1923’s Spencer Actor Discusses Inevitable Indiana Jones Comparisons

1923 breakout star Brandon Sklenar addresses comparisons between Spencer Dutton and Indiana Jones, calling such observations “inevitable.”

1923 star Brandon Sklenar addresses comparisons between Spencer Dutton and Indiana Jones. The latest Yellowstone spinoff did the expected by returning to the plains of Montana to fill in more blanks about the family history of the ranching Duttons. It also did the unexpected by sidetracking to Africa to tell part of the tale of Spencer Dutton and his bride Alexandra, and their eventual harrowing journey by land and sea to get Spencer back to his home.

One more unexpected and amusing aspect of 1923, immediately sized on by viewers, was a visual similarity between Sklenar’s adventurous Spencer and iconic movie hero Indiana Jones – a character of course played by Sklenar’s 1923 co-star Harrison Ford. Those comparisons were indeed not lost on Sklenar, who talked about them in an interview with Above the Line. Check out what the actor had to say in the space below:

Yeah. You know, he’s got the browns. He wears the browns, and he’s got the boots. I don’t like snakes, and neither did he. You know, because of the adventure aspect to it that we had in those first few episodes, especially, I kind of knew that comparison would be inevitable.

Related: 1923 Cast & Character Guide

Brandon Sklenar Might Make A Good Indiana Jones (If Lucasfilm Is Willing To Recast)

Spencer’s visual similarity to Indiana Jones on 1923 in fact goes beyond his love of browns, but also extends to his choice of hats, and his use of a shoulder bag. Spencer is spiritually similar to Indy as well of course, being a person who loves adventure, and clearly has a way with the ladies. This might all be enough to spawn some Indiana Jones reboot fancasting, with Sklenar stepping in for Ford, were it not for statements by Kathleen Kennedy suggesting that she’s not a fan of Lucasfilm recasting iconic characters.

Kennedy’s no-recasting remarks were of course about Star Wars more than Indiana Jones, and were later clarified to leave the door somewhat more open on the possibility of Lucasfilm legacy characters being recast. If recasting is in the cards for Indiana Jones somewhere down the road, Sklenar has already proven that he can step into Indy’s boots (and hat) at least in a superficial sense.

But while Sklenar’s Spencer Dutton does bear a visual similarity to Indiana Jones, there’s obviously more to playing a character than just looking like them. In terms of manner, Spencer is a lot more taciturn than the devil-may-care Indy, and clearly does not have anything like Indy’s sense of humor. For Sklenar to truly make sense as Indiana Jones, he would have to demonstrate a greater range of expression than he’s shown as the hard-bitten and frankly stiff Spencer. But 1923 has been a strong launching pad for Sklenar, and it seems inevitable that he’ll now be in the conversation for bigger franchise roles.

More: 1923 Filming Locations: Where The Yellowstone Spinoff Was Filmed

Source: Above the Line