1 of 3 | Julia Schlaepfer and Brandan Sklenar star in “1923.” Season 2 of the “Yellowstone” prequel premieres Sunday. Photo courtesy of 1923
NEW YORK, Feb. 23 (UPI) — Julia Schlaepfer says that Alexandra, the British countess she plays in the Yellowstone prequel, 1923, is so desperate to reunite with her husband, she will endure whatever hardships she must to share her life with him in the United States.
Created by Taylor Sheridan, the series stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara, the heads of the struggling Dutton ranching family in Montana.
In Season 1, Alexandra dumps her insufferable fiance during an African safari and runs off with Jacob’s nephew, the handsome World War I veteran and lion hunter Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar).
The finale sees the younger couple separated in England after Spencer is wrongly charged with murder.
All is not lost, however, because Alexandra vows to follow Spencer back to his ranch, which is experiencing a punishing winter and financial difficulties.
Season 2 of the western premieres on Paramount+ Sunday.
Asked how long viewers will have to wait to see Alex and Spencer reunite, Schlaepfer, 29, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview: “I cannot answer that, unfortunately. I’m so sorry.
“I’m rooting for them to get back together as much as everyone else is, so they’re working on it,” she laughed.
It is her love for Spencer that keeps Alex going as she makes the arduous voyage in a ship’s “tourist class” from England to America, according to the actress who plays her.
“She made a choice to leave her old life behind and this trapped world that she was living inside of,” Schlaepfer said.
“She, I think, wears her heart on her sleeve and follows her happiness. She lives so bravely and I think she made a promise that she would meet him in Bozeman and, no matter what she faces, she will get to him because that is the love of her life.”
Schlaepfer admitted Alex can’t really imagine how cold or harsh life on a cattle ranch might be in comparison to the life of luxury she is used to.
“Perhaps a little bit naively, she trusts that whatever the journey may be, it will all be worth it because it would be OK if she’s with Spencer,” Schlaepfer said.
“She’s excited to get to that ranch and hang out with Cara and ride horses and dive in,” she added. “She wants to do all that work. I think she wants to live that lifestyle.”
Alex shares a “spunk and kind of feistiness” that distinguish Dutton women, so she should fit right in when she joins the family, Schlaepfer said, noting how Alex was a driving force in getting Spencer to quit his adventures abroad and head home to help his aunt and uncle.
“You watch the scenes with Helen and Harrison and it’s so fun to watch them play off each other,” she added.
“They just jab at each other, but they love each other so much and I think there’s a lot of similarities there and I think Alex is willing to work hard, alongside Cara and I think they will love each other.”
Schlaepfer expects Alex and her sister-in-law Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) to be allies, as well.
“Michelle and I would talk about that because we wanted to be together and we’d be like, ‘I think they would be friends,'” Schlaepfer said.
“Alex is one of those people that really loves to just meet new people and I think, as long as it’s Spencer’s family, she is all in,” she added. “She’s really excited to meet all the people that she read about in these letters [from Cara to Spencer].”
Many fans of the flagship series, Yellowstone, are obsessed with exactly how characters in 1923 will connect to the modern-day Duttons played for five seasons by Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly and Luke Grimes.
Schlaepfer said she knows how any possible children Alex might have with Spencer would fit into the Dutton family tree, but she’s not giving away any secrets just yet.
“I do know,” she teased. “Brandon is always very confident about these things. He’s like, ‘This is what it is,’ but Taylor always has a bag of tricks up his sleeve. You never know what could happen between 1923 and 2025.”
#Julia #Schlaepfer #Alex #wait #Dutton #ranch
Leave a Reply