“I Can’t Think of Anything More Dire”: ‘1923’s Brandon Sklenar Previews What’s Ahead for Spencer Dutton in Season 2

While Taylor Sheridan‘s flagship neo-Western drama Yellowstone may be concluded for the moment, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more Duttons to tune in for this year on the small screen. 1923 follows an older generation of Duttons on their ranch in Montana through trial and tribulation alike — including Prohibition, threats against the land, the early effects of the Great Depression, and (as Season 2 quickly reveals) incredibly harsh winters.

While Jacob and Cara Dutton, played by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, seek to keep their ranch from falling into the hands of diabolical businessman Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton), it’s a race against time for their nephew, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), who has only just learned of the plight they’re facing.

As Spencer attempts to travel home to Montana with his new bride Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) by his side, the two become separated by external forces and pledge to make their way back to each other at any cost — but just how tough will the road be?

Ahead of 1923‘s return on Paramount+, Collider had the opportunity to catch up with Sklenar to preview what the new season has in store for his character and what fans can look forward to seeing as Spencer continues his mission to make it back to Montana and help save his family’s land.

Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Sklenar discusses the biggest difference between filming the first and second season, how Spencer’s priorities have changed since receiving Cara’s letter, how he’s attempting to prioritize his new wife and his dedication to family, how he’s always known how things will end for his character, and more.

COLLIDER: What did you find was the biggest difference for you, personally, in shooting Season 2 versus Season 1?

BRANDON SKLENAR: The biggest difference, personally, was definitely just understanding who Spencer was and understanding the tone of the show and that not being in question at all. Whereas in Season 1, we were figuring out who this man is and how he walks and how he talks and the tone of the show itself, and the world we were creating.

Having a living, breathing example of that and having two years of that out in the world answered a lot of questions so we could just go in and play and know the world we were in. I knew my guy. I know him better than anything, so there’s definitely more freedom in the performance as a result.

Brandon Sklenar Explains Why the Stakes Are Even Higher in ‘1923’ Season 2

Last season found Spencer finally reading the letters from Cara about the threats against the Dutton ranch. How does knowing his family is in danger change his motivation from what it was in Season 1?

SKLENAR: It’s everything to him. Him feeling responsible for not having been there and him knowing, “Well, if I had been there, then my brother wouldn’t be dead, and had I not run from this and had I faced it, I could save them already.”

He’s constantly thinking, “Will I run out of time? Will they be there when I get there? What am I gonna come home to?” That is a profoundly intense motivation. The health and the livelihood and the lives of your family members, I can’t think of anything else more dire or higher stakes than that.

At the end of last season, Spencer and Alex are split up right on the heels of being married. They clearly want to fight to get back to each other, but how is Spencer forced to juggle his priorities between his new wife and the rest of his family?

SKLENAR: It’s interesting. I kind of see them as one and the same. They’re all people that he loves, he lives for, and he’s willing to die for and put himself through literally anything that comes in front of him to be there for them and to protect them and to save them.

It’s interesting because he’s definitely on a mission to get home, and he’s, somewhere inside of him, finding the faith and trust that she’s gonna find him, and they’ll find each other and that that insane connection and that love will just bring them together.

She’s on her mission just as much as he’s on his mission. So, just having that unspoken thing, if they can’t communicate at all, and they just have to blindly have faith in one another that they’re going to find each other. It’s so beautiful.

Brandon Sklenar Explains Where Spencer Has Ended Up in ‘1923’ Season 2

I’m wondering if you can talk a little about where Spencer finds himself at the beginning of Season 2. It feels very much like survival of the fittest, as well as the fact that Spencer is also the sort of person who doesn’t tolerate the weak being bullied.

SKLENAR: Yeah. He’s working, shoveling coal in a merchant ship, and he has been doing that for months. He can’t not help someone in need, and I think that that’s such a noble trait of his. He, for better or worse, cannot shy away from that. It definitely brings out a side of him that I think audiences are going to enjoy watching, for sure.

You’ve spoken before about knowing how things will end for your character in this show. Is that something you had conversations about with Taylor Sheridan after you were cast?

SKLENAR: Yeah. Without giving me any specifics — really, because he hadn’t written it yet either — but he knew in his own mind how he saw this thing going, and it is kind of like Homer’s Odyssey, the hero’s journey.

He wanted me to know where I would eventually be so that I could inform the performance in Season 1, finding moments to reveal what’s under the surface and potentially what he’s capable of, and what he’s running from and hiding from, and teasing it and so that we could slowly reveal that in Season 2. You have this emotional and physical metamorphosis that definitely happens over this next season.

You’re gearing up to shoot a more contemporary Western movie with The Rescue. What appealed to you about doing something in the genre set during modern times versus a period piece like this series?

SKLENAR: I love period films, the world and the costumes. It’s fun to disappear to a time where you only have photos and videos of. But I love the Western genre, and I want to play in that world as much as I can. That story is going to be a great film and is a different side of it all. Without saying too much, I’m excited about it.