Harrison Ford talks joining the 'Yellowstone' universe in '1923': 'I haven't played a character like this ever'

Harrison Ford isn't a rancher in real life, but he does own a home on the range. The Indiana Jones star and his wife, actress Calista Flockhart, spend much of their time on an 800-acre property outside of Jackson, Wyoming. "It's a former ranch," Ford tells Yahoo Entertainment. "I don't raise cattle on it, but I am the steward of that little chunk of nature and it's full of wildlife, streams and woods. I enjoy being there."

That might explain why Ford looks so at home in 1923, the latest prequel to Taylor Sheridan's hit Western, Yellowstone. Premiering Dec. 18 on Paramount+, the series casts Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton — ancestors of Kevin Costner's rancher, John Dutton III, on the mothership series, which is currently in its fifth season. (A previous prequel series, 1883, played on the streaming service earlier this year.)

"I haven't played a character like this ever," Ford says of his ’20s-era alter ego, who has to protect the Dutton family's homestead in a rapidly changing world that's facing challenges ranging from insect infestations to a looming economic depression. "The complexity and his moral journey in terms of the decisions he has to make are complicated and interesting. I want audiences to see the struggle of a determined man in specific circumstances."

Watch a trailer for 1923 below

Asked whether he provided any of the 1923 cast with lessons that he's learned from his time in the Wyoming outdoors, Ford humbly suggests that they didn't need any pointers from him. But his co-stars sing a different tune. "He gave me a lot of life advice," insists James Badge Dale, who plays Jacob's nephew — and John's grandfather — John Dutton Sr. "I'm going keep some of those things to myself, but when Harrison Ford turns to you and says: 'I'm the luckiest person on Earth to still be doing this job for a living,' you better listen to that."

"What he brought to set every day was awesome," echoes Darren Mann, who plays Dale's onscreen son, Jack. "He's such a wicked guy: I loved hanging out with him. He was a childhood idol of mine, and it was a dream come true getting to work with him."

Not for nothing, but Ford also got the opportunity to act opposite one of his idols. Thirty-six years ago, he and Mirren played husband and wife in the Peter Weir-directed drama, The Mosquito Coast, and the actor had been hoping to reunite with her ever since. "The relationship between Jacob and Cara is a really strong element of the show," he says. "I was anxious to work in that area with her."

It's made clear in the first episode of 1923 that Cara is on equal footing with Jacob when it comes to running the ranch. And she's not shy about encouraging fellow Dutton matriarchs — including John Sr.'s wife, Emma (Marley Shelton) and Jack's bride-to-be, Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) — to assert their own authority. "The women back then were fierce; they had to be," Shelton notes. "It was really intense living out there. Harrison even has a line where he says, 'I gotta ask the boss.' And he's talking about Helen!"

Randolph also credits Sheridan with writing female characters that stand toe-to-toe with their male co-stars. "Helen is such a bold presence," she raves. "My character looks up to her because she's an equal to the men. When they leave the ranch, she's there to pick up the slack. The cowboys know it, the men know it and she knows it."

One of the themes explored in 1923 is how Old West traditions bend and break as the modern conveniences of the 20th century roll out in earnest. That idea is summed up in a single shot in the first episode when Jacob and his ranch hands ride into town on horseback, navigating through bustling streets that are lined with some of the earliest mass-produced automobiles.

"It's a real crossroads of time," Mann confirms about how the setting impacts the show. "World War I has ended, prohibition is starting, electricity is coming to town and people are starting to get washing machines. There's so much going on, and I think people are really going to enjoy learning more about the history of the time."

But Dale also sees some connections between the past and the present. "They had the Spanish flu, and we have our own pandemic," he says. "The stock market crashed, and we're having our own issues with the market right now. They're dealing with electricity and we're dealing with cyberspace. It's interesting how many parallels there are between the two eras."

For his part, Ford also sees an opportunity to explore some of the sins of the past through the series. "There are times in the history of this country where we've gone through social upheaval and we're redressing some of the issues that are the product of our [history]," he says, noting that one major plot thread in 1923 follows the harsh experience of a young Native American woman (played by Aminah Nieves) at a government-run boarding school. "We push into the unexplored relationships with the indigenous community. All of those are elements of this story — it's quite broad and ambitious."

1923 premieres Dec. 18 on Paramount+