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+!
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+!
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TVTranscript
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.