- We have nothing to offer you, sir.
Be gone!
(dramatic orchestral music)
- Action!
- In that time period, bandits were everywhere
and, if they see easy pickings, easy prey,
if, you know, they don't see the men around to protect,
they just go in and take what they want.
- Be gone.
- Our camp is attacked by bandits.
It's devastating.
It was hard for all of us to make it through that scene
because it was really physical.
(characters screaming and shouting indistinctly)
Mary Abel gets shot and then she gets killed
and she dies and it was just gut wrenching
and just ripped your heart out.
- Shea, I don't think he has much regard for outlaws
and certainly not for killers.
(ominous music)
I think he thinks, probably, the fewer of 'em the better.
These guys came in and killed some of his immigrants
and he felt bound to dispense some sort of justice.
- Welcome to the White Elephant Saloon.
This is a saloon that was actually a bar
back in the 1800s.
- I think it was built in, actually, 1889
which is really pretty close to our period.
- One of the main things that we added in here was lighting.
We brought back the grandeur of the old saloons
with the crystal chandeliers and the oil burning lamps.
We brought in our own taxidermy.
- And then, the existing bar is really beautiful.
We, kind of, augmented the bar and set dressing comes in
and that's when the whole thing, kind of, comes to life.
- We brought in faro tables.
Faro was a very popular game that was played back then
and we bought in a period pool table.
Say that fast three times.
Then we have all of our card playing tables
and our basic saloon gear.
This is something that we do pretty much on every set we do,
but I think it turned out quite nicely on this one.
- Working with Billy Bob Thornton.
He comes in, he's this easygoing guy,
he's kind of unassuming.
We get inside the saloon (snaps)
and he just turns it on
(dramatic orchestral music)
to this stone-cold killing sheriff.
- There's a very thin line, in those days,
between justice and the criminals.
- I got so caught up into watching Billy Bob perform,
'cause it was so understated and so cool,
I didn't say my line, walked out the door, and I went,
"Oh, I had a line I was supposed to give to Sam."
- He's a powerful actor.
It's hard to take your eye off of him.
- There's only one killer in Fort Worth and that's me.
(dramatic music)
- Claire's character is so powerful.
- Her daughter had gotten killed
when the bandits had raided the camp.
James, he knew she'd made her decision.
- [Claire] What do I have left to live for, James?
- He knew her well enough to know
that he wasn't gonna change her mind, no matter what.
It was heartbreaking for him
but he was very matter of fact about it.
Bye, Claire.
(suspenseful orchestral music)
(dramatic music)
- You all hunting strays? - Wild ones.
- Best come on up to camp.
- Now, we're all working together.
First of all, this is my first time
working on horses, really.
Then you throw in, like, 50 cows.
We need people to help us out.
(crew shouting indistinctly)
- I'll be gone till tomorrow and I'm taking Elsa.
- [Margaret] You're what?
- This bunch is short on riders and we need her.
- How am I supposed to make her a lady
when you keep treating her like a man?
- Plenty of ladies in this world.
Pretty short on decent men, though.
- I think Margaret's decision regarding Elsa,
jumping on a horse,
there's, I wouldn't say jealousy,
but there's just a part of Margaret
that just wants to ride across the field
to see the mountains, the beauty, and just the freedom.
- When Elsa gets to help her father find wild cattle
with these other cowboys, she's absolutely thrilled.
- As a mom, Margaret is completely terrified
of what this means,
because the freedom that she is being exposed to
is not going to last.
It's everything she wants.
She's a horseback rider.
She wants to be a cowboy.
To be in that environment and trusted to do it
is exhilarating for her.
I'm concerned.
I feel like she'll be protected, but this child is spirited
and she's hardheaded and strong, but she's also very smart.
(gentle acoustic guitar music)
- Ennis is, he's a cowboy, and he's a damn good one.
The thrill we got from really gathering cattle,
there was no acting going on.
It was full focus cowboy mode.
Ennis wholeheartedly embarks on this journey for one reason
and that's Elsa.
If this was a cartoon, this would be the moment
Ennis's eyes, like, pop into hearts.
It's truly one of those fall in love at first sight
kind of things, for Ennis
- Elsa, she wants to go after this young man
and confuse him and enamor him.
- Maybe you're too pretty for me.
(Ennis laughs)
- Maybe it takes her by surprise, at first,
at least when she sees that he's interested in her.
- He is just completely overtaken by this girl
and can't wait to spend more time with her.
Even if that means going through the hardest journey
of his entire life.
(atmospheric violin music)
- When you see the flashback to the Civil War
it morphs out of the original picture
into a live shot of Antietam and the farmhouse.
- I wanted people to be able
to hold up the photograph
next to our depiction of it and it be identical,
and I think it is.
- To find out that I was a captain in the Civil War
for the Confederacy.
And James had a lot of pain and PTSD from that.
Tom and I have been friends for such a long time
but when you're sitting there
and you see Tom Hanks walk up and look at you
and say, "Captain," I just fell apart.
- When actors like this
are willing to come play for a day or two,
whether it's Tom Hanks or Billy Bob,
it gives a weight to the world and it gives a sense
that anything can happen to anybody in this world.
- Cut. - Cut, cut.
(dramatic drumming music)
- The struggles are all real.
The people are all real.
- The journey is beginning
and there is a long road ahead.
- It is not a walk in the park.
It's a rocky road.
Big time.
(dramatic drumming music)