‘1923’ Cast Says the Show Confronts Racism Against Indigenous People Because ‘We Need to Acknowledge That It Happened’

Taylor Sheridan‘s Western series “1923,” a prequel to “Yellowstone,” portrays the realities of surviving in the wilderness — including the political and social atmosphere of the time period.

The show delves into the racism against Indigenous people, such as the systemic abuse in residential schools. Dougie Hall, who plays Two Spears in Season 2, says Sheridan explores actual historical experiences.

“He’s willing to talk openly and honestly about real things and things that really happened to Indigenous people,” Hall told Variety at the show’s Los Angeles premiere Wednesday. “He sheds light on a lot of that because I think in order to heal from stuff in the past, we need to acknowledge that it happened.”

Sebastian Roché plays Father Renaud, a violent priest at a residential school who creates twisted moral justifications for his behavior. “He’s the king of his castle within the laws of God,” Roché said.

Season 2 shows Father Renaud pursuing a young Indigenous character named Teonna, who escaped the institution. As Father Renaud travels with the even more aggressive Marshal Kent, the latter becomes “a mirror of the evil that he perpetuates at the residential school” and showcases what that normalized violence looks like in a different context.

“1923” also touches on issues like anti-miscegenation laws, which made interracial relationships illegal. For Brian Geraghty, whose character Zane in Season 1 is separated from his wife, an Asian woman, the show resonates with the current day.

“1923 is like 2025 in that way. The law at times can help us and other times it feels really corrupt,” Geraghty said.

Harrison Ford plays Jacob Dutton of the central Dutton family, whose ranch is on the verge of being taken away. Jacob bears the responsibility to protect the Duttons and is “willing to go as far as he needs to go. He’ll do anything for his family,” Ford said. “He does not know another way.”

“Those are the times in our history when people really had to fend for themselves,” Ford added.

The series is led by veteran actors Ford and Helen Mirren, who plays Jacob’s wife Cara, but there are also younger cast members who have had their breakout roles on the show.

“It’s definitely impacted me more mentally and spiritually than anything else. Obviously now I have kind of a foot in the door that I didn’t have beforehand, which I’m forever, forever grateful for,” Aminah Nieves, who plays Teonna, said.

Actors who joined for Season 2 say it was easy to become part of the existing cast and crew dynamics. “It felt like it happened instantaneously. It was the most welcoming, hard-working group of people that I’ve ever had the privilege to be around,” said Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Mamie Fossett.

“Taylor Sheridan can write a really strong woman,” Fossett continued. “The soil is just so rich, not only on the pages but on the sets and the quality of the work that the crew was putting forth.”