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One of the Yellowstone spinoff stories would not have happened without this failed audition from a different Taylor Sheridan show. The screenwriter is responsible for the shows comprising Sheridanverse, which encompasses Yellowstone and the other series that help tell the story of the Dutton ranch in Montana. Sheridan writes and produces all the series and even stars in Yellowstone as Travis, a horse trader who deals with the Dutton family. While the original series will air its final installment in the fall, viewers can go back in time with prequels that explore the history of the Dutton family timeline.

The Yellowstone timeline began with the franchise’s titular modern-day series in 2018, which featured Kevin Costner as John Dutton III. The Yellowstone universe has since birthed several spinoffs, including two prequels to the Dutton story. One of them explores the ranch’s harrowing origin on the Oregon Trail, and the other witnesses how the Dutton ranch operated during the Great Depression. That said, Sheridan required a significant failure to breathe life into one of his most immersive Yellowstone segments. The story of a failure makes the series’ success all the more impressive and adds rich depth to its narrating character.

1883 Happened After Isabel May Auditioned For Taylor Sheridan’s Mayor Of Kingstown

The 1883 Actor Didn’t Fit Taylor Sheridan And Hugh Dillon’s Mayor Of Kingstown

1883 took off after a failed audition for another series created by Taylor Sheridan. While he had received a green light from Paramount to produce a “Wild West road trip tale,”Sheridan had writer’s block until a failed Mayor of Kingstown audition pointed him in the right direction. Isabel May, from the cast of 1883, auditioned for the crime series created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillion, but she didn’t suit the part. Sheridan recalled in The New York Times that May’s “sunny disposition” didn’t suit the crime thriller’s grittier influence. Instead, May reminded him of “American Hope.”

Isabel May’s failed audition inspired the next chapter of Yellowstone that Sheridan previously struggled to write. After seeing her audition for Mayor of Kingstown, Sheridan meditated on the idea of a sheltered young woman who “left polite society behind and ventured into a land with looser mores.” Moreover, May’s audition inspired Sheridan to write 1883 from the perspective of a young woman. When Sheridan began to pen the 1883 narrative, he turned around the pilot in a short week upon realizing Elsa’s perspective was the one from which the story needed to be told (via The New York Times.)

Isabel May Gives One Of The Best Yellowstone Franchise Performances

Elsa Dutton Is One Of The Franchise’s Best Characters

Taylor Sheridan’s decision to re-purpose May’s failed Mayor of Kingstown audition is a testament to the screenwriter’s intuition for crafting immersive narratives and tailor-made characters to tell his stories. Moreover, converting May’s audition into the Elsa Dutton role created one of the best characters in the Yellowstone franchise. May’s Elsa Dutton makes for a compelling watch as she narrates her family’s story in every episode of 1883. Elsa’s series introduction, wherein she is shot with an arrow through her stomach and continues to fight amid plumes of fire, is as chilling as it is memorable.

Taylor Sheridan’s treatment of Isabel May’s Mayor of Kingstown audition gives insight into why Paramount trusts the writer to create an expanding universe of shows for the network. While May wasn’t suitable for the American crime drama, she inspired 1883. Sheridan arguably would not have been able to tell the story of Elsa Dutton without May; the duality of her character is the series’ backbone. While the limited series came to a natural conclusion after its 10 installments, Yellowstone‘s 1883 ending set up future Sheridanverse shows to anticipate.