1923’s Helen Mirren Contributed One Key Element To Cara

On the heels of the 1923 season 1 finale, star Helen Mirren reveals she contributed one significant element to her character Cara Dutton.

Helen Mirren reveals she contributed one key element to Cara Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel spinoff series, 1923. Set 100 years before the events of the main Yellowstone show, Mirren stars as Cara, the tough, no-nonsense Irish matriarch of the Dutton household. Married to Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford), she was forced to keep the family together following an attack by desperate ranchers that left her husband severely wounded.

Speaking with Deadline, Mirren admits she contributed a key element to her character in 1923. The actor reveals Cara was not originally of Irish origin, but was changed at her request. She wanted to subtly highlight the role of immigrants in the United States during the turn of the last century. Read what Mirren said about Cara below:

No it wasn’t that. It was more about getting to know each other as people, what makes you laugh, what you like to eat. Just a general chit-chat, which I thought was really great. Then the script arrives, I see the character and the way the character is developing, and I could see it was like me. He had written specifically to my strengths, if you like. I thought of making her Irish because America very much in those days was a country of immigrants. I wanted to heighten that fact. He said, “Absolutely. That’s fine.” And off we went.

No. We don’t go into the backstory, but the reality was America in the late 19th century, early 20th century was full of many different accents. When we were shooting in Butte, which was an old mining town, the miners came from Maldova, Scotland, Wales, Ireland. They came from Poland. So there would’ve been this absolute mishmash of different accents and different cultures and different foods. That was how America was born.

Related: Yellowstone’s Dutton Family Tree Explained In Full

How Cara’s Irish Background Enhances Her Character In 1923

As Mirren explains, just the fact that Cara is an immigrant adds an extra layer to her character. Even without a thorough backstory, her accent implies a long hard fought journey to get to where she is by the time she is introduced in 1923. This small but key detail reinforces the stubbornness and overt confidence that helped Cara keep her husband and family safe as rich businessman Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) and sheep herder Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) attempt to choke the Duttons off the Yellowstone property.

With Cara likely in her mid-to-late 70s, she may have left Ireland as a young girl to escape hardship from the Great Famine that plagued the country. Along with over 1 million Irish refugees entering the United States, she had to struggle to make something of herself in her new home. With many Americans holding anti-immigrant sentiments at the time, Cara likely had to fight for everything she earned, perhaps even Jacob’s attention.

When 1923 season 2 begins airing, the Duttons will find themselves racing against time to pay back Whitfield’s loan to ensure the property remains under their name. While Jacob tends to the duties of the ranch as well as defending his kin from Creighton’s violent promises, Cara must keep the family from crashing in on itself, supporting Elizabeth Dutton (Michelle Randolph) as she struggles with her miscarriage. With Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) making her way to Montana and Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) doing what he can to meet her there, Cara will do what she can to ensure he has a home to come back to.

More: Yellowstone’s Future Is In Spinoffs (Not John Dutton)

Source: Deadline