Inside Look at Taylor Sheridan’s Lawmen: Bass Reeves

FanReviews

Here’s your inside look at the Paramount+ western drama series Lawmen: Bass Reeves, created by Taylor Sheridan.  Lawmen: Bass Reeves Cast:  Dennis Quaid, David Oyelowo, Forrest Goodluck, Lauren E. Banks, Barry Pepper, Grantham Coleman, Demi Singleton and Garrett   Stream Lawmen: Bass Reeves November 5, 2023 on Paramount+!

Transcript

00:00I can genuinely say we are doing the best for you's story at a scale that is mind-blowing.

00:10The scope of this production has been just awe-inspiring for me.

00:13It's so great, Ben.

00:15It's a story of the American West told in a very real way.

00:19It's breathtakingly brilliant.

00:27Here we go!

00:30Action!

00:33Whether it's the hair, the makeup, the script itself,

00:37the most rewarding element is watching hundreds of people come together

00:42from a place of passion so desirous to get the story right.

00:47The production design on this show is absolutely breathtaking.

00:50It's an epic show.

00:51It's a show about an incredible time period in our history.

00:55It was really cool from the sets to the costumes.

00:57It wouldn't have felt as authentic without it.

01:00The audience has a connection.

01:04They feel something's going on.

01:06You're living in it.

01:07It feels so real.

01:09You will follow me and you will fire.

01:12We're tasked with filling the brain with all of this gorgeousness of all these different cultures.

01:19There was Native Americans with African Americans, with Chinese, with white.

01:24Every culture was amongst each other.

01:27They were all thrust together in the idea of the melting pot that America likes to hang its hat on.

01:32And it was a really unique time in the country for that.

01:36Black, white, or red, we all just men.

01:41They really go all out to make it as authentic as they can.

01:50We have a Civil War consultant.

01:52We have a Native American consultant.

01:54We have different people that are experts in the field.

01:57Start right here.

01:59The representation in this show of American Indians is so vital and important.

02:04Taylor Sheridan and the folks at One-on-One Studios are very supportive that we get everything accurate.

02:11We did a lot of research into the actual towns that we shot in.

02:13Fort Smith, Fort Worth.

02:15They are able to literally take a photograph from the 1800s and make it real right now.

02:22The set that we're in right now, the Reeves Farmhouse, this didn't exist before this show.

02:27This is a house that Bass Reeves would have built for his family.

02:30When we first see it, it's very, very simple.

02:32And then as the story progresses, Bass begins to make more money.

02:37The look of the interior begins to change.

02:39Look at this set.

02:41It's wonderful to work in.

02:44You walk onto a set like this and you're immediately transported back in time.

02:48The sets are really, really cool.

02:50They're just sprawling.

02:51Dundee Carnival, Saturday and Sunday.

02:54Fort Smith is the epicenter of commerce in this region at that time.

02:58There's tons of photos of the period.

03:00So we're able to recreate storefronts that probably have never been seen before.

03:04Every can, every flower bag, every box has some sort of history to it.

03:09There's not an inch of these towns that's not covered with something that would have been there.

03:16The courthouse was an interesting one.

03:17Judge Parker was known as the hanging judge, so he had a reputation for being a man of very little leniency.

03:23If you were a criminal, you were going to pay for it.

03:25In his office, we definitely tried to offer a lot of that personality to it.

03:29It's very strong.

03:30It's very robust, just like the man was himself.

03:34Hell on the Border was a dank basement beneath the courthouse.

03:38It was a place where the worst of the worst were put.

03:41It wasn't a place where human rights were thought of.

03:43You got stuck in a hole in a literal hell.

03:45I filled it with all these sort of dramatic shapes, creating a very unusual jail.

03:51We wanted to feel as grimy and as down as possible, and I think we achieved that.

03:55They searched high and low, like all over the world, to populate the spaces that our characters

04:06find ourselves living in, to make it feel like a lived-in space.

04:09It was definitely a challenge making all this stuff, which is effectively 100 years old,

04:14if not more, look brand new again.

04:16You know, this is a world where, even though it is a period piece, this stuff was brand new

04:19to these people.

04:20The scale of this show is massive.

04:23We have 15,000 pieces of clothing.

04:27If you see my shop here, you'll see every corner of the shop has research.

04:32The more we see it, the more we just get completely engulfed by this world, and that's when the

04:37magic happens.

04:38You first walk into the wardrobe warehouse, and you're just in awe of what they've tailored.

04:42The hats they build, the boots they build, the entire costume they build with period fabrics,

04:48and everything is so specific.

04:50It's been incredible.

04:51And let's cut.

04:52Let's go again.

04:53Let's go again.

04:53It's mind-blowing just to see and meet so many good people, talented people, smart people,

05:02noble people, really just wanting to do the best they can to put this story together and

05:07doing it so beautifully.

05:08Whether it's costumes or production design or our animal team sourcing period-appropriate

05:15saddles, the textures, the materials that we're using, there's been so much effort that's

05:20gone into this.

05:21It was important for us to really make the show feel epic, and I think we have achieved

05:26that.

05:27And it's what is deserving of the legacy of Bass Reeves.

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