Harrison Ford is taking on a major television project in his new role as Dutton family patriarch Jacob Dutton in the new Yellowstone prequel, 1923. In an interview in advance of the show's premiere, the cinema legend reveals he actually agreed to take on the part before he'd even seen a script.

"I based my decision on personal meetings with (Yellowstone co-creator) Taylor (Sheridan)," Ford said during a media roundtable in early December of 2022. "There was no script at the time we agreed."

He adds that "one of the real draws" for the show was the chance to work with Helen Mirren again. She played his wife in The Mosquito Coast in 1986, and she plays Jacob Dutton's wife, Cara Dutton, in 1923.

Mirren "was the first one aboard," Ford shares, and that piqued his interest immediately. His conversations with Sheridan sealed the deal.

"When Taylor and I met, it probably preceded the script by at least three or four weeks," Ford recounts. "So he talked me through what his ideas were, and I was impressed by his articulation of his ambition and his sincerity. And when I got the script, I was very gratified, I think it's very interesting, It's ambitious, but it's a character very different to any that I've played so far, and that interests me. I'm always interested in working with new things."

1923 is set to debut on Sunday (Dec. 18) via the Paramount+ streaming service. As part of Taste of Country's comprehensive coverage of all things Yellowstone and 1923, check out the Dutton Rules podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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