‘1923’ premiered its second season and Paramount+ will be releasing a new episode every weekend about the Dutton family era before the Great Depression. Leading the cast, we find Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. The couple stars in ‘1923’ as Clara and Jacob Dutton, two strong-willed individuals determined to keep the Dutton ranch in the family’s possession at all costs.
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These two film legends come together again for television after having worked together on the 1986 movie ‘The Mosquito Coast’.
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As the second season of the series begins, Clara and Jacob face a brutal winter trying to survive on the Dutton ranch, while their nephew Spencer, played by Brandon Sklenar, embarks on a desperate journey back to save his family. Meanwhile, his wife Alexandra, Julia Schlaepfer, struggles to reunite with him across the Atlantic. To discover the ins and outs of ’1923′ and the reasons for its return to television, we spoke with its protagonist Harrison Ford.
Q: Lately, it seems like you are more involved in television series than in movies. Is this a new stage in your career?
R: I try to take advantage of my work opportunities. As an actor, I look for great stories, interesting collaborators, ambitious projects, or things I haven’t done before. Television is a medium that has evolved in recent years and I was eager to do a series like ’1923′. I didn’t work at all during the pandemic and I was hungry to work. I love my profession and have no desire to retire. As an actor, I can’t resist a great script. There isn’t much difference between doing a television series and shooting a movie. It takes longer to develop a character over several episodes than a two-hour movie. We used to think that television meant less ambition from actors, but that’s no longer the case.
Q: How would you describe 1923?
R: It is one of the most ambitious projects I have worked on in my entire career. I am delighted with what we have accomplished so far. I am surrounded by a great cast, starting with Helen Mirren. One thing I enjoy about this series is that we have the technological capability to film it as if it were a feature film. It is wonderful to see the series, I am delighted with the project.
“To be honest, I spend more time outdoors than when I was filming ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Star Wars,’ in real locations and not in dark, cold hangars. There’s a sense of reality that, the minute you step onto the set, transports you to the year 1923 and you understand what the life of a true cowboy was like.”
— Harrison Ford, actor
P: Does this character enjoy more than, for example, Indiana Jones?
R: The truth is, I spend more time outdoors than when I was filming ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Star Wars’, in real locations and not in dark and cold hangars. There is a sense of reality that, the moment you step onto the set, transports you to the year 1923 and you understand what the life of a true cowboy was like.
Q: He is an actor capable of delivering raw and authentic performances. What keeps him at that level?
R: I want to serve the character and have my role serve the story. I want to integrate my interpretation into the story we are telling because they need each other. Taylor Sheridan has written a dense and complicated character, and that is, at the same time, an honor and a challenge for me.
Q: This series is part of a franchise, have you had the opportunity to watch ‘Yellowstone’ or ’1883′?
R: I have been working non-stop and haven’t had much time to watch other series, but I think it was more important for me to watch ’1883′, which is the predecessor to ours, and I have seen it. ‘Yellowstone’ is a great series, but it was more important for me to watch ’1883′ and understand how we continue the storyline.
Q: Why did you decide to make this series?
A: I based my decision on personal meetings with Taylor, at that time there was still no script. One of the big draws for me was the possibility of working with Helen again. She was the first one they hired. I think what surprised me the most about Taylor was his talent for articulating his ambition and sincerity.
P: You mentioned Helen Mirren. I’m curious to know how you developed your on-screen relationship with her
R: Helen and I are friends. We have known each other for a long time, although we haven’t spent time together in the last 40 years. She played my wife in “The Mosquito Coast”. But, of course, I know her career and have seen her work over the years, and we have occasionally been in touch. She is a very nice person and a very talented actress.
Q: What would you say is the secret to interpreting so many iconic characters? Does Jacob Dutton fall into that category?
R: I believe so. We are seeing the result of the series and I am the first surprised. Success always depends on other people. I have been fortunate to work with people who are experts in their fields. The variety of directors I have had the opportunity to collaborate with has been extraordinary. I have been very, very lucky. I started in the world of cinema when the film industry was very linked to culture and we had a great influence on it. Some of the giants of cinema featured me in their films, I’m talking about Coppola, Sydney Pollack, Peter Weir, and many others who marked an era when cinema was flourishing. I am lucky to continue enjoying my work, I enjoy telling stories and Taylor Sheridan belongs to that group of talented artists.
Q: What can you tell us about your character this season?
R: Well, the character is in very difficult circumstances, the pressures of the ranch, which represent the future of his family. The pressures are intense. They are in the middle of a drought. Depression is looming. Economic support is crumbling. It’s not easy to get loans for the cattle. There is competition from sheep herders. There are pressures on the land itself from other industries and it’s a complicated time. Many of these complications fall on the shoulders of Jacob Dutton, and his way of facing the problems is unique. Taylor has written me a character matrix that serves as a guide and allows me to express myself as an actor freely.
Q: Regarding the creation of the character Jacob, what is the most important part from your perspective?
R: There are many important aspects in creating a character. The first thing that comes to mind when you accept a role is the physical expression of their characteristics, the costume. Once I find the costume, I have to find the path to the man. Talented people helped me in the costume selection. By the way this role was written, I began to see that Taylor had created an architecture and, once I recognized the architecture, I could see that the story was built upon key moments in the character’s life. As I understood which direction the hinge turned and where we were going, I realized that Taylor was doing a lot of the script development for me. The usual work of an actor is to try to express oneself through the story and that was perfectly defined. To be honest, I could be as real in that circumstance as I wanted and the series would work. The performance is not as important... It’s not a context where the performance per se is very valuable. Cowboys are determined, severe, and tough. We know that about cowboys. But Taylor has given me the opportunity to express it in contexts we don’t often see, and it’s so well written that the real challenge is to live up to the character.
Q: How is the formation of the United States and the West explored through this series?
R: I think it puts mythology, the cowboy myth, and American history under the tension of truth. There is a certain degree of distance between what the United States represents and how it behaves. We can be ambitious in representation, but we live in reality. Jacob Dutton has to make difficult decisions and makes them like an animal with its back against the wall. I find Taylor’s perspective very interesting.
P: In this series, you spend a lot of time on horseback. Do you enjoy the physical demand of the character?
R: It is a intensely physical reality that we are seeing in the series, with the harsh conditions that Dutton faces in Montana at the beginning of the 20th century. We aim to do what they do.