1883: The Road West (2022)

[bunniefuu]

- "1883" is...

- Gritty.

- Intense.

- Beautiful.

It's epic.

There's no question about it.

It's a young woman's

coming of age story.

- It's massive.

- Mind-boggling.

It's a journey.

There's excitement, danger,

unpredictability.

I don't care if I do

any other show

for the rest of my life.

I only do Westerns from now.

Those are the kind

of stories I like to tell,

and that's the way

I like to tell them.

The idea to make "1883"

actually came from

one of the studio executives

asking me about the back story

of John Dutton.

And I explained it to him

from the origin

of where they came,

and he thought that that in

and of itself was a TV show.

I was intrigued by the idea,

and so I wrote some flashbacks

that people have now seen

on "Yellowstone."

So Taylor called, he goes,

"Hey, man,

I want you to be in the show.

"I want you to be

in 'Yellowstone.'

Are you're interested in it?"

And he says, "I got this idea."

"We're gonna do a flashback,

"and you're gonna play

the original Dutton

"who founded

the Yellowstone ranch.

You're also gonna have

a wife in this."

He says, "Do you think

Faith would be interested

in playing your wife

in the flashbacks?"

If you go in the handbook

of directors,

you're not supposed to hire

a husband and wife

to do a movie together.

It's historically failed

every time,

but you're also not supposed

to film kids or horses, so.

We both watch the show,

so we were excited

to have that invitation

and didn't know quite

what to expect.

Then I spoke with Sam Elliott

about doing something

in the space.

- I got a call from him.

- "I got something to show you,"

and he sent me

this series of scripts,

and there was no saying no,

because it spoke to me.

The character spoke to me.

The show speaks to me.

You know what I'm doing here?

Looking for a reason.

You wanna be my reason?

I had not found

the connective tissue

between this origin story

of James Dutton

and this road to redemption

story of Sam Elliott.

I had not found the bridge.

And the actress Isabel May

read for me

for another TV series,

and it dawned on me

that she was the bridge.

I called the network,

and I said, I found our lead,

and I haven't written a word,

and you're just gonna

have to trust me.

This is something different

altogether,

'cause you're seeing it through

the eyes of a young woman.

And I don't think

that's ever been done before.

Not in this way.

We are seeing things through

an 18-year-old girl's eyes.

And it's a very different

vision of the West

because you see it,

sort of her innocence

and her magic that she's able

to show us this world

that has sex and v*olence

and despair,

but also hope.

To play a character

that narrates her own story

as well as every

other character story,

it's extremely humbling.

Freedom is riding wild

over untamed land

with no notion any moment exists

beyond the one you are living.

It's pretty phenomenal, right?

If you just sort of look

at a big family tree,

it takes us back

many generations

and that survival

and fighting for the land

and doing what's right

and protecting your family

are these similar themes

that were handed down

generation to generation

until we get the John Dutton.

- Good sh*t.

- Yep.

James is John's great, great,

great grandfather.

You can see the bloodline.

You can see the strength

in the bloodline.

You can see the backbone

that this family has

and the power that they have,

and their concern

for each other.

I believe in you,

and I believe in that boy,

and I believe in our daughter.

That's all.

That's why it's so important

to the Dutton family

present day

to fight for his land.

And, like, you see

how fierce they are,

fighting for what's theirs.

God!

"1883" is a journey

of an unlikely group of people

fighting against

the forces of nature,

the malice of humankind

in search of change

and a new home.

It's about freedom.

It's about the American dream,

which, you know,

it's become this synonymous

with the idea of freedom,

about the beauty of it

and the ugliness of it,

and all the beautiful things

people will do for their freedom

and then also all the ugly

things they do for it.

I can be a good wife.

Stop. Quit it.

The thing about "1883,"

it's a tale that's been told.

It's a tale that

we're all familiar with,

the Oregon Trail.

But it's never been done like

Taylor's done it on the page.

You think we're fools

just because we...

- You have no horses, no g*ns.

- You can't ride.

You are a f*cking fool.

History is doomed

to repeat itself

because it's never taught

accurately.

As a storyteller,

my job is to try

and hold a mirror up to nature

and reflect back the world

as it was.

I think that it's truth

through fiction.

- There's a grittiness to it.

- There's an authenticity to it.

It feels real.

The struggles are all real.

The people are all real.

We're traveling with

a caravan of immigrants.

It was incredible for me

because I am

an immigrant myself.

So I get to tell

a story of someone

who goes across the world

to follow their dream.

Most people who went West

saw ads in newspapers in Poland

and in Croatia and in Germany

and answered those ads

and saved up all their money,

sold everything they had,

and hired a group that would

take them on these wagons.

In the 1800s,

there's actually a large flight

of immigrants to America

because there's overpopulation.

And there was a high rate

of unemployment.

It's actually interesting

there has been a Texan...

A German Texan immigrant

who wrote letters,

like beautiful letters,

how beautiful Texas is

and everything,

and these letters were printed

in a German newspaper.

And many Germans

at the time read them,

and that was their decision

to come.

I think people dreamed of change

and creating something

and having land

and being free.

It's a free country.

That's a free country.

That is Comanche land.

Beyond it is no man's land,

and that's where we're going.

You ain't free yet.

And these people

didn't speak English,

had no notion of

what the Southwest was like

or the Great Plains were like.

Had no idea they were

horribly unprepared,

facing a whole new host

of diseases

that they've never been

exposed to,

elements they've never

been exposed to.

It was an extremely dangerous,

dangerous journey.

- I'll push her.

- Now get to the back.

This is what happened.

This is the journey

that our ancestors took,

and it was horrifying

and extremely difficult.

- It's nothing new.

- It's happened back then.

It's happening now.

We're all immigrants

in this country,

and this journey...

it's so compelling,

and it tells a story that

just... it's gut-wrenching

but it's truthful.

And there's a lot of people

in this journey

that haven't been represented

in other westerns.

I don't think that there is

a more misrepresented group

in American cinema

than the Native American.

And what little I can do

to correct

that historical perspective

in fiction, I'm gonna do.

When historians write books

about native people,

a lot of times

they put us in this box, right?

And they say, oh,

they were hunter-gatherers,

or they lived

according to this way.

It completely removes the idea

that we were also individuals.

We had our own

individual tastes,

our own individual attractions.

And that's kind of the way

the storytelling has gone

in Hollywood for a long time.

One of the most

interesting things

is the number one cause

of death on these wagon trains

was people falling off a wagon

and getting run over.

The number two cause of death

was accidental discharge

of firearms.

Number three, it was drowning

in river crossing.

Number seven

was Native Americans.

I think in all the stuff

that we learned growing up

was the number one fear

was Native Americans.

And nine times out of ten,

they were trying to help.

I made the Native American

community a promise

that I was gonna tell

their story truthfully.

And so, every opportunity

I get to do it,

I try to fulfill that promise.

It's rare to have the kind of

story that we have been handed,

to be honest with you.

And I think for all of us,

we feel the responsibility

to do the best job that we can

to bring these characters

to life

the way they were written.

There's three classic

struggles in these westerns.

It's man against man,

man against himself,

man against the environment.

In those struggles,

we're all in this in spades.

Let's go.

"1883" is the origin story

of the Dutton family.

The Duttons come

from Tennessee originally.

There's a number of people

who moved West

out of desperation

from the South.

And America was unique

in the fact

that, wherever you were

that you failed,

you could simply move west

to a new place

and reinvent yourself

and reinvent your life.

The main characters

are Tim McGraw,

who plays obviously

James Dutton.

We have Faith Hill,

who plays Margaret Dutton.

We have Isabel May,

who plays Elsa.

Sam Elliott plays Shea.

And then La Monica Garrett

plays Thomas.

Elsa Dutton is a daughter

of the patriarch

and matriarch

of the Dutton family.

At this time,

we have two children, Elsa,

and then we have John.

I wanted to be John Dutton

'cause he was a boy,

and he loves the outside.

I love the outside too.

Elsa, she's very naive.

She's experienced

very few things.

They lived on a little farm.

She'd seen the same people

her entire life,

and she was bored.

She was desperate to get out.

This child is spirited,

and she's hard-headed

and strong,

but she's also very smart.

Elsa is extremely independent

at a time when a young woman

is not allowed to be

independent in such a way.

There are certain things

that we weren't allowed

to say or voice.

And as the journey continues,

she sheds that civilized

kind of costume

and starts to flourish

because she loves this world

so much

and what it has to offer.

There's a fair chance

you're too pretty for me.

If you are, rather know now

so I don't waste my time.

Maybe you're too pretty

for me.

Right away, Ennis is just

fully blown away by Elsa...

Aside from her beauty,

her wit, her brashness.

And I think she's the first girl

that ever makes

Ennis speechless.

Oh, my gosh, you're forward.

Part of the storyline is,

you know,

they were escaping poverty

and looking for a better life.

And I think there's more to it

than that in my mind

for James Dutton.

During the series, you find

out that I was a captain

in the Civil w*r

for the Confederacy,

put in a position

that he didn't want to be in.

Tim's character was one

of those who was drafted

and conscripted into the army.

And then endured, you know,

years in a prison of w*r camp

and then came home

to a destroyed homeland

and had lost faith

in that society.

He had a lot of pain

and PTSD from that.

I mean, you see it

in the flashbacks,

and you see little glimpses

of who James is,

and you know that he's not

as hard as he comes across.

He really cares about people,

but you also know that

his family's the number one

concern that he has.

He dreamed of a better place.

He dreamed of a life

where he could dictate

his own fortune or failure.

And his family trusted him.

In my work as I become

more invested in the people

that we're trying to help

as the journey goes on.

You know, I'm always

there for my family,

and I'm always concerned

about my family,

but I think as the show goes on,

you realize that James cares

more about people

than you think he does.

It's better to double

the latigo with him.

Girl, I've forgotten more

about horses

than you'll ever know.

Margaret, at the age of 17,

was a nurse in the Civil w*r.

That would change your life,

basically.

It would give you

a perspective of life

that a 17-year-old in this day

and age could never imagine.

I mean, she is really

this sort of strong-willed,

powerful woman of the West.

She's raising a young boy

and a young, you know, daughter

who's becoming a woman.

And obviously has to manage

all of that while she sort of

takes this family

on this very treacherous,

dangerous journey

across America.

Her heart, she becomes

stronger and stronger

and stronger

as the journey goes on.

The moment our first daughter

was born,

I'm a mom for the rest

of my life, period.

I mean, that is the first thing.

That's the last thing.

That's the middle thing.

That's everything.

My character is most concerned

about what is this

going to do to my family?

- Look after your brother.

- I will.

- "Yes, ma'am."

- I said I will.

I know what you said.

What you didn't say

is "Yes, ma'am."

Women don't say that

to each other.

- Oh, so you're a woman now?

- Aren't I?

Elsa has always viewed

her mother

as restraining her

from, you know,

being able to fully embrace

all that life has to offer.

And so, therefore, she kinda

has it out for her mom.

Margaret and Elsa have such

a contentious relationship,

as most teenage daughters

and moms do.

Then she sees her mother

in a different light

because there's clearly a past

that she's unaware of.

Her mother can ride

a horse beautifully.

And so she kind of starts

to understand

my mother was something else

in the past,

and she gave that up,

and maybe

she gave that up for me.

That's the biggest part of

James and Elsa's relationship,

that he understands her,

and he understands

the passion that she has.

And not only because

it's a reflection of him,

but it's a reflection

of Margaret as well.

She loves like Margaret.

She fights like me.

Having Sam Elliot come

on board was just incredible

because I think

he embodies everything

that the character of Shea

should be.

When I think of Westerns,

I think him and Clint Eastwood.

Like that's just what it is.

Of course, my wife

gets weak-kneed

every time she's around him.

I don't know a woman yet

that hasn't been weak-kneed

around Sam Elliott.

And I told my mama that I was

working with Sam Elliott.

She's like, "Oh my God, you're

working with Sam Elliott."

Shea is on a mission

to get back to Oregon.

Then at the same time,

he has something in him

that wants to help these

other people get there as well.

He knows that

it's rife with hardship.

There's no question about that.

And a lot of them

aren't gonna make it,

but he's driven to get those

that are tough enough

to survive to Oregon.

He is a troubled man

for a lot of different reasons.

First off, he was in the w*r.

You know, he's suffers

from that.

He loses his family,

and I think that's

the biggest burden

that he carries with him

throughout the show.

You know, Taylor talked to me

about Shea rode

with the Buffalo soldiers,

which was an all-Black group

of soldiers.

Shea is very heavy-handed with

everyone other than Thomas.

And... I don't know.

I get very emotional

talking about the relationship

of Shea and Thomas.

They're close.

Theye like brothers.

Thomas's story

is not unfamiliar

to a lot of Black cowboys

back then.

He's a former sl*ve.

At 12 years old,

he went inside the house,

and the sl*ve owner was

passed away, natural causes.

So Thomas just gets on a horse

and just goes off

and figures out life.

All that happened in between

then has helped shaped

who he was, his integrity.

And he met Shea during the w*r.

He was a soldier.

There were brothers-in-arms

in the w*r.

Began fighting together

in the Civil w*r.

So they've been fighting

together for some 20 years.

And that's how the bond

with them, you know,

became so strong.

It's like an 1800s odd couple.

What in the hell

is a "toilette"?

It's French for shitter.

When did you learn French?

Don't know French. It's just

the French word for shitter.

Two men who grow old together

trying to survive

and protect each other.

And so, relationships like

that that have so much history,

they don't have to say too much.

- Thomas, he's a kind person.

- He's an honest person.

And he's a very loyal person.

To me, he's the humanity

of the show.

He's the soul of the show.

And he's the enforcer

of the show.

So it's not a show where it's,

you know, "Yes, sir, no, sir."

Yes... it's, if you look

at him wrong

or if you cross his moral code,

he's gonna k*ll you.

Get everything that was hers.

- Nothing was hers.

- It was his, and he's a thief.

Get everything that was hers.

It was like it's a different

Black cowboy take.

And I'm so glad Taylor,

you know, he chose me

to bring that to life.

Both Sam and La Monica

are character builders,

and they really want

to understand what's motivated

the actions of the character

in the screenplay.

The show "Lonesome Dove,"

Danny Glover played

the role of Deets.

And Deets, the real-life Deets

on the Goodnight-Loving Trail,

was Bose Ikard.

And I found out he was buried

right there in Weatherford.

So me and a few cast mates,

we went to the cemetery,

and it just... it moved me.

And it's, you know,

it's a story I'm very proud

to be a part,

telling, you know,

a story about Black cowboys.

He goes back to the truth.

The Westerns of post-Civil w*r

that painted

these matinee idol characters

in these false roles

and painted a really inaccurate

picture of the American West.

To tell the story truthfully

and really show

the American West

or a version of it accurately,

then you have to look

at those relationships,

and you have to re-examine

a version

that Hollywood portrayed

that was wrong.

You know, I think

my favorite moment

is this incredible scene that

we have Billy Bob Thornton

walking down main street

in the middle of the 1800s.

And I look to the left,

and I see Billy Bob Thornton.

I look a little bit further,

there's Tim McGraw,

Sam Elliott,

and La Monica Garrett,

and I thought this is

a pretty good group

to walk into a bar with.

You know, you saw

"Reservoir Dogs" growing up,

you saw "Tombstone."

They all had that walk

where it was just these bad

dudes going to find trouble.

So I got to play out

those childhood dreams

of walking down that dusty road

to a gunfight in the saloon.

And it just happened to be with

all these icons next to me,

but it was...

yeah, it was amazing.

Billy Bob Thornton,

he's this easy-going guy.

He's kinda unassuming.

We get inside the saloon,

and he just turns it on to this

stone-cold k*ller and sheriff.

Order this business

on the Trinity.

So I'm supposed to stop

and have a line with Sam

right before the end

of the scene.

And I got so caught up into

watching Billy Bob perform,

I just walked right past Sam,

just blew right by

and didn't say my line,

walked out the door.

And I looked at Sam and goes,

"Sam, I'm sorry.

I know I'm supposed

to give a line, and I forgot."

And he goes, "I noticed."

He's a powerful actor,

Billy Bob,

and when he comes in at work,

it's hard to take your eye

off of him.

Another incredible moment

is this Civil w*r sequence

that we have.

And out of nowhere,

Tom Hanks just shows up...

Full beard, in character,

and a really powerful scene

between him and Tim McGraw.

It starts with Antietam,

and it starts

with an original picture

from the battleground scene

and morphs out of the original

picture into a live sh*t.

And everybody's dead.

His whole company

has been wiped out.

Captain.

Tom and I have been friends

for such a long time,

but no matter how good

a friend you are,

when you're sitting there in

a scene that's that emotional,

and then you turn,

and you see Tom Hanks walk up

in a Union uniform,

look at you, and say, "Captain,"

I just fell apart.

And then he sat beside me

as I'm crying,

and he puts his hand

on my shoulder.

Yeah, that's a great scene.

And of course, Tom,

you know, Tom was average.

When actors like this

are willing to come play

for a day or two,

of course now you're working

with some of the greatest

actors who've ever worked.

It's just a privilege.

I've done a lot of shows,

and I've never seen

anything this big.

We did scenes in Fort Worth

with hundreds of extras,

businessmen going to work

in the 1800s,

two bar guys having fight.

We have huge scenes out in

sort of wild open with bandits.

We have everything

that you can imagine.

We have 30-something wagons,

and it takes two to four

horses to pull them.

And I'm running from snow

and rain and schedule

and everything else.

- It's epic.

- There's no question about it.

I'm not gonna compare it

to anything

because I've never done

anything like this.

"Yellowstone,"

at any given time,

we might have 40 horses on set.

On this, at any given time,

we have 180,

and we have a cattle herd.

Ironically, we are having to

actually have a trail drive

in order to film a trail drive.

And it's a challenge.

- We have goats.

- We have chickens.

We have 60 wranglers, cowboys

just working the horses

to make sure everyone is safe.

We have 80 trucks and drivers

to move the whole company.

I mean, this is bigger

than a Beyonc tour.

This is "Game of Thrones"

on the Prairie.

We began the sh**ting

in Texas in August.

So it was about 104,

103 degrees.

There was sweat in places

I didn't know sweat can be.

I got wool on,

and wool is not Texas-friendly

in the summertime.

On top of the bandolier,

the belt, the g*ns,

like, ten-pound leather chaps,

like,

everything is weighed down.

And my horse,

he looks like a utility camp.

First, we were in 98-degree

sweating, hot weather.

And three weeks later, we were

in ten-degree weather.

You know, we were out there

last week in Montana

with snow cap mountains

in the middle of a field.

Me, Sam, and Tim are on top

of our horses on the mountain.

And there was like a blizzard

that came through,

like you couldn't see

your hand in front of you.

The wind was blowing.

There've been times

where I was so cold out here,

I didn't think I could

tough it out too long.

And the thing that

brought me out of it

and continues to bring me out

of it is just looking around

and seeing these mountain

ranges everywhere,

and you think, my God,

how lucky we are to be here

number one, but number two,

how lucky we are

to be here making a film.

You never really know

what you're gonna get

from Mother Earth that day.

And that adds to

the grand scheme

and the look of the show,

but it also adds to the thrill

as an actor

to get to experience

such spontaneity

on set every single day.

The methodology of Taylor

is to make everything

look like a ten-hour movie.

It's so big and so beautiful,

but there's a word

that is so important to him,

and that is "authenticity."

I'm interested in the truth,

even though it's fiction...

As accurately retelling an event

or a world as I possibly can.

Everything is

historically accurate.

Every building, every structure,

every wagon, everything.

We strive to do everything

period correct.

We spent a lot of time

in research together,

all the information we can.

So when the camera's tight

on a cast member,

that he has the right equipment

on his horse

for the time period.

I went to school for film

and watched countless movies,

countless westerns

where everything was wrong.

And you know, just me being

an indigenous person,

I would feel kind of ticked off

if I saw,

you know, that we weren't

accurately portrayed.

So when it comes

to finding the props,

I am trying to do my absolute

best on sourcing them from,

you know, the proper places

and making sure that they are,

in fact, you know,

if it's a Lakota bow case

that it's

an actual Lakota bow case.

The language that

the Native Americans speak

has to be authentic.

The beads that they wear

have to be authentic.

The wagons, the horse breeds,

the cattle breeds.

And I think these days

audiences respect it,

actors feel it.

After you've done all your

work on the text and character,

you finally get

to put on the clothes.

And I think that's kind of

your superhero cape in a way.

If you look at the costumes,

we made them all.

We didn't call

some costume house

and get a bunch of "Little

House on the Prairie" stuff.

Every dress, every suit,

every jacket,

everything was custom-made

by Janie and her team.

I am very familiar

with this period

because I designed "Deadwood,"

the series,

which was living in 1876.

And then, I designed the movie,

which was in 1886,

but no two shows are alike.

"1883" is the West.

And during this time, there were

a lot of cowboys in Texas.

And that was one of the aspects

that I love

doing the research for.

When she put this coat on me

the first time, I squealed.

Yeah, I'm in love

with my costume.

I love the costumes,

and the attention to detail

is microscopic.

You see these people,

and then suddenly,

wow, we're really here.

It's like a time machine.

This was a great opportunity

to do a period piece.

And period makeup

is a lot of fun.

You look at a lot

of the old Westerns,

and you see makeup on them.

Taylor definitely

wanted this raw.

He said, "I want dirty sweaty."

There is some makeup

that is being applied to them.

The trick with it

is to make it look

like they're not

wearing any makeup.

So the start of the show,

they're on a train.

And that's the only time

that they're kind of have a,

what I'd call a beauty look

about them.

But once they start getting out

onto the wagon train,

we're gonna try to

keep them dirty looking.

These departments,

from our production designer

to our prop master, everybody,

they had to come together

and build a world

in a very short period of time.

Nothing existed.

We created it all.

We wanted to avoid the clichs

and do things that are

a little bit unusual

that you haven't seen in

so many westerns.

Cary White,

our production designer,

this is his wheelhouse.

And he was able to come up

with some really,

really smart ideas.

The building right next to us

was built in 1939, 1940.

We constructed

a complete faade around it

and turned it into

a real building of 1883.

But also put Styrofoam cornices

on a lot of these buildings

up on the top of them

that gives them

a much more Victorian look.

And the whole thing

tied together

when we put the dirt in.

It really just came alive.

They brought in layers

and layers and layers of dirt.

And it's all compacted and then

top dressed appropriately

to make it all safe for

the animals that we have here.

I think we went

a solid two months prep

to sh**t for four days

on house half-acre.

I mean, the stuff

that they've done

is just so incredibly epic.

I like to get on set early and

walk around some of these sets

just to put yourself

in that world.

So it makes it easy to find

the emotion in the scene.

This show

would not be possible

without everyone

that you don't see.

It is not a walk in the park.

It is hard work, and it's

f*cking awesome.

Can I say that?

- Sure can.

- I just did.

I don't rehearse

with my actors.

There's no way for me to inform

them what this way of life is.

You just have to do it.

I just take them out

and put them to work.

The purpose of cowboy camp

is to get actors comfortable

enough on the horses

that they weren't nervous

when they were riding.

The better I can make them

as a rider,

the more they understand

the thing they're acting out,

the better the performances,

the more authentic the scenes

look, then it looks real.

Cowboy camp is the actors

get here about 8:00,

and then we start

just exposing them

to real-life situations in 1883.

Cowboy camp was probably

the most helpful thing

in the world.

- Good morning, guys.

- Morning.

How's everybody doing?

And we all got to spend

a couple of weeks together,

just riding horses and roping

and herding cattle.

And here comes

Taylor walking up like

he's the first one out there.

And he'll never ask you

to do anything

that he doesn't do

as far as being on a horse.

We take them down

and have them work cattle.

We have them part them out

and sort them.

Roping, horseback riding,

herding cows.

We take them down to the pond

and have them swim horses

so we can prepare them

for the river crossings

that are coming up

in the script.

Most of us learned

how to drive wagons,

which is dangerous, by the way.

Climbing up rocks,

going through lakes and rivers,

and steering cattle.

I'm learning how

to ride a horse,

and I'm swinging

the rope around.

We're sh**ting g*ns back

to riding horses, lassoing.

We just played little games

where you put, for example,

an egg on a spoon

and have to ride

straight back and forth.

And whoever does it

the fastest wins.

So it was really fun.

You had to carry the egg

on a spoon,

but I dropped it every time.

So some people were getting

a little crafty,

and when they get

further away from us,

their thumb would ease

over the eggs,

so you really can't see

what's going on and like,

wait a minute, like you got

glue on that or something?

Like, you know, what's going on?

I'd heard Taylor cheated

when he does it.

That he puts his thumb

on the egg.

I'm not saying that that's true.

I'm just saying that I've heard

that Taylor cheated.

There's no proof of cheating,

but it is suspected.

You know, everyone was

very competitive,

but in a supportive way

to somewhat degree.

Everything that we have done,

we've learned how to do it

properly

by the best of the best.

For all the talent,

they're trying to get them

comfortable

with driving and riding.

So then, when they get

on camera,

it becomes

second nature to them.

Everyone will remember

their lines and not panic,

so they look the part.

They feel the part.

They can be the cowboy.

A lot of what we're doing now

is day in and day out,

so this becomes second nature.

So when we're going

through the script,

that's what you could focus on

and not have to worry about

where my hands are,

and where's the g*n?

You must know how to do it

the right way.

Otherwise, it's just

kind of watered down,

and it just feels wrong.

Cowboy camp gets you ready

for the show.

You're not showing up

and putting some dirt

and makeup on.

Before you ever do that,

you're falling off of a horse.

Your back is hurting.

As a cowboy in 1883,

you didn't have

nice cushiony saddles.

You know, you didn't have

all the fancy modern equipment

that you have today.

Oh, it's bare-bones.

It's bare knuckles.

This is my first time

on an 1880s saddle.

A hundred years ago,

if you went across country

from New York to California,

this is the way you went.

This is rougher than heck.

I'll tell you it's

a lot harder than it looks.

I mean, you see those wagon

drivers kind of leaning over.

I mean, oh man,

it did a number on your back.

There's an experience of time.

You know, you realize old people

traveled like this 5,000 miles,

and you understand

what a journey like this means.

This training creates

an authentic cowboy

because you're... you know,

the blisters are real.

The cuts are real.

You know, I'm running into

barbed wire fences on my horse.

I've been to like Hell Week

and camps and football,

and this is

a whole different beast.

When they get off at night,

they feel like their legs

are melted.

They got cramps in their thighs.

They got cramps in their calves.

They go, "My butt's sore."

Yeah, probably is.

You ain't never sat

on a saddle that long.

They're grinding us

into the ground.

I mean, by the time

we finished riding horses,

I'm like completely

soaked through.

Like, it's kinda gross.

I feel bad for everyone

that has to smell us.

Cowboy camp was this

incredible bonding experience

between all of the talent.

Everybody gets to

come out there.

They don't know each other.

And they start to sort of work

together and understand

what their characters

are gonna be,

where are they going,

and how hard this

is gonna really be.

Cowboy camp is extremely

important for teamwork.

We're all trying

to build chemistry as actors.

And there's nothing

more team-orientated

than getting 28 cattle,

I mean, over hills

and through alleyways

for miles and miles.

So if you're not communicating

to your teammates,

then it's not gonna work.

The only way to survive

at that time

was to be collaborative,

and people would go out of

their way to help one another

without expecting anything.

Well, it's the only way

that you can survive

in an environment like that.

You become a group, you know,

'cause we will be

on this journey for half a year

and go through hell.

We're all doing this together.

So we're all dedicated to it.

And that's been extraordinary

to watch.

It's about to be a family.

It's about to be all of us

against the world.

So against nature, literally.

So we all have

to trust each other.

We have to, you know,

hold each other accountable

and just being out here period,

being on the ranch together

and bonding,

and like... it's great for what

we're about to encounter.

From a production standpoint,

I've never seen

so many different departments

have to coordinate

so many different details.

I have never worked on

a company this big in my life.

Then you got cattle that,

you know,

one day they might be like,

we don't feel like doing

what you tell us to do today.

And they're running

in 50 different directions.

I think

it's borderline miraculous

that the show has come together

because it's taken a lot

of people and a lot of work.

And you know, it's just

impressive what this team

has been able to do.

This is unique

and very special.

And the production

scale is huge.

For me, I don't feel it because

it still feels so personal.

Taylor creates

such an incredible world

with his writing that

it's so easy to get lost in it.

You got it. You got him, son.

My most favorite scene is

a scene with Tim.

I had to hunt with my dad,

and it was blood from the deer.

It's your first k*ll,

so I got to blood you.

To sh**t a deer and do

the whole blooding situation

and explain to him

why we did it and what it means

and how we have to

thank the animal

for giving us

sustenance in life...

To be able to do

that was pretty special for me.

It felt cool.

It felt really cool.

And you can see

the similarities

with "Yellowstone."

There are certainly similarities

to John Dutton and James,

and you can see the tradition

that started it.

I think absolutely fans

will find Easter eggs through

this whole thing,

and I'm excited.

And I think it'll be

a fun journey for people

to pick them out.

Well, I would ask you,

was there ever a time

that you went out on Easter

and found only one Easter egg?

Look, I think the journey

we're about to go on

in the rest of the episodes

is pretty magical, right?

We've just gotten started.

I'm thrilled for people

to see Elsa's journey

because it's quite

a dramatic one.

It's not what you would

expect whatsoever.

I think all of us are pushed

to what we think

will be our limit.

We're just on the trail,

and we'll see who survives.

Every episode brings a new

level of excitement and danger,

and unpredictability.

So just find

a huge box of tissues,

nice bucket of popcorn,

the biggest TV you can find,

and enjoy.

I could barely get through it

without just falling apart.

I couldn't do it.

I'm literally snot crying.

I feel that the audience

is going to get

very connected

to these characters,

and heartbreak is coming,

as you would imagine.

And some catharsis is coming,

and some beauty's coming,

and you know, I can't say

much more than that.