Fans have been left doing a double take after a 1980s icon popped up in season two of smash-hit Western drama 1923.
C. Thomas Howell has appeared in Taylor Sheridan’s star-studded show – led by Harrison Ford and Dame Helen Mirren – as Texas cowboy Anders in two episodes so far, over 40 years since some of his biggest movie roles – and unsurprisingly looks almost unrecognisable.
Howell, now 58, had his big breakthrough playing Tyler in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial in 1982 as a young teenager, before leading the cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders the following year, which also included Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise and Matt Dillon.
Making a name for himself as a teen idol, he also acted opposite Swayze again in the films Grandview USA and Red Dawn in 1984, as well as adding films like Secret Admirer, The Hitcher and Return of the Musketeers to his CV.
In 1923 though, he looks worlds apart with a giant grey moustache and weatherbeaten face, playing a cowboy.
He is first seen interacting with Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) when she and Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) and Pete Plenty Clouds (Jeremy Gauna) accidentally travel through the ranch he works on.
Offering them sanctuary initially, in the series’ latest episode he is then shown being convinced to give up Teonna’s last-known location to the vicious Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) and Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) on her tail, after he convinces Anders that she is a murderous monster.
Coincidentally, the actor’s father was a cowboy, professional bull rider and stunt performer in real life.
‘Did not realise that was C. Thomas Howell in 1923 last night,’ tweeted John Sullivan on X. ‘And I’m a huge CTH fan. Great as always. I love his 90’s DTV movies but his later TV roles have been very strong, especially on SouthLAnd.’
‘God do I feel old, C. Thomas Howell in the series 1923. I had to do a double-take,’ chimed in Adrian, while Neil Ackerman added: ‘I just saw Ponyboy ( C Thomas Howell) on 1923’, in reference to the name of his character from The Outsiders.
Nidia simply shared: ‘#CThomasHowell needs more screen time on 1923.’
Howells’ career hit a major stumbling block in 1986 with Soul Man, a controversial and problematic film where he plays a law student who pretends to be Black to win a prestigious scholarship – donning Blackface in the process.
However, his career has recovered in intervening years with lower profile projects as he continued working steadily.
Last year he appeared in biopic Reagan with Dennis Quaid, while he’s also popped up on TV in The Walking Dead, Ray Donovan, SEAL Team, Marvel’s The Punisher, Blue Bloods and 24.
Hollywood mogul Sheridan, who created 1923 as a spin-off from his massively popular series Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner, has cast many famous people in cameo roles in his projects.
These include Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Billy Bob Thornton in 1883, another Yellowstone spin-off, and the late Donald Sutherland in Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
1923 season two is streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus, with new episodes on Sundays.