If Ford and Mirren are the show’s leads in Montana, Schlaepfer and the It Ends with Us star Brandon Sklenar are its leads abroad – the pair’s characters, haughty English aristocrat Alexandra and haunted Dutton heir Spencer, meet while on safari in Kenya.
Tom Murray speaks to Helen Mirren, who plays the Dutton family’s fierce matriarch, and her co-star about the trials that lie ahead for Montana’s most sought-after ranch.
Season two sees the couple making their way to Montana separately after a debacle on a cruise ship involving Alex’s ex (let’s just say it didn’t end well for him).
In season one, Spencer is busy drowning his PTSD from the First World War in whiskey and the blood of man-eating leopards when the captivating “Alex” convinces him to trade it in for the quiet life.
Happily, Mirren’s 29-year-old co-star Julia Schlaepfer tells me Sheridan had a much more hands-off approach when it came to the prequel.
