What to expect from Yellowstone prequel 1883

Neo-Western drama Yellowstone has gripped fans for four seasons with the story of the modern-day Dutton family, ranchers living in Montana near Yellowstone National Park.

The Duttons have a rich history, from humble beginnings in Tennessee to establishing the Yellowstone Ranch: a backstory which is now being explored in new Paramount+ prequel series 1883.

Starring country singers, actors and real-life married couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as patriarch and matriarch James and Margaret Dutton, 1883 follows the family as they embark on a journey out west, fleeing poverty in Tennessee and searching for a better life in a perilous expedition along the trail.

But just how did they fare in recreating the arduous journey and exploring this pivotal period in American history?

We hear more from the pair...

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS, JAMES AND MARGARET DUTTON.

TM: James is an interesting guy. I think most of the time, actors, when they describe their character, they like to say that he's a really complex and layered guy: I didn't find that with James. I thought James was pretty straight ahead and straightforward. His main concern was about protecting his family.

He was in the Civil War, and in my mind I created a backstory for him that he probably didn't really want to fight in that war, but during that time you sort of were forced to. He spent three years in a prison camp and weighed 97 pounds when he got out. I think what he was looking for was an untainted place to raise his family, and to outrun the ghosts that he had. We all know that you really can't do that.

FH: Margaret, I loved her, because obviously she has depth, but as the series unfolds you will see that there are many, many, many layers to her. It was fun to play her. I miss her, actually. She's much cooler than I am!

(As Margaret) I was a nurse in the war, and then I was pregnant with our daughter Elsa, who is played by the brilliant actor Isabel May, while James was a prisoner of war, and I didn't know if he was coming home or not. He was away for three years.

Our family originated in Tennessee, so we began the story of making our way out west. We were headed to Oregon, but we end up in Montana - and you'll find out why later in the series.

YOU'RE MARRIED IN REAL LIFE, AND YOU'RE PLAYING A MARRIED COUPLE IN THIS SHOW. HOW WAS THAT?

TM: Oh, it was perfect. We'd never acted before together, so when this opportunity came up, we were really excited to do it - especially when we started reading the material.

FH: When we agreed to do this, I said: 'Because we're together all the time, I don't want to run our lines together. I don't want to talk about our scenes, I don't want to discuss it. I want it to happen the moment we're on set, and the camera's rolling, they call action. That's when we are James and Margaret. Not any other time.'

TM: Faith and I have been in this business for 30 years playing music, so there's definitely this persona of Faith and I that we know that everybody knows, and we knew that it was going to be a hard obstacle to overcome, for everybody not to see Tim and Faith on screen. We wanted to be authentically James and Margaret.

You have this sort of euphoria after having something that went so well, to go home and lay in bed and sit up for a couple hours and talk about the day. That was something that very few people get to share. It was pretty beautiful.

THERE'S A LOT OF HORSE RIDING AND GUNSLINGING IN 1883: WHAT SKILLS DID YOU HAVE TO LEARN?

TM: I mean, I could ride before I could walk. I grew up in Louisiana, I was in high school rodeo, so I rode bareback horses and bulls growing up. I'm not a gun person per se, but I like to bird hunt, so I'm pretty good with a gun. It was fun to work with the pistols - plus it made you feel cool when you're in costume and you have your pistols on and you're fighting bad guys.

FH: Having to learn the skills in the true way was vitally important. The wagons, and roping, and wrangling cattle... which, by the way, was my favourite thing to do. It was so much fun just to be out in the wide open space, on the back of a horse, free, the wind blowing in your hair, the freedom of that is just - oh, I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience it.

TM: Faith got really proficient at driving the wagon, which is probably the hardest thing on set for anybody to do, especially crossing those rivers. I remember one of the hairiest river crossings that we did: it was three, four in the morning, it was our 25th wedding anniversary. I'm swimming my horse across the river, she's swimming her wagon across the river, and there was real fear there.

She was fearful because of the situation she was in - but she handled it perfectly, which played well on-screen - and I was fearful for my wife. In character, I'd be fearful for my wife, but in real life I was fearful for my wife. So I think it added an authenticity that might not have been there otherwise.

HOW DO YOU THINK MODERN AUDIENCES WILL RELATE TO THE STORY, AND WHAT COULD WE STAND TO LEARN FROM IT?

TM: Certainly I think the sense of protecting your family and the sense of adventure. It gave me a whole new respect for what our ancestors went through, coming to the United States and forging this country, taking that step to go to enter the unknown. It's a period piece and you get lost in it, but I also think that there's so many correlations - down to how vital and important immigration and immigrants were to our country and building our country. I think that's a lesson that we have to revisit as well.

FH: In search of a better life for your family - everyone, no matter where you came from, at that moment, when we were on that trail together, we were all on the same, equal playing field. It made you realise, stop and think that as humans we have more in common. We need to remember that. We really just want the best for our families, and it teaches you to be a little more gracious and supportive.

1883 is available as a box set on Paramount+ now.