‘1923’ Cast Says the Show Confronts Racism Against Indigenous People Because ‘We Need to Acknowledge That It Happened’

variety.com:

Abigail Lee Taylor Sheridan‘s Western series “1923,” a prequel to “Yellowstone,” portrays the realities of surviving in the wilderness — including the political and social atmosphere of the time period.

The show delves into the racism against Indigenous people, such as the systemic abuse in residential schools. Dougie Hall, who plays Two Spears in Season 2, says Sheridan explores actual historical experiences. “He’s willing to talk openly and honestly about real things and things that really happened to Indigenous people,” Hall told Variety at the show’s Los Angeles premiere Wednesday. “He sheds light on a lot of that because I think in order to heal from stuff in the past, we need to acknowledge that it happened.” Sebastian Roché plays Father Renaud, a violent priest at a residential school who creates twisted moral justifications for his behavior. “He’s the king of his castle within the laws of God,” Roché said.

Season 2 shows Father Renaud pursuing a young Indigenous character named Teonna, who escaped the institution. As Father Renaud travels with the even more aggressive Marshal Kent, the latter becomes “a mirror of the evil that he perpetuates at the residential school” and showcases what that normalized violence looks like in a different context. “1923” also touches on issues like anti-miscegenation laws, which made interracial relationships illegal.

For Brian Geraghty, whose character Zane in Season 1 is separated from his wife, an Asian woman, the show resonates with the current day. “1923 is like 2025 in that way.