The Yellowstone prequel series 1923 has cast Timothy Dalton in a major villain role. Yellowstone is the hit Paramount Network series starring Kevin Costner that premiered in 2018 and has currently run for 4 seasons, with season 5 approaching on November 13. Costner plays John Dutton, the patriarch of a family that runs the largest ranch in Montana and has done so for many generations. These previous generations were first explored in the spinoff miniseries 1883, which starred Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as the first Duttons to settle on the land. A new spinoff titled 1923 is currently in the works, with an eye on a December release on Paramount+ and a star-studded cast that includes Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and T2 star Robert Patrick.
Dalton is another huge name, having famously played the iconic superspy James Bond during the late 1980s in 1987’s The Living Daylights and 1989’s Licence to Kill. He has gone on to appear in a variety of other iconic British works, including the Edgar Wright comedy Hot Fuzz, the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who, and the BBC’s 1983 adaptation of Jane Eyre. More recently, he has played Niles Caulder, also known as Chief, on the HBO Max DC Comics series Doom Patrol for 27 episodes.
Per Deadline, Dalton has now joined the massively successful Yellowstone franchise with a major role in 1923. He will be playing a lead villain opposite Mirren’s Cara Dutton and Ford’s Jacob Dutton. The series, which was created by Yellowstone and 1883‘s Taylor Sheridan, is currently shooting in Montana.
What We Know About Timothy Dalton’s 1923 Character
In 1923, Dalton will be playing an original villainous character named Donald Whitfield. The character bio describes him as “intimidating and nefarious,” a wealthy sociopath who is used to getting exactly what he wants and will stop at nothing to make sure that he does. It is currently unknown if Whitfield will be a British or American character and exactly in what ways he will be opposing the Dutton family.
Even without Whitfield at their throats, the characters in 1923 have their work cut out for them. They are already faced with weathering the historical threats to the area at the time, which included a huge drought, a deadly pandemic, and the economic woes of the Great Depression, as well as the political and economic ramifications of Prohibition. The fact that Whitfield can compete with all of these factors to become a major threat to the Duttons just speaks to the depths to which he is willing to sink.
