Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford will star as the center of the Dutton family of days past in the upcoming Yellowstone prequel, 1923. The Paramount Plus series debuts on Dec. 18, and fans are already thrilled to get a new look at what life was like on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch in the early 1920s. During a red carpet event over the weekend, both Ford and Mirren shared insight into what the Duttons will be up against when we travel back in time later this month.
Playing Cara and Jacob Dutton, Mirren and Ford say that their story is unique and beautiful in its own way while still tying into the universe we’ve grown fond of over the last five years. Between 1883 and five seasons of Yellowstone, we’ve seen everything from bliss to heartache and what the varied emotions mean for the Dutton family in different decades.
Speaking to Deadline, Ford says it’s a story about survival and all of the juicy and complex ways the Dutton family will face everything from morality to mortality.
“This is the story of what it has taken to survive, for that person to survive its complicated moral context and it’s a juicy, juicy story and I love it.”
The Duttons are no strangers to juicy stories and emotionally charged plotlines, but the tale being told in 1923 will have a different set of circumstances than what we’re used to in Yellowstone. Yes, they’re still in the fight of their lives, but the elements the Duttons of days past are up against are very different. There are grifters, the early depression, and an overarching sense of lawlessness that we’ve not yet seen before.
The men will have to be strong, as will the women, and Marley Shelton says that she (Emma) and Dame Helen Mirren’s character, Cara, hold down the fort throughout 1923 when their cowboys are off to save the day.
We can’t wait to see the bond between Cara and Emma, and speaking of relationships, Mirren also talked about 1923 and the bond between her character and husband, Jacob. They’re married, of course, and there’s an attraction and deep love there, but she says they’ve also transformed into partners, equal ones who respect and honor one another as strong individuals.
“We’re presenting a couple who in a relationship that when it’s gone that long becomes a partnership, and so, they are partners as much as anything, of course, they’re husband and wife but their real kind of equal partners in which you would have to be dealing with that kind of environment.”
The trailer for 1923 shows that Cara is no one to mess with, and if Jacob needs anything in a wife, Cara embodies it. She’s gritty, tough, and confident, and she’ll walk hand in hand with him through heaven or hell, both of which 1923 will give them. Here’s hoping they see more good than they do bad and more love than they do heartache.