“I don’t do that shit anymore”: Taylor Sheridan’s Reply to Harrison Ford for His Yellowstone Spin-off ‘1923’ Could’ve Easily Backfired After Kevin Costner Feud

Taylor Sheridan may not have much to show for his decades of acting career but slaving away at the Hollywood mill did teach him a lesson or two. He then used these lessons to bring Hollywood down to its knees. Churning out award-worthy original content, prequels, and spin-offs at an ungodly pace, Sheridan makes sure the studios perk up as soon as they hear his pen scratching the surface of a paper.

However, Sheridan’s start at the frontlines of television and streaming was not inherently without its flaws. After suffering through an ordeal while securing a platform for Yellowstone, the director encountered and overcame massive obstacles in closing the series arc. His future spin-offs have been easier to pull off, but Sheridan once came incredibly close to losing his deal with Harrison Ford.

Taylor Sheridan’s Ambitious Deal With Harrison Ford

Taylor Sheridan has always been somewhat audacious in his ambitions. But the Yellowstone creator’s stunt involving Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren might have been the most daring of them all. Talking actors into doing movie and television roles is difficult as it is, but Sheridan has a god-like ability to cast the biggest names imaginable even before a word of his new series has been penned or scripted.

As such, when the rancher finally got the chance to work with Harrison Ford, one of the first things that he demanded of the Star Wars legend was his irrevocable commitment to the series 1923. In an interview with Deadline, Taylor Sheridan reveals how the particularly weird interaction went down:

“He flew down. I said, we’re going to do this thing together. He goes, can I read a script? I said, you can when it’s written, but it ain’t written yet and you got to commit to it now. I need to know who I’m writing for. I’m done wondering who I’m writing for, and I have to go try to chase the person I had in my mind and I can’t get the person because they’re doing some fu*king Netflix show. I don’t do that shit anymore.

So, are you going to do it or are you going to watch Chris Cooper do the next great thing? What do you want to do? I poured about two bottles of wine down him. He said yes. I got him on the plane as fast as I could, closed the deal and said, send me the next one. Then came Helen, and same thing. Have a glass of wine.”

Helen Mirren agreed readily to the would-be script of the Yellowstone spin-off after meeting Taylor Sheridan and his wife. Aside from having extraordinary faith in Sheridan and his prowess in storytelling, the Shakespearean legend claimed her character’s “jump into the unknown” motivated her to take the role of Cara Dutton.

Taylor Sheridan Almost Repeated the Kevin Costner Fiasco

The owner of the historic 6666 ranch is known for two things at the moment: his Yellowstone universe and the Kevin Costner fiasco. What started out as rumblings of discontent soon escalated into a full-blown disintegration of the relationship between the creator and his lead star. Despite the numerous reasons that floated through the grapevine, one of the primary reasons was the pair’s difference in creative opinion and Costner’s commitment to Horizon: An American Saga.

The price that was ultimately paid by Taylor Sheridan on that front was massive, given how much time, legal expense, and media frenzy was directed at the Yellowstone crew. However, Sheridan seemingly failed to learn from the mistakes of his past and almost repeated the Kevin Costner fiasco during his meeting with Harrison Ford.

Facing an actor of Ford’s caliber, plying him with wine, and getting him to agree on a series despite having no script on hand could have come off as rude and arrogant enough to ward off the 1923 star. Moreover, Ford makes for an extremely magnetic centerpiece for studios and film directors who want to book him for big-budget projects and blockbuster finales, like Indiana Jones 5.

Taylor Sheridan’s reluctance to chase after an actor who couldn’t swear their unyielding loyalty to his projects could have served as another reason for a clash between him and Ford. Fortunately for the fans of the Yellowstone universe, Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren helped launch another Western classic into the realm of modern television, pulling off the biggest TV series in Hollywood history without a hitch.

1923 is available for streaming on Paramount+.