‘Yellowstone’: Sam Elliott Has High Praise for Taylor Sheridan and Upcoming Prequel ‘1883’

Yellowstone fans got great news on Wednesday when The Hollywood Reporter revealed casting for the Paramount+ prequel, titled 1883. The prequel is set to star Sam Elliott, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, amongst others. Academy Award nominee Elliott is going to star as Shea Brennan, who is described as a tough cowboy who is in charge of guiding the first Dutton family settlers to a new homestead in Montana. 1883 will feature the Dutton family when they go on a journey to one of the last, untamed parts of the country, the Great Plains. The journey will see the family attempting to forge a new path for themselves in Montana. According to Elliott, working with show creator Taylor Sheridan was the major draw for him.

Elliott has made a name for himself over the years playing cowboys, including in The Quick and the Dead, Houston: The Legend of Texas, Tombstone, Buffalo Girls and You Know My Name, so this is spot-on casting. Elliott spoke out about the casting, praising Sheridan‘s writing and building the Yellowstone world. “It all starts with the writing, and Taylor Sheridan is a brilliant writer,” the Ranch alum said. “I think the western genre speaks clearly to both of us. The classic struggles of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. It’s all there, in 1883, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Real-life couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will play James and Margaret Dutton, the patriarch and matriarch of the family, and they acknowledged how grateful they are to have the chance to put down the microphones in order to step in front of the camera. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Hill said about the project. “The Duttons are a formidable family and it is an absolute dream to bring such a strong female character like Margaret Dutton to life. I am humbled and honored to work with Taylor and his entire team.”

“Taylor has found a way of storytelling that brilliantly creates these epic dramas and family sagas with so much depth and creativity,” McGraw said about the news. “The Duttons are tremendous characters and it’s so thrilling to be able to bring them to life.” Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.