, 497 00:22:59,779 --> 00:23:03,550 and you see Tom Hanks walk up in a Union uniform, 498 00:23:03,616 --> 00:23:06,152 look at you, and say, "Captain," 499 00:23:06,218 --> 00:23:07,720 I just fell apart. 500 00:23:07,787 --> 00:23:09,589 And then he sat beside me as I'm crying, 501 00:23:09,656 --> 00:23:11,123 and he puts his hand on my shoulder. 502 00:23:11,190 --> 00:23:12,559 Yeah, that's a great scene. 503 00:23:12,625 --> 00:23:15,962 And of course, Tom, you know, Tom was average. 504 00:23:17,597 --> 00:23:19,832 When actors like this are willing to come play 505 00:23:19,899 --> 00:23:21,734 for a day or two, of course now you're working 506 00:23:21,801 --> 00:23:24,537 with some of the greatest actors who've ever worked. 507 00:23:24,604 --> 00:23:26,138 It's just a privilege. 508 00:23:29,776 --> 00:23:31,444 I've done a lot of shows, 509 00:23:31,511 --> 00:23:33,012 and I've never seen anything this big. 510 00:23:33,079 --> 00:23:36,015 We did scenes in Fort Worth with hundreds of extras, 511 00:23:36,082 --> 00:23:38,585 businessmen going to work in the 1800s, 512 00:23:38,651 --> 00:23:40,186 two bar guys having fight. 513 00:23:40,252 --> 00:23:42,889 We have huge scenes out in sort of wild open with bandits. 514 00:23:42,955 --> 00:23:44,524 We have everything that you can imagine. 515 00:23:44,591 --> 00:23:46,493 We have 30-something wagons, 516 00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:48,861 and it takes two to four horses to pull them. 517 00:23:48,928 --> 00:23:51,831 And I'm running from snow and rain and schedule 518 00:23:51,898 --> 00:23:53,265 and everything else. 519 00:23:53,332 --> 00:23:55,034 It's epic. There's no question about it. 520 00:23:55,101 --> 00:23:57,003 I'm not gonna compare it to anything 521 00:23:57,069 --> 00:23:59,138 because I've never done anything like this. 522 00:23:59,205 --> 00:24:02,742 ♪ ♪ 523 00:24:02,809 --> 00:24:05,211 "Yellowstone," at any given time, 524 00:24:05,277 --> 00:24:08,748 we might have 40 horses on set. On this, at any given time, 525 00:24:08,815 --> 00:24:11,350 we have 180, and we have a cattle herd. 526 00:24:11,417 --> 00:24:16,856 Ironically, we are having to actually have a trail drive 527 00:24:16,923 --> 00:24:20,159 in order to film a trail drive. And it's a challenge. 528 00:24:20,226 --> 00:24:22,595 We have goats. We have chickens. 529 00:24:22,662 --> 00:24:27,366 We have 60 wranglers, cowboys just working the horses 530 00:24:27,433 --> 00:24:29,068 to make sure everyone is safe. 531 00:24:29,135 --> 00:24:32,839 We have 80 trucks and drivers to move the whole company. 532 00:24:32,905 --> 00:24:34,774 I mean, this is bigger than a Beyoncé tour. 533 00:24:34,841 --> 00:24:37,977 This is "Game of Thrones" on the Prairie. 534 00:24:38,044 --> 00:24:41,614 We began the shooting in Texas in August. 535 00:24:41,681 --> 00:24:44,984 So it was about 104, 103 degrees. 536 00:24:45,051 --> 00:24:48,921 There was sweat in places I didn't know sweat can be. 537 00:24:48,988 --> 00:24:50,322 I got wool on, 538 00:24:50,389 --> 00:24:53,359 and wool is not Texas-friendly in the summertime. 539 00:24:53,425 --> 00:24:56,228 On top of the bandolier, the belt, the guns, 540 00:24:56,295 --> 00:24:57,930 like, ten-pound leather chaps, 541 00:24:57,997 --> 00:25:00,567 like, everything is weighed down. 542 00:25:00,633 --> 00:25:03,335 And my horse, he looks like a utility camp. 543 00:25:03,402 --> 00:25:06,138 First, we were in 98-degree sweating, hot weather. 544 00:25:06,205 --> 00:25:08,741 And three weeks later, we were in ten-degree weather. 545 00:25:08,808 --> 00:25:10,977 You know, we were out there last week in Montana 546 00:25:11,043 --> 00:25:13,279 with snowcap mountains in the middle of a field. 547 00:25:13,345 --> 00:25:15,815 Me, Sam, and Tim are on top of our horses on the mountain. 548 00:25:15,882 --> 00:25:18,117 And there was like a blizzard that came through, 549 00:25:18,184 --> 00:25:19,518 like you couldn't see your hand in front of you. 550 00:25:19,586 --> 00:25:21,153 The wind was blowing. 551 00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,890 There've been times where I was so cold out here, 552 00:25:23,956 --> 00:25:26,525 I didn't think I could tough it out too long. 553 00:25:26,593 --> 00:25:28,094 And the thing that brought me out of it 554 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,863 and continues to bring me out of it is just looking around 555 00:25:30,930 --> 00:25:33,132 and seeing these mountain ranges everywhere, 556 00:25:33,199 --> 00:25:34,734 and you think, my God, 557 00:25:34,801 --> 00:25:37,704 how lucky we are to be here number one, but number two, 558 00:25:37,770 --> 00:25:40,840 how lucky we are to be here making a film. 559 00:25:40,907 --> 00:25:43,676 You never really know what you're gonna get 560 00:25:43,743 --> 00:25:45,612 from Mother Earth that day. 561 00:25:45,678 --> 00:25:47,614 And that adds to the grand scheme 562 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,181 and the look of the show, 563 00:25:49,248 --> 00:25:52,518 but it also adds to the thrill as an actor 564 00:25:52,585 --> 00:25:56,255 to get to experience such spontaneity 565 00:25:56,322 --> 00:25:58,324 on set every single day. 566 00:25:58,390 --> 00:26:01,060 The methodology of Taylor is to make everything 567 00:26:01,127 --> 00:26:05,765 look like a ten-hour movie. It's so big and so beautiful, 568 00:26:05,832 --> 00:26:08,567 but there's a word that is so important to him, 569 00:26:08,635 --> 00:26:10,169 and that is "authenticity." 570 00:26:10,236 --> 00:26:12,805 I'm interested in the truth, even though it's fiction-- 571 00:26:12,872 --> 00:26:15,307 as accurately retelling an event 572 00:26:15,374 --> 00:26:17,276 or a world as I possibly can. 573 00:26:17,343 --> 00:26:19,445 Everything is historically accurate. 574 00:26:19,511 --> 00:26:21,180 Every building, every structure, 575 00:26:21,247 --> 00:26:23,082 every wagon, everything. 576 00:26:23,149 --> 00:26:25,317 We strive to do everything period correct. 577 00:26:25,384 --> 00:26:28,554 We spent a lot of time in research together, 578 00:26:28,621 --> 00:26:29,822 all the information we can. 579 00:26:29,889 --> 00:26:33,125 So when the camera's tight on a cast member, 580 00:26:33,192 --> 00:26:35,527 that he has the right equipment on his horse 581 00:26:35,594 --> 00:26:37,096 for the time period. 582 00:26:37,163 --> 00:26:41,300 I went to school for film and watched countless movies, 583 00:26:41,367 --> 00:26:43,369 countless westerns where everything was wrong. 584 00:26:43,435 --> 00:26:46,505 And you know, just me being an indigenous person, 585 00:26:46,572 --> 00:26:50,142 I would feel kind of ticked off if I saw, 586 00:26:50,209 --> 00:26:52,411 you know, that we weren't accurately portrayed. 587 00:26:52,478 --> 00:26:54,681 So when it comes to finding the props, 588 00:26:54,747 --> 00:26:58,117 I am trying to do my absolute best on sourcing them from, 589 00:26:58,184 --> 00:27:01,353 you know, the proper places and making sure that they are, 590 00:27:01,420 --> 00:27:03,856 in fact, you know, if it's a Lakota bow case 591 00:27:03,923 --> 00:27:06,125 that it's an actual Lakota bow case. 592 00:27:06,192 --> 00:27:09,261 The language that the Native Americans speak 593 00:27:09,328 --> 00:27:10,763 has to be authentic. 594 00:27:10,830 --> 00:27:14,000 The beads that they wear have to be authentic. 595 00:27:14,066 --> 00:27:17,804 The wagons, the horse breeds, the cattle breeds. 596 00:27:17,870 --> 00:27:22,441 And I think these days audiences respect it, 597 00:27:22,508 --> 00:27:25,277 actors feel it. 598 00:27:25,344 --> 00:27:29,048 After you've done all your work on the text and character, 599 00:27:29,115 --> 00:27:31,383 you finally get to put on the clothes. 600 00:27:31,450 --> 00:27:35,121 And I think that's kind of your superhero cape in a way. 601 00:27:35,187 --> 00:27:37,656 If you look at the costumes, we made them all. 602 00:27:37,724 --> 00:27:39,291 We didn't call some costume house 603 00:27:39,358 --> 00:27:40,727 and get a bunch of "Little House on the Prairie" stuff. 604 00:27:40,793 --> 00:27:43,830 Every dress, every suit, every jacket, 605 00:27:43,896 --> 00:27:47,599 everything was custom-made by Janie and her team. 606 00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:50,169 I am very familiar with this period 607 00:27:50,236 --> 00:27:53,405 because I designed "Deadwood," the series, 608 00:27:53,472 --> 00:27:55,908 which was living in 1876. 609 00:27:55,975 --> 00:27:59,746 And then, I designed the movie, which was in 1886, 610 00:27:59,812 --> 00:28:02,148 but no two shows are alike. 611 00:28:02,214 --> 00:28:05,117 "1883" is the West. 612 00:28:05,184 --> 00:28:06,986 And during this time, there were 613 00:28:07,053 --> 00:28:09,321 a lot of cowboys in Texas. 614 00:28:09,388 --> 00:28:10,589 And that was one of the aspects 615 00:28:10,656 --> 00:28:13,559 that I love doing the research for. 616 00:28:13,625 --> 00:28:16,996 When she put this coat on me the first time, I squealed. 617 00:28:17,063 --> 00:28:18,898 Yeah, I'm in love with my costume. 618 00:28:18,965 --> 00:28:20,232 I love the costumes, 619 00:28:20,299 --> 00:28:22,935 and the attention to detail is microscopic. 620 00:28:23,002 --> 00:28:25,137 You see these people, and then suddenly, 621 00:28:25,204 --> 00:28:29,308 wow, we're really here. It's like a time machine. 622 00:28:29,375 --> 00:28:32,478 This was a great opportunity to do a period piece. 623 00:28:32,544 --> 00:28:34,847 And period makeup is a lot of fun. 624 00:28:34,914 --> 00:28:36,682 You look at a lot of the old Westerns, 625 00:28:36,749 --> 00:28:37,917 and you see makeup on them. 626 00:28:37,984 --> 00:28:39,618 Taylor definitely wanted this raw. 627 00:28:39,685 --> 00:28:43,055 He said, "I want dirty sweaty." 628 00:28:43,122 --> 00:28:45,992 There is some makeup that is being applied to them. 629 00:28:46,058 --> 00:28:47,126 The trick with it is to make it look 630 00:28:47,193 --> 00:28:49,095 like they're not wearing any makeup. 631 00:28:49,161 --> 00:28:51,597 So the start of the show, they're on a train. 632 00:28:51,663 --> 00:28:53,833 And that's the only time that they're kind of have a, 633 00:28:53,900 --> 00:28:55,534 what I'd call a beauty look about them. 634 00:28:55,601 --> 00:28:58,604 But once they start getting out onto the wagon train, 635 00:28:58,670 --> 00:29:01,207 we're gonna try to keep them dirty looking. 636 00:29:01,273 --> 00:29:03,409 These departments, from our production designer 637 00:29:03,475 --> 00:29:06,813 to our prop master, everybody, they had to come together 638 00:29:06,879 --> 00:29:09,782 and build a world in a very short period of time. 639 00:29:09,849 --> 00:29:12,684 Nothing existed. We created it all. 640 00:29:12,751 --> 00:29:15,354 We wanted to avoid the clichés 641 00:29:15,421 --> 00:29:18,690 and do things that are a little bit unusual 642 00:29:18,757 --> 00:29:22,061 that you haven't seen in so many westerns. 643 00:29:22,128 --> 00:29:23,562 Cary White, our production designer, 644 00:29:23,629 --> 00:29:24,931 this is his wheelhouse. 645 00:29:24,997 --> 00:29:28,534 And he was able to come up with some really, 646 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,870 really smart ideas. 647 00:29:30,937 --> 00:29:36,475 The building right next to us was built in 1939, 1940. 648 00:29:36,542 --> 00:29:39,846 We constructed a complete façade around it 649 00:29:39,912 --> 00:29:44,450 and turned it into a real building of 1883. 650 00:29:44,516 --> 00:29:48,654 But also put Styrofoam cornices on a lot of these buildings 651 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,789 up on the top of them 652 00:29:50,857 --> 00:29:53,692 that gives them a much more Victorian look. 653 00:29:53,759 --> 00:29:55,127 And the whole thing tied together 654 00:29:55,194 --> 00:29:58,230 when we put the dirt in. It really just came alive. 655 00:29:58,297 --> 00:30:00,532 They brought in layers and layers and layers of dirt. 656 00:30:00,599 --> 00:30:04,236 And it's all compacted and then top dressed appropriately 657 00:30:04,303 --> 00:30:06,839 to make it all safe for the animals that we have here. 658 00:30:06,906 --> 00:30:10,176 I think we went a solid two months prep 659 00:30:10,242 --> 00:30:13,145 to shoot for four days on house half-acre. 660 00:30:13,212 --> 00:30:14,546 I mean, the stuff that they've done 661 00:30:14,613 --> 00:30:16,482 is just so incredibly epic. 662 00:30:16,548 --> 00:30:20,086 I like to get on set early and walk around some of these sets 663 00:30:20,152 --> 00:30:22,588 just to put yourself in that world. 664 00:30:22,654 --> 00:30:25,858 So it makes it easy to find the emotion in the scene. 665 00:30:25,925 --> 00:30:27,759 This show would not be possible 666 00:30:27,826 --> 00:30:29,962 without everyone that you don't see. 667 00:30:30,029 --> 00:30:32,431 It is not a walk in the park. 668 00:30:32,498 --> 00:30:37,836 It is hard work, and it's... 669 00:30:37,904 --> 00:30:39,338 fucking awesome. 670 00:30:39,405 --> 00:30:40,940 Can I say that? 671 00:30:41,007 --> 00:30:42,441 - Sure can. - I just did. 672 00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:53,819 I don't rehearse with my actors. 673 00:30:53,886 --> 00:30:57,623 There's no way for me to inform them what this way of life is. 674 00:30:57,689 --> 00:30:59,058 You just have to do it. 675 00:30:59,125 --> 00:31:01,727 I just take them out and put them to work. 676 00:31:01,793 --> 00:31:03,129 The purpose of cowboy camp 677 00:31:03,195 --> 00:31:05,864 is to get actors comfortable enough on the horses 678 00:31:05,932 --> 00:31:07,967 that they weren't nervous when they were riding. 679 00:31:09,501 --> 00:31:11,770 The better I can make them as a rider, 680 00:31:11,837 --> 00:31:14,373 the more they understand the thing they're acting out, 681 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,075 the better the performances, 682 00:31:16,142 --> 00:31:19,045 the more authentic the scenes look, then it looks real. 683 00:31:19,111 --> 00:31:21,713 Cowboy camp is the actors get here about 8:00, 684 00:31:21,780 --> 00:31:23,182 and then we start just exposing them 685 00:31:23,249 --> 00:31:26,685 to real-life situations in 1883. 686 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:30,422 Cowboy camp was probably 687 00:31:30,489 --> 00:31:31,523 the most helpful thing in the world. 688 00:31:31,590 --> 00:31:33,259 Good morning, guys. - Morning. 689 00:31:33,325 --> 00:31:34,760 How's everybody doing? 690 00:31:34,826 --> 00:31:36,795 And we all got to spend a couple of weeks together, 691 00:31:36,862 --> 00:31:39,932 just riding horses and roping and herding cattle. 692 00:31:39,999 --> 00:31:42,001 And here comes Taylor walking up like 693 00:31:42,068 --> 00:31:43,802 he's the first one out there. 694 00:31:43,869 --> 00:31:45,904 And he'll never ask you to do anything 695 00:31:45,972 --> 00:31:49,508 that he doesn't do as far as being on a horse. 696 00:31:50,876 --> 00:31:53,212 We take them down and have them work cattle. 697 00:31:53,279 --> 00:31:55,714 We have them part them out and sort them. 698 00:31:55,781 --> 00:31:58,985 Roping, horseback riding, 699 00:31:59,051 --> 00:32:01,320 herding cows. 700 00:32:01,387 --> 00:32:04,023 We take them down to the pond and have them swim horses 701 00:32:04,090 --> 00:32:06,025 so we can prepare them for the river crossings 702 00:32:06,092 --> 00:32:07,759 that are coming up in the script. 703 00:32:07,826 --> 00:32:09,728 Most of us learned how to drive wagons, 704 00:32:09,795 --> 00:32:11,597 which is dangerous, by the way. 705 00:32:13,065 --> 00:32:16,202 Climbing up rocks, going through lakes and rivers, 706 00:32:16,268 --> 00:32:19,471 and steering cattle. 707 00:32:19,538 --> 00:32:21,373 I'm learning how to ride a horse, 708 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,044 and I'm swinging the rope around. 709 00:32:26,712 --> 00:32:30,616 We're shooting guns back to riding horses, lassoing. 710 00:32:31,450 --> 00:32:34,853 We just played little games where you put, for example, 711 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:36,322 an egg on a spoon 712 00:32:36,388 --> 00:32:38,824 and have to ride straight back and forth. 713 00:32:38,890 --> 00:32:41,460 And whoever does it the fastest wins. 714 00:32:41,527 --> 00:32:43,029 So it was really fun. 715 00:32:43,095 --> 00:32:44,563 You had to carry the egg on a spoon, 716 00:32:44,630 --> 00:32:46,898 but I dropped it every time. 717 00:32:46,965 --> 00:32:48,934 So some people were getting a little crafty, 718 00:32:49,001 --> 00:32:50,702 and when they get further away from us, 719 00:32:50,769 --> 00:32:53,072 their thumb would ease over the eggs, 720 00:32:53,139 --> 00:32:56,208 so you really can't see what's going on and like, 721 00:32:56,275 --> 00:32:58,644 wait a minute, like you got glue on that or something? 722 00:32:58,710 --> 00:33:00,679 Like, you know, what's going on? 723 00:33:00,746 --> 00:33:02,848 I'd heard Taylor cheated when he does it. 724 00:33:02,914 --> 00:33:04,916 That he puts his thumb on the egg. 725 00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:07,086 I'm not saying that that's true. 726 00:33:07,153 --> 00:33:09,621 I'm just saying that I've heard that Taylor cheated. 727 00:33:09,688 --> 00:33:13,359 There's no proof of cheating, 728 00:33:13,425 --> 00:33:14,893 but it is suspected. 729 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:16,828 You know, everyone was very competitive, 730 00:33:16,895 --> 00:33:21,400 but in a supportive way to somewhat degree. 731 00:33:26,205 --> 00:33:28,640 Everything that we have done, we've learned how to do it 732 00:33:28,707 --> 00:33:31,243 properly by the best of the best. 733 00:33:31,310 --> 00:33:33,712 For all the talent, they're trying to get them 734 00:33:33,779 --> 00:33:36,482 comfortable with driving and riding. 735 00:33:36,548 --> 00:33:37,949 So then, when they get on camera, 736 00:33:38,016 --> 00:33:40,152 it becomes second nature to them. 737 00:33:40,219 --> 00:33:43,322 Everyone will remember their lines and not panic, 738 00:33:43,389 --> 00:33:45,124 so they look the part. 739 00:33:45,191 --> 00:33:46,658 They feel the part. 740 00:33:46,725 --> 00:33:49,695 They can be the cowboy. 741 00:33:49,761 --> 00:33:51,963 A lot of what we're doing now is day in and day out, 742 00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:53,899 so this becomes second nature. 743 00:33:53,965 --> 00:33:56,468 So when we're going through the script, 744 00:33:56,535 --> 00:33:57,869 that's what you could focus on 745 00:33:57,936 --> 00:34:00,306 and not have to worry about where my hands are, 746 00:34:00,372 --> 00:34:01,640 and where's the gun? 747 00:34:01,707 --> 00:34:03,509 You must know how to do it the right way. 748 00:34:03,575 --> 00:34:06,478 Otherwise, it's just kind of watered down, 749 00:34:06,545 --> 00:34:08,514 and it just feels wrong. 750 00:34:10,082 --> 00:34:11,683 Cowboy camp gets you ready for the show. 751 00:34:11,750 --> 00:34:13,685 You're not showing up 752 00:34:13,752 --> 00:34:14,786 and putting some dirt and makeup on. 753 00:34:14,853 --> 00:34:16,255 Before you ever do that, 754 00:34:16,322 --> 00:34:19,024 you're falling off of a horse. Your back is hurting. 755 00:34:20,392 --> 00:34:22,461 As a cowboy in 1883, 756 00:34:22,528 --> 00:34:23,995 you didn't have nice cushiony saddles. 757 00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:27,266 You know, you didn't have all the fancy modern equipment 758 00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:28,734 that you have today. 759 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,137 Oh, it's bare-bones. It's bare knuckles. 760 00:34:31,203 --> 00:34:34,940 This is my first time on an 1880s saddle. 761 00:34:35,006 --> 00:34:37,276 A hundred years ago, if you went across country 762 00:34:37,343 --> 00:34:39,311 from New York to California, 763 00:34:39,378 --> 00:34:40,846 this is the way you went. 764 00:34:40,912 --> 00:34:43,115 This is rougher than heck. 765 00:34:43,182 --> 00:34:45,517 I'll tell you it's a lot harder than it looks. 766 00:34:45,584 --> 00:34:48,320 I mean, you see those wagon drivers kind of leaning over. 767 00:34:48,387 --> 00:34:51,623 I mean, oh man, it did a number on your back. 768 00:34:53,058 --> 00:34:55,461 There's an experience of time. 769 00:34:55,527 --> 00:34:56,795 You know, you realize old people 770 00:34:56,862 --> 00:34:59,131 traveled like this 5,000 miles, 771 00:34:59,198 --> 00:35:02,968 and you understand what a journey like this means. 772 00:35:03,034 --> 00:35:05,971 This training creates an authentic cowboy 773 00:35:06,037 --> 00:35:08,540 because you're--you know, the blisters are real. 774 00:35:08,607 --> 00:35:10,108 The cuts are real. 775 00:35:10,176 --> 00:35:12,944 You know, I'm running into barbed wire fences on my horse. 776 00:35:14,446 --> 00:35:17,716 I've been to like Hell Week and camps and football, 777 00:35:17,783 --> 00:35:19,585 and this is a whole different beast. 778 00:35:19,651 --> 00:35:20,886 When they get off at night, 779 00:35:20,952 --> 00:35:22,488 they feel like their legs are melted. 780 00:35:22,554 --> 00:35:24,122 They got cramps in their thighs. 781 00:35:24,190 --> 00:35:26,124 They got cramps in their calves. 782 00:35:26,192 --> 00:35:28,760 They go, "My butt's sore." Yeah, probably is. 783 00:35:28,827 --> 00:35:30,896 You ain't never sat on a saddle that long. 784 00:35:30,962 --> 00:35:32,831 They're grinding us into the ground. 785 00:35:32,898 --> 00:35:34,666 I mean, by the time we finished riding horses, 786 00:35:34,733 --> 00:35:36,735 I'm like completely soaked through. 787 00:35:36,802 --> 00:35:38,404 Like, it's kinda gross. 788 00:35:38,470 --> 00:35:41,973 I feel bad for everyone that has to smell us. 789 00:35:45,477 --> 00:35:48,380 Cowboy camp was this incredible bonding experience 790 00:35:48,447 --> 00:35:49,648 between all of the talent. 791 00:35:49,715 --> 00:35:50,982 Everybody gets to come out there. 792 00:35:51,049 --> 00:35:52,484 They don't know each other. 793 00:35:52,551 --> 00:35:55,221 And they start to sort of work together and understand 794 00:35:55,287 --> 00:35:56,555 what their characters are gonna be, 795 00:35:56,622 --> 00:35:57,856 where are they going, 796 00:35:57,923 --> 00:36:01,059 and how hard this is gonna really be. 797 00:36:01,126 --> 00:36:04,330 Cowboy camp is extremely important for teamwork. 798 00:36:04,396 --> 00:36:06,732 We're all trying to build chemistry as actors. 799 00:36:06,798 --> 00:36:09,301 And there's nothing more team-oriented 800 00:36:09,368 --> 00:36:12,304 than getting 28 cattle, I mean, over hills 801 00:36:12,371 --> 00:36:15,073 and through alleyways for miles and miles. 802 00:36:15,140 --> 00:36:17,776 So if you're not communicating to your teammates, 803 00:36:17,843 --> 00:36:20,145 then it's not gonna work. 804 00:36:20,212 --> 00:36:22,314 The only way to survive at that time 805 00:36:22,381 --> 00:36:24,149 was to be collaborative, 806 00:36:24,216 --> 00:36:26,685 and people would go out of their way to help one another 807 00:36:26,752 --> 00:36:28,787 without expecting anything. 808 00:36:28,854 --> 00:36:30,389 Well, it's the only way that you can survive 809 00:36:30,456 --> 00:36:31,890 in an environment like that. 810 00:36:31,957 --> 00:36:34,092 You become a group, you know, 'cause we will be 811 00:36:34,159 --> 00:36:37,263 on this journey for half a year 812 00:36:37,329 --> 00:36:39,064 and go through hell. 813 00:36:44,703 --> 00:36:45,904 We're all doing this together. 814 00:36:45,971 --> 00:36:47,606 So we're all dedicated to it. 815 00:36:47,673 --> 00:36:51,009 And that's been extraordinary to watch. 816 00:36:51,076 --> 00:36:52,811 It's about to be a family. 817 00:36:52,878 --> 00:36:54,746 It's about to be all of us against the world. 818 00:36:54,813 --> 00:36:56,948 So against nature, literally. 819 00:36:57,015 --> 00:36:58,384 So we all have to trust each other. 820 00:36:58,450 --> 00:37:00,752 We have to, you know, hold each other accountable 821 00:37:00,819 --> 00:37:02,220 and just being out here period, 822 00:37:02,288 --> 00:37:04,089 being on the ranch together and bonding, 823 00:37:04,155 --> 00:37:07,293 and like--it's great for what we're about to encounter. 824 00:37:17,235 --> 00:37:19,004 From a production standpoint, 825 00:37:19,070 --> 00:37:22,308 I've never seen so many different departments 826 00:37:22,374 --> 00:37:25,611 have to coordinate so many different details. 827 00:37:25,677 --> 00:37:27,713 I have never worked on a company this big in my life. 828 00:37:27,779 --> 00:37:29,915 Then you got cattle that, you know, 829 00:37:29,981 --> 00:37:31,483 one day they might be like, 830 00:37:31,550 --> 00:37:33,184 we don't feel like doing what you tell us to do today. 831 00:37:33,251 --> 00:37:35,587 And they're running in 50 different directions. 832 00:37:35,654 --> 00:37:37,623 I think it's borderline miraculous 833 00:37:37,689 --> 00:37:39,891 that the show has come together 834 00:37:39,958 --> 00:37:44,396 because it's taken a lot of people and a lot of work. 835 00:37:44,463 --> 00:37:46,732 And you know, it's just impressive what this team 836 00:37:46,798 --> 00:37:47,966 has been able to do. 837 00:37:48,033 --> 00:37:50,068 This is unique and very special. 838 00:37:50,135 --> 00:37:52,704 And the production scale is huge. 839 00:37:52,771 --> 00:37:56,542 For me, I don't feel it because it still feels so personal. 840 00:37:56,608 --> 00:37:58,544 Taylor creates such an incredible world 841 00:37:58,610 --> 00:38:01,880 with his writing that it's so easy to get lost in it. 842 00:38:06,785 --> 00:38:09,455 You got it. You got him, son. 843 00:38:09,521 --> 00:38:13,024 My most favorite scene is 844 00:38:13,091 --> 00:38:15,060 a scene with Tim. 845 00:38:15,126 --> 00:38:17,529 I had to hunt with my dad, 846 00:38:17,596 --> 00:38:21,933 and it was blood from the deer. 847 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,136 It's your first kill, so I got to blood you. 848 00:38:25,203 --> 00:38:28,106 To shoot a deer and do the whole blooding situation 849 00:38:28,173 --> 00:38:31,543 and explain to him why we did it and what it means 850 00:38:31,610 --> 00:38:33,412 and how we have to thank the animal 851 00:38:33,479 --> 00:38:35,914 for giving us sustenance in life... 852 00:38:35,981 --> 00:38:40,419 To be able to do that was pretty special for me. 853 00:38:40,486 --> 00:38:44,356 It felt cool. 854 00:38:44,423 --> 00:38:46,558 It felt really cool. 855 00:38:46,625 --> 00:38:48,494 And you can see the similarities 856 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:49,761 with "Yellowstone." 857 00:38:49,828 --> 00:38:51,363 There are certainly similarities 858 00:38:51,430 --> 00:38:53,298 to John Dutton and James, 859 00:38:53,365 --> 00:38:55,801 and you can see the tradition that started it. 860 00:38:55,867 --> 00:38:57,769 I think absolutely fans will find Easter eggs through 861 00:38:57,836 --> 00:38:59,337 this whole thing, and I'm excited. 862 00:38:59,405 --> 00:39:00,839 And I think it'll be a fun journey for people 863 00:39:00,906 --> 00:39:02,140 to pick them out. 864 00:39:02,207 --> 00:39:04,643 Well, I would ask you, was there ever a time 865 00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:08,447 that you went out on Easter and found only one Easter egg? 866 00:39:10,081 --> 00:39:12,083 Look, I think the journey we're about to go on 867 00:39:12,150 --> 00:39:14,386 in the rest of the episodes is pretty magical, right? 868 00:39:14,453 --> 00:39:15,921 We've just gotten started. 869 00:39:15,987 --> 00:39:18,390 I'm thrilled for people to see Elsa's journey 870 00:39:18,457 --> 00:39:21,092 because it's quite a dramatic one. 871 00:39:21,159 --> 00:39:24,563 It's not what you would expect whatsoever. 872 00:39:24,630 --> 00:39:26,732 I think all of us are pushed 873 00:39:26,798 --> 00:39:31,437 to what we think will be our limit. 874 00:39:31,503 --> 00:39:35,140 We're just on the trail, 875 00:39:35,206 --> 00:39:37,342 and we'll see who survives. 876 00:39:37,409 --> 00:39:42,981 Every episode brings a new level of excitement and danger, 877 00:39:43,048 --> 00:39:44,616 and unpredictability. 878 00:39:44,683 --> 00:39:47,519 So just find a huge box of tissues, 879 00:39:47,586 --> 00:39:48,854 nice bucket of popcorn, 880 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:53,058 the biggest TV you can find, and enjoy. 881 00:39:53,124 --> 00:39:56,327 I could barely get through it without just falling apart. 882 00:39:56,394 --> 00:39:59,798 I couldn't do it. I'm literally snot crying. 883 00:39:59,865 --> 00:40:01,332 I feel that the audience is going to get 884 00:40:01,399 --> 00:40:02,868 very connected to these characters, 885 00:40:02,934 --> 00:40:06,304 and heartbreak is coming, as you would imagine. 886 00:40:06,371 --> 00:40:08,540 And some catharsis is coming, 887 00:40:08,607 --> 00:40:10,642 and some beauty's coming, 888 00:40:10,709 --> 00:40:13,044 and you know, I can't say much more than that.