In westerns, the way you dress says a lot about you as a cowboy or wrangler. And “1883” star Sam Elliott didn’t approve of the hat he wore as Shea Brennan.
That cowboy hat is a key part of the ensemble, and Elliott knows that. Heck, the man has starred in enough westerns to know cowboy hats better than almost anyone. So Elliott opened to Marc Maron on his WTF Podcast about his disappointment with the headwear.
“I had a hat on this f****** show… a friend of mine who just passed a couple of weeks ago, he started a costume company,” Elliott explained. “And his take on the whole f****** thing with westerns — he did John Wayne films forever– is it all starts with the hat, and it does.”
Sam Elliott added, “In a western, the hat is part of that. And we didn’t get the f****** hat [for Shea] until we got down there in Texas. It was a mistake because we got pushed into a box where we had to settle for a hat. And it was a f****** hat that didn’t fit me. The f****** hat was too loose on me. It was a hat that just didn’t fit.”
It sounds like the “1883” star really wanted a hat that conveyed a better image or message about his character, Shea. But even after requesting a new hat, Elliott was still stuck with one that was too big.
“I remember talking to Taylor on the phone and he said ‘We’ll try a million hats on if we have to, you’ll have the right hat, don’t worry about,’” Elliott shared. “And I got down there and it didn’t happen. But I made it work. I just got into it and figured you know, Shea’s got a f***** up hat, that’s all… not my favorite hat.”
‘1883’ Star Sam Elliott Worried For Physical Health on Show
Aside from wearing the wrong hat for him, “1883” star Sam Elliott also dealt with horrendous weather conditions. He told Express how the severe heat in Texas and cold winters in Montana did a number on him.
“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.”
Elliott is 77 years old, and eventually in the show his character Shea admits he’s 75. So Sheridan definitely made some adjustments. But not enough for Elliott to escape the brutal weather.
“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.”
He continued, “Then we go up to Montana and it’s f*****g freezing cold. I mean cold. And I don’t have a lot of clothes on, I’m wearing, like, a pair of pants and a jacket 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.”