2 l December
19 - 25, 2021
Northeast Oregon TV Weekly
BY JAY BOBBIN
Sam Elliott stars in “1883,” premiering Sunday on
Paramount+ and Paramount Network.
Sam Elliott takes viewers back to ‘1883’
in new ‘Yellowstone’ prequel
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Especially with so few Westerns being made
now, it’s little surprise that a new one would
hold great appeal for Sam Elliott.
However, there was an extra lure for the
“A Star Is Born” Oscar nominee: the writing
of Taylor Sheridan, the co-creator of the
successful series “Yellowstone,” which now
is yielding a Paramount+ prequel with the
Elliott-starring “1883.” Premiering Sunday,
Dec. 19, the drama casts him as a late-19th-
century cowboy who guides settlers from
Texas to Montana. Among them, played by
music-superstar spouses Faith Hill and Tim
McGraw, are ancestors of John Dutton ....
Kevin Costner’s “Yellowstone” character. (The
premiere will be simulcast on Paramount
Network.)
“We started at the end of August in
100-plus-degree weather in Texas,” the
friendly, famously deep-voiced Elliott says
of the filming. It took him away from his
actress wife Katharine Ross (both appeared
in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”),
and he reports, “It was grueling for everyone.
It meant wearing wool, so it was tough. And
we’ve headed since to Montana, where we’re
likely to get snowed on.”
Elliott notes his “1883” character, Shea
Brennan, is “carrying a heavy load” from his
family history and serving in the Civil War.
The actor appreciates that “Taylor writes
these arias that are gifts. It’s not just the words
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(Brennan) says but where they come from,
and it’s great playing someone who has more
going on than meets the eye.”
Before “1883” started production, Elliott
hadn’t met Hill and McGraw. “They went to a
‘cowboy camp,’ because a lot of people hadn’t
ridden horses when we started this thing –
and when I got to Texas and joined them,
everyone was in the mood. I hadn’t ridden a
horse in 20 years, and I was very leery about
it, but it’s like riding a bicycle. You never
forget how, but with that said, you’ve got to
get back in condition and be confident.”
Once a star of such shows as “Mission:
Impossible” and “The Yellow Rose,” Elliott
has been involved in streaming series such as
“The Ranch” and “Grace and Frankie” more
recently, but those didn’t entail the work
demands “1883” does. Still, he maintains,
“I’m up to it. It’s been a while since I’ve done
something like this, but based on the fact that
it was Taylor Sheridan, there was no passing
on it.”
Elliott admits he hasn’t been a viewer of
“Yellowstone,” but he notes that where
“1883” is concerned, “I’ve had great fortune
in that genre from the beginning. I’ve always
felt a good Western has three classic elements:
man against man, man against nature, and
man against himself. And here it is again,
particularly man against himself, in this
character.”
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