Sam Elliott Wants an ‘1883’ Prequel: ‘There’s Plenty of Stuff to Do’
Sam Elliott enjoyed his time on the Yellowstone prequel 1883 so much that he'd like to continue on with the work. In a new interview, the cinema legend says he'd like to reprise his role as Shea Brennan in a prequel to the prequel.
The 78-year-old actor played a rough-and-tumble cowboy who teams with his partner, Thomas (LaMonica Garrett), to guide a wagon train of settlers from Texas to Montana in 1883. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill starred as James and Margaret Dutton, and the journey ends with them establishing the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch that the action on Yellowstone all centers around.
Elliott tells Variety that despite the arduous conditions involved in shooting the show, which included traveling in extreme elements on an actual wagon train across the country, he was so involved with his role that he was sorry to see it end.
“I think everybody was sad to see it over; I know I was," he states. "I would have liked to have that wagon train go to Canada by then and just stay with it."
Though his character of Shea Brennan dies at the end of 1883, Elliott sees a way around that.
“My thought was, ‘Let’s do a prequel of this,” he reflects. “Where was LaMonica? Where were those two guys? Pick it up after the war, when they were Pinkertons. There’s plenty of stuff to do.”
Though there has been no official news about an 1883 spinoff, Elliott confirms it's a possibility to Variety. The actor took home Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for his role on 1883 at the SAG Awards in February, giving a speech calling it "the most meaningful acknowledgement of my 55-year career."