The Yellowstone saga continued in the brand new spin-off, 1883, which has nearly wrapped up its gripping first season. Series stars Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliott will be returning for a second season of Paramount prequel, but Hollywood legend Sam wasn’t happy with the unforgiving conditions of the Oregon Trail.
Shea Brennan star Sam, 77, has revealed the most challenging aspect of his new series, the highly successful Yellowstone spin-off 1883. Sam plays an ageing cowboy in the series, who leads the first Duttons to their new home in Montana.
The series has been praised for its authentic representation of the decline of the American West in the late 19th Century.Unfortunately for the cast, this meant enduring the unbearably high temperatures while they filmed part of the series in Texas.
“I think the hell of it is just dealing with the elements, more than anything,” Sam recalled.
“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.”
The Hollywood star was talking alongside fellow series regulars LaMonica Garrett and Eric Nelsen in the latest episode of the Official Yellowstone Podcast.
Unfortunately, Eric’s stint as young cowboy Ennis has come to an end, and the jury is still out on whether Sam will be returning as Shea in season two.
Although he insisted the challenging weather was worth it for t he final product, the veteran actor feared he might not survive the rest of the shoot.
Sam 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 for most of the thing. 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.”
Showrunner Taylor Sheridan was adamant the series remain as authentic to the Old West as possible, down to the actors apparently not shaving or wearing cosmetics during filming.
Unfortunately, this meant their period-accurate clothing wasn’t always suited for handling the bitterly cold weather during 1883’s winter shoot in Montana.
Sam added: “I just remember thinking ‘What the f**k, man? Am I gonna die on this trail?’”
“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. I said ‘Hey, Taylor, man. I’m almost twice that age. Well, not quite, but I’m way too old for this thing’.
“He said, ‘nah, I write everybody at 45.’ I said, ‘bulls**t’.”
After enduring blistering cold and scorching heat, the cast’s work has certainly paid off and the epic Western journey will be back for season two in due course.