‘1923’ Star James Badge Dale On Sunday’s Shocker Ending: ‘I Left Something In That Dirt’

05.01.2023 - 02:11 / deadline.com

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains major plot points from Sunday’s episode of 1923 on Paramount+.

A rousing gunfight between the Dutton crew and some local sheep owners led to a shocking conclusion Sunday on 1923, with one major member of the famed ranch taking a fatal hit. That’s right, Taylor Sheridan fans: no one is safe from his fictitious bullets, even a prized member of the Dutton family (we’ll never forget you, Dave Annabel’s Leo Dutton from season one of Yellowstone!)

Here, James Badge Dale — the actor best known for The Departed — talks about playing John Dutton Sr. for only three episodes and how he knew from the start that his days on 1923 weren’t going to last forever.

DEADLINE: So is it an honor to be killed off from a Taylor Sheridan drama?

JAMES BADGE DALE: I’m so happy to finally be able to talk about it because I did the whole press tour and they were like, ‘what’s the story arc here?’ And I was like uh, uh. I had a great time. They were very upfront with me on what they’re looking for and what they needed. It was a pleasure to play the role of John Dutton Sr.

DEADLINE: What was your audition like?

DALE: I’ve known [casting director] John Papsidera for like 20 years. He’s seen me in all sorts of ups and downs and lefts and rights. He called and said, ‘look, I think you might be the guy. Can you make a tape for us? Taylor’s just gotta see it.’ I was working down in North Carolina. I ran out at about 6 A.M. and taped in a swamp on my iPhone. There were like three scenes and I rewrote everything into one scene and I just knocked it out on my iPhone and in the swamp. I sent it to my agents and they were like, ‘there’s no way. Like, all you can hear are the bugs. You can’t send this.’ And I was like, send