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Taylor Sheridan is not one for big Hollywood shindigs.
On Friday night as Paramount+ presented the world premiere of the latest installment of the Sheridan universe — the Yellowstone prequel 1923 starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren — the Oscar-nominated creator is miles away doing what his closest collaborators say he does best: work.
“He’s in a hotel room in Las Vegas right now cutting future episodes of this show,” confirmed 101 Studios CEO David Glasser, executive producer of Sheridan shows like 1923, Yellowstone, 1883, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown etc. “Taylor is one of those people who, at the end of the day, is really good in his element. He loves being on the ranch, living on the ranch and writing — that’s where he’s most comfortable. It’s his cathartic way of doing everything, and when he’s in that zone, he’s great.
With her ballooning slate, Sheridan has no one to blame for not showing up, and with star power like Ford and Mirren, she may not have had to sell the show to the press gathered under a tented structure outside the American Legion Post 43 on a rainy night in the heart of Hollywood. Also, in his absence, his 1923 The family is more than happy to whisper about their boss by explaining why his creations are so special, shows that have captivated audiences by becoming record-setting ratings hits.
Paramount+ will find out if 1923 will do the same when it debuts on December 18. It’s the next installment in the Dutton family origin story and stars Ford as Jacob Dutton and Mirren as Cara Dutton in a series that explores the early 20 centuries after pandemics, historic droughts, Prohibition and the Great Depression all plagued the mountain West. Marley Shelton, Michelle Randolph, James Badge Dale, Brian Geraghty, Darren Mann, Aminah Nieves, Jerome Flynn, Sebastian Roché, Tim DeKay, Julia Schlaepfer, Jennifer Ehle and Timothy Dalton round out the cast of MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios and Bosque Farm production.
On the gold carpet at Friday night’s premiere, The Hollywood Reporter asked Ford, Mirren and select cast members to share their experiences working with Sheridan and what it’s like to step into his universe.
(JC Olivera/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
“He’s an incredible horseman. He’s a real athlete, and that’s something you don’t expect to see in a talented writer and intellectual thinker.” —Harrison Ford
“He’s very hands-off. He presented the script, and it was so rare that you didn’t want to change a word. You want to do it exactly as written because it is written with incredible precision but is not laborious. To be part of a franchise in a world that is so unique to American television is very exciting. There is nothing else like it.” — Helen Mirren
“Taylor’s reputation precedes him. He is a brilliant and brilliant writer, director and producer, and what he has created with these characters in this world is so vast and epic. How he manages to flesh out this many characters and tell a balanced story is insane. He invited us all to Cowboy Camp before we started shooting, while we were in pre-production. All of us cast members were invited to Montana for two weeks to ride horses, and we learned to drive and tie cattle. I had to learn how to drive a buggy. He not only wants us to become familiar with farm life as a way to let it seep into our pores but also as a way for us to bond with each other and feel that we are a part of something that special – and we are.” — Marley Shelton
“I expected someone totally different when I met him. He told me great stories of his time as an actor, about the process and how he got some of the younger actors on the show by giving them a break with some really big name actors. I love that because we all need that break. I got it 15 or 20 years ago and some of the actors on the show got it from him. I thought it was great and wonderful. Because he is an artist, he really sympathizes with artists. He is this tough cowboy, but underneath all that, he really empathizes. I think he casts well, and he doesn’t care what you’ve done, for the most part. He cast the right people in the role. When you show up for work, everyone raises the bar. He does that, and it starts with him, but he’s also very welcoming and gives you the tools you need to get there.” — Brian Geraghty
“I got a text from Taylor saying, ‘I’m getting the band back, do you want to come and play with us?’ I thought it was cute that he texted that, and of course, I said yes. Tell me when and where — let’s do it. First of all, he has an incredible gift for understanding and knowing great talent. He also has great insight. Taylor is a great writer. He creates amazing characters, and because he is a great leader, that becomes an inspiration for all department heads and actors. He also has a very specific vision and allows us to collaborate and create with him as well, which is great. This is the best kind of relationship. What a great family to be a part of.” — costume designer Janie Bryant (1883)
“He’s such a talented writer and the way that he writes his characters, he gives them such depth and such unique storylines, no matter how many different situations are happening at once. Every character is so uniquely himself and that’s really hard to do as a writer, especially for the amount of shows that he is writing for.” — Michelle Randolph
“You can’t stop reading his work. When we got the scripts, I couldn’t put them down. That was the first time I had such an experience, where I opened a script and I couldn’t place it. As difficult as some of the scenes were, I kept going and going and going. I’ve been reading Taylor Sheridan forever. — Leenah Robinson
“He is an actor himself so he has a lot of experience in acting and writing and rewriting scripts and twisting and turning lines to make his characters believable. When he writes, he knows how a character like me — captain of a small ship — speaks and acts in comparison with other men; the rich speak differently than the poor. He writes very, like the Coen brothers and [Quentin Tarantino]. The characters spar and they talk when they need to talk. It was very comfortable on the set because it was like shooting a good movie. We don’t have to hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. We had time. That’s rare for TV, but this trailblazer, as always, knows how to make, and if it has to spend a little, that’s fine because the result will be much, much better.” — Peter Stormare
“It’s funny, I had no idea Yellowstone or Taylor Sheridan until I read the script but I knew immediately that I had to do it. I couldn’t stop crying when I auditioned because it was an honor to tell my story. I’m very fortunate because we don’t have a lot of Indigenous representation and to make sure everything is right by working with a [consultant] and talking to my family and other experts. It is our job to tell stories and to do so in a way that our young people feel safe and our elders feel that their voices are heard. Taylor allows for that by telling stories. — Aminah Nieves
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