“I’ve never seen this in my whole life, and I probably never will again,” Sam Elliott told co-star LaMonica Garrett while on the 1883 set. The same is true for audiences. Garrett gives life to Thomas in the Yellowstone prequel. He’s one half of 1883‘s storied Pinkerton Agent and veteran duo alongside Sam Elliott’s Shea Brennan. These two are spiritual brothers; kin in every sense of the word outside blood. And they steal each scene they’re in.
The two actors became fast friends, their chemistry palpable on-screen. As I reunited with LaMonica for the series premiere of 1883 on Paramount Network, “family” was a recurring theme in kind. It was while this cast and crew were filming out in the elements of Texas and Montana, and it remains so a year-and-a-half on as cable audiences are treated to the full season for the first time.
“I think the one moment that sticks out the most,” LaMonica tells me of their remarkable production, “is when Sam and I were sitting on our horses, and we were watching the 1883 wagon train approach us for the first time in those early episodes. And Sam is sitting there saying ‘Look at this. I’ve never seen this in my whole life, and I probably never will again.’”
There was no CGI used for these elements. “Not a fake wagon train, but twenty-eight horse-led wagons. It’s something different,” LaMonica adds. “That didn’t get lost on me, the whole experience. And it wasn’t lost on Sam, either.”
‘This is actually the most epic show to be a part of right now’
I also had the pleasure of meeting Eric Nelsen, 1883‘s Ennis, for the first time and chatting with him alongside LaMonica. Eric’s character was another highlight of the series. His Ennis was never too naïve or yee haa. He struck that perfect balance of youth and wanderlust instead, reeling us into his pure romance with Isabel May’s Elsa Dutton.
Starting as a child actor, Nelsen’s been in the business for almost two decades now. And he, too, had moments of affirmation on 1883‘s splendor with Western vet Elliott.
“One was exactly what LaMonica said,” he recalls of their wild, unique production. “I am experiencing this set, the grandness of it and how big it was… I had never seen anything like it. And I was like ‘Man, I’ve just been on the wrong sets!’
“But Sam Elliott‘s right there, and he’s like, ‘I promise you, Eric, it does not get better than this.’
“So to hear him say that? I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! This is real! These are legitimate feelings I’m having right now that I will never have again,’” Nelsen recalls. “That kind of cemented that in my mind, like okay, this is actually the most epic show to be a part of right now.”
Enter Tom Hanks
“There was also a fascinating moment to piggyback off what Eric said,” LaMonica chimed in. “Tom Hanks came on set. He was like ‘Yeah, I’ll go do the Western! I’ll come do it.’ And his stuff was during the Civil War reenactment. This huge scene! And Tom Hanks is like:
‘What are you guys doing here, Star Wars!? I’ve never seen a set this big!’
“When you hear Sam and Tom Hanks talk like this, you knew it was a larger than life project that most actors don’t get the chance to be a part of. So, man, we were pinching ourselves every day on that set,” LaMonica lauds.
Hanks, one of the only men on the planet more recognizable than Sam Elliott, stepped into 1883 as a favor to his and wife Rita Wilson’s real-life close friends, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. If you’re reading this, there’s no need for me to explain who Sheridan is. Or who McGraw and Hill play. Or who Tom Hanks is, for that matter.
But Hanks’ role was inspired by General George Meade, who he is billed as in the Yellowstone prequel. And the production for his scenes was, as LaMonica recalls, unbelievably epic. Sheridan staged an entire Civil War reenactment at the historic Antietam National Battlefield. Meade was a real Union Major General who fought the war, assuming temporary corps command during Antietam. In 1883, however, he’s present as the general to James Dutton (McGraw).
The two share an emotional moment amidst Antietam’s wreckage, and it sets the stage perfectly for a Dutton who’s lived through hell and would prefer to chase a dream; not live in the nightmares of his past. And even after decades at the top of the Hollywood heap, Hanks couldn’t believe what he was seeing while filming it all.
Sam Elliott on ‘1883’s Grandeur
Elliott spoke to the grandeur of Sheridan’s production himself this week, too. “I’m glad I was there at the beginning and not three or four or five shows down the line,” he began for AP in their own exclusive interview.
“I know that at this point in my life, there’s not going to be a better one that’s going to come along than this. I feel like on some level, if I quit right now, I will have done what I set out to do when I was 9 years old wanting to be an actor. I’m spoiled,” Elliott lauded.
As for that on-screen brother, “LaMonica and I hit it off right away,” he adds. “Nothing ever entered into it (with their characters) that spoke of race. It was just these two brothers that cared for each other.”
This was, and remains, a true highlight of 1883 alongside the production value. Sheridan’s script focuses on the power of characters like Noemi (Gratiela Brancusi, another absolute gem of a human being) and Garrett’s Thomas as human beings, not persecuted minorities. Both come from peoples subjected to humanity’s worst atrocities. Yet it is their personalities, strengths, resilience, and budding love for one another that takes center stage.
“I’ve always thought there were three classic struggles in Westerns,” Elliott added, cutting to the heart of this. “It’s man against man, man against nature and man against himself. There’s a lot of people who can feel or understand that.”
This incredible cast stars in 1883, currently airing on Paramount Network every Sunday at 8 PM ET/PT.