When you watch 1883, we only tend to think about the product that’s put on screen.
However, we never truly tend to think about everything that goes into making the show, and how many attempts it may take to perfect the scenes we know and love.
Shows like 1883 and Yellowstone are different, because the majority of the shows are filmed on outdoor sets, and not in the cool controlled temperatures indoors in Hollywood.
In fact, for 1883, Taylor Sheridan and company basically built an entire moving wagon train, creating a set on wheels. Needless to say, the production is much more intense than that of Yellowstone, and it made for some pretty hostile working conditions out in the elements.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill weighed in on the brutal working conditions, but for one cast member, he says it damn near killed him.
Sam Elliott, aka Shea Brennan, weighed in on just how brutal those conditions could be:
He cut straight to the point on the latest episode of the Official Yellowstone Podcast:
“I think the hell of it is just dealing with the elements, more than anything. There were times when it was like 108 degrees down there in Fort Worth when we first started.
We were out in the sun all day long, we were wearing wolves’ jackets. The immigrants were wearing layers and layers of wool clothes.”
He admitted that the final cut was worth all of the hardships on set, but there were times the 77-year-old wondered if he would make it out alive.
He continued:
“Then we go up to Montana and it’s f*cking freezing cold. I mean cold… And I don’t have a lot of clothes on, I’m wearing, like, a pair of pants and a jacket for most of the thing. And a vest and a shirt.
We got layered up out there, of course. But there were times when it rains just enough to get wet, and then it started to ice up. I just remember thinking ‘2hat the f*ck, man? Am I gonna die on this trail?’”
He admitted that he had some questions for Taylor Sheridan when he first read the script:
“I wondered a few times, I wondered if I was up to the physicality of this thing when I started.
I read the script, Taylor’s character description, and it was 45 years old. I said ‘Hey, Taylor, man. I’m almost twice that age. Well, not quite, but I’m way too old for this thing’.”
Elliott said Sheridan responded:
“He said, ‘nah, I write everybody at 45.’ I said, ‘bulls**t’
One thing he promised when we started this thing is you’re gonna hate me by the end of this show’ and he was talking about the elements.”
I gotta say, the authenticity of 1883 has given me a whole new perspective on what life was like back in the day.
Imagine wearing long sleeves and pants 24/7, in 100 degree heat… that’s a death sentence for me.
After last week’s brutal penultimate episode, the Season Finale is set to air on Sunday, February 27th… and it’s gonna be GOOD.
