1923‘s Helen Mirren is setting the record straight about if she or her co-star, Harrison Ford, was cast first in the hit Yellowstone spinoff. In 1923, Helen Mirren plays Cara Dutton, the wife of Jacob Dutton, portrayed by Ford. According to the Red star, Ford claims she was cast first, and that in part attracted him to the role. However, Mirren insists this isn’t the case.
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“Well, we don’t quite know,” Mirren told Deadline about the casting order. “Harrison says that I was asked first and then he agreed because I had agreed,” she quipped. However, that’s not how it actually went down, she explains. “My side of the story is that he was already cast when I was asked to join it, and I joined because Harrison had joined. So we’re not quite sure which came first, but I think it’s a wonderful pairing. We love each other very much as people. I love Harrison. There’s just no two ways about it.”
Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford have shared the screen before
Of course, Mirren and Ford had worked together before on the 1986 Peter Weir film, The Mosquito Coast. Back then, The Queen actress was more of a stage actor, while Ford was a superstar. “The relationship was obviously very, very different then,” she told The Times last year. “Harrison was already an enormous movie star and I was a theatre actress out of London and nobody had heard of me.”
However, since the 80s, Mirren’s film profile has grown quite a bit. She even won an Oscar for her performance in 2006’s The Queen. An Academy Award win has eluded Ford over the years. “Now our relationship is very different because I’ve sort of caught up with him,” she added. “Well, I’ll never catch up with him completely but I’m a little bit closer than I was.
Mirren’s hopes for the second season of ‘1923’
Now that the first season of 1923 has aired, Mirren shared her hopes for the upcoming second season. Mostly, she wants to see Cara reunited with Spencer.
“I think Spencer’s gonna show up pretty quickly,” she told Deadline. “I got the sense that [show creator Taylor Sheridan] was really imaginatively attracted to Spencer’s adventures, which were great for the audience, I thought.” Spencer and his wife Alexandria (played by Brandon Sklenar and Julia Schlaepfer, respectively) spent most of the season in Africa. The show would often feature letter exchanges between the characters.
“He made a great storyline, which was really beautiful to watch,” Mirren added. “I hope Spencer comes home soon, though. I dunno how many more letters I’ve got in me,” she joked.
