Timothy Dalton is sad to see 1923 end – but he's "pleased" with final episodes

"I think we've done it very well," Dalton said of the final episodes.

"It's an epic piece," he told RadioTimes.com. "There are so many stories happening, wonderful stories that are coming together in a great way."

Reflecting on his experience of reading the series finale for the first time, he said: "I don't think satisfaction or dissatisfaction come into it on the first time you read something. You've got to read and read and probe it to find out all the angles and all the things that make it work. After I finished all that, I said... that'll do!"

The more emotional moment came when filming had wrapped and he bid a final farewell to his character and the series. "I was standing on a mountain in Montana, overlooking a vast area of land – because I was up quite high – that has been heaved into all kinds of different shapes by the forces that are underneath us all, marvelling at the place...

"I thought it was fantastic – and so then to say, 'No, that's it, I've finished, I'm not going to see this again for a long time, if ever at all'... I was sad that it was finished, but also pleased that we've done it well. I hope we've done it even better than well."

Though the series may be set more than a century ago, Dalton agreed that characters like Whitfield are not unique to 1923's setting.

"It's kind of pure gangster, isn't it, in a way? Respectable member of society... and yet there's a whole other world going on behind him."

The new episodes will see the character "determined to win" against "dangerous" rivals the Duttons – and while Whitfield may ostensibly be the show's antagonist, Dalton argued that Ford's character Jacob is not without sin, having killed five sheep herders in the first season as punishment for trespassing.

"It's interesting, isn't it? Dutton is 'the good guy' if you want to be simple, but there's nothing good about that, at all. What kind of man is he? He's Mr. Good Guy? He's just as bad [as Whitfield]. So I think what my man is looking to do is topple him – and take that land for himself."

Donald and Jacob may be bitter rivals, but off-screen Dalton was delighted to work with movie icon Harrison Ford, with 1923 marking the first time that the Star Wars and Indiana Jones legend had taken on a leading role as a regular in a television series.

"Harrison has probably done, what, 10 or 11 multi-million dollar grossing movies?" said Dalton. "Hits! He's quite a person. He's a major part of our film history – and that's nice to work with!"

Read more:

• 1923 star reacts to Yellowstone ending and following in Kevin Costner's footsteps
• Yellowstone finale ends season in dramatic fashion with another major death

The second season of Taylor Sheridan’s 1923 premieres Sunday, 23rd February, exclusively on Paramount Plus. Get a seven-day free Paramount Plus trial at Amazon Prime Video.

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