Helen Mirren Joins ‘1923’ Cast Before Taylor Sheridan Writes Scripts – Contenders TV

Helen Mirren had no idea who she would play in the Paramount+ series 1923 because creator Taylor Sheridan likes to build characters around the actors asked to play them.

“For the first time in my life, I didn’t get a script. I had no idea what it was going to be, and the same goes for Harrison [Ford]Mirren told Deadline’s Contenders Television panel on Sunday. “We were asked to participate and you do what you do as an actor and you’re like, ‘Nice, sounds really interesting. I want to read the script?’ But there’s no script. Taylor enjoys writing the people he knows are going to play the part. It was a combination of flattering and quite unnerving because I’ve never really met Taylor Sheridan and he might not want to write to me when he meets me.”

Mirren suggested meeting Sheridan so they could get to know each other. They did and it was a “good night,” she said. She later revealed what an “incredible moment” it was when she finally got her hands on a script and found out all about the role she would be playing yellowstone Prequel series on Paramouint+.

“I personally added the Irish thing,” added Mirren. “I thought when you watch westerns, you don’t see enough people with accents, even though they are all recent immigrants. … Apart from that, to be honest, it’s brilliantly written, and what’s on the page comes across, and it’s more or less perfect. It is extraordinary.”

Her co-stars Aminah Nieves, who plays Teonna Rainwater, and Brandon Sklenar, who plays Spencer Dutton, also shared insights about their casting.

“It came into my inbox and I was scared when I read it because it was so raw and true,” said Nieves. “I really wanted to honor our community as much as possible. And then, after the second time, I signed up for it. I thought: ‘Yeah, it’s not up to me anymore. It’s really for the spirit, and my mother made me, and here we are.’”

Sklenar added, “I took a little bit of a sabbatical because I was doing an incredible amount of auditioning and self-tapping. I shifted gears a little bit. I was on a three-week backpacking trip to Oregon and Washington at the time. Halfway through this trip i slept in a tent for two and a half weeks when i got the call to do the tape which was quite appropriate as i was living in a tent in the countryside i sent my selfie and continued my journey when I got the call to go to Jackson Hole for testing I read with Taylor and almost certainly knew in the room I had a feeling when I first read it on the website that it was my husband . The words only make sense when they come out of your mouth.”

Check back Tuesday for the panel video.

Deadline contender television is sponsored by Apple TV+, Coverfly, Eyepetizer, Final Draft, Los Siete Misterios, Michter’s and Village Roadshow Entertainment. Partners include: Four Seasons Resort Maui, The American Pavilion, Julia Wong Designs and Pamring.