With Paramount+’s hit series 1883 already halfway through its first season, Elsa Dutton actress Isabel May reveals she knows everything about the show’s “bigger picture.”
When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if 1883 creator Taylor Sheridan let her into his overall plans, May declared, “I’ve been let in. I haven’t poked and prodded, personally. Because I’ve never been one to do that. But he’s always been very forthright with me. And it’s probably because I don’t poke and prod.”
When asked if she picks at Sheridan’s brain about the characters and his 14 film projects often, the 1883 actress explains. “That’s probably the greatest thing about this project. It’s Taylor’s baby, and I don’t think people understand how much it means to him. I certainly don’t want to speak on his behalf, but he’s expressed that.”
Isabel May Shares Details About Her Relationship with ‘1883’ Co-Stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
While continuing her chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Isabel May shares details about her relationship with 1883 co-stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The duo plays her character’s parents. “The fact that they have three daughters is an advantage. I have a little bit of a physical resemblance, but my personality also melds with their three daughters from what Faith has expressed to me.”
The 1883 star also spoke about the chemistry between all three characters as well. “So when you see some of the emotion that plays out, especially between Faith and Tim, it feels so real because how they feel about Elsa became so real. It became almost painfully real. She became like a real daughter to them, I think, and they kind of became real parents to me as well.”
May goes on to say that she loves both McGraw and Hill dearly and the stars perfectly aligned when it came to the 1883 roles. “It was all meant to me.”
Meanwhile, when discussing her character’s growth and how she ended up killing the bandit that shot and killed her onscreen boyfriend Ennis (Eric Nelsen), the 1883 star declared that as an actor she was very excited for her character to lose her innocence in the situation. “I was very excited to jump into the other half of her. And I’d been stewing in the first episodes for a little while.”
However, the 1883 actress admitted that she was trying to be very patient with what some people might call her character’s annoying level of optimism. “Of course, I love this fictional character to death. It almost makes me emotional talking about her. I’ve genuinely fallen in love with a person that doesn’t exist. To see her in pain made me feel pain to a degree.”
