It was not always fun and games for 1883 star Sam Elliott when it comes to those really harsh weather conditions. During the one season of the Yellowstone prequel, the weather would be hot for some filming and cold for others. Elliott, who played Shea Brennan on the Taylor Sheridan show, is 77 years old. Getting into different scenes called for hot weather in Texas, while cold weather awaited in Montana. Sam Elliott is one whale of an actor but the weather conditions threw him for a loop.
‘1883’ Actor Sam Elliott Had Trouble With Different Weather Conditions
Elliott’s Shea was an aging cowboy who would lead the Duttons, played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, to their Montana home. Now 1883 did its best to be authentic in its representation of life in the American West in the late 19th Century. As we said, though, the weather conditions were something to behold.
“I think the hell of it is just dealing with the elements, more than anything,” Elliott said. “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.” His comments are part of an article in Express.
Sam Elliott was a guest on The Official Yellowstone Podcast with other 1883 stars LaMonica Garrett and Eric Nelsen. Garrett played Thomas while Nelsen was young cowboy Ennis. Elliott said the weather was worth it for how the episodes came out on TV. But he admitted that he feared that he might not survive the rest of the shoot.
Cold Temperatures, Clothing Didn’t Help Him Out Much
“Then we go up to Montana and it’s f*****g freezing cold,” he said. “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 time. 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.”
Now, 1883 showrunner Taylor Sheridan wanted everything to be as authentic to the Old West as possible. This, of course, meant actors not shaving and wearing cosmetics.
Those clothes, too, were accurate to the period. But they didn’t always help when shooting 1883 scenes in Montana.
“I just remember thinking ‘What the f**k, man? Am I gonna die on this trail?’” Elliott said. “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.”