"A woman of Faith"- When Helen Mirren made her feelings clear about Taylor Sheridan's portrayal of Cara Dutton in 1923

Helen Mirren played Cara Dutton in 1923, a spin-off of Yellowstone. She stars alongside Harrison Ford, who plays her husband, Jacob Dutton. Mirren, an award-winning actress with an Oscar, five Emmys, and three Golden Globes, said in a December 15, 2022, interview with LRM Online that she sees Cara as "a woman of faith."

"I think she's a Christian, a Catholic, and I think she has carried that faith with her. She doesn't advertise it, it's not a big thing. You know, I wanted to have a little crucifix up on the set, but I said it's got to be really small, so you notice it if you notice it — if you don't notice it, it's fine," she said.

She further explained:

"It's just a little indication of where Cara's faith is. So I do think she's a woman of faith. At the same time, she's practical, she's down to earth, and she's realistic."

The first season of 1923 premiered on Paramount+ on December 18, 2022. It followed a generation of the Dutton family as they navigated various difficulties, such as drought, Prohibition, and the early stages of the Great Depression.

Over two years later, a second and final season of 1923 premiered on February 23, 2025. The season concluded with a double-episode release on April 6, 2025.

---

Helen Mirren agreed to play Cara Dutton in 1923 without reading the script

Thanks to Taylor Sheridan's thoughtful worldbuilding, the Dutton family has become one of the most beloved fictional families in the history of TV shows. It began with Kevin Costner's Yellowstone patriarch James Dutton and his family fighting to save their ranch from all kinds of outside forces.

The first prequel to Yellowstone is 1883, which chronicles the origins of the Dutton family and the establishment of the Yellowstone Ranch in Montana. While 1923 is a prequel to Yellowstone, it is also a sequel to 1883.

According to a Deadline article published on April 16, 2023, after the release of the first season of 1923, Helen Mirren appeared for the outlet's Contenders TV panel. At the panel, she revealed how she agreed to join the series without reading a script.

"For the first time in my life, I wasn’t given a script. I had no idea what it was going to be, and likewise for Harrison [Ford]. We were asked to participate, and you do what you do as an actor and say, ‘Lovely, sounds really interesting. I’d love to read the script?’ But there is no script."

Helen Mirren reflected on how Taylor Sheridan likes to build the characters of his story around the actors who are going to play them. She was also nervous because she had never met Sheridan before and was afraid that he might not build a character for her in the series.

Mirren then revealed that she suggested that she and Sheridan meet so that they could get to know each other. The meeting went well. She was impressed when she finally received the script and found out that she would be playing Cara Dutton.

---

1923 is available to stream on Paramount+.