‘1923’ star Julia Schlaepfer on Alex’s ‘horrible, heartbreaking’ death: ‘I’m still grieving her’
Warning: spoilers ahead for the “1923” Season 2 finale, now streaming on Paramount+.
It ended with a tragedy.
During the Season 2 finale of the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1923,” (out Sunday, April 6), Spencer Dutton’s (Brandon Sklenar) wife, Alexandra “Alex” Dutton, (Julia Schlaepfer), shockingly died.
“It’s horrible, it’s heartbreaking. It’s really tragic,” Schlaepfer, 30, exclusively told The Post.
“I know some people might be upset with that ending, I completely understand it,” she went on. “It’s such a bittersweet thing, because I love her so much, and I understand why it happened the way it happened. But I’m still grieving her … I’m big-time still grieving Alex.”
On “1923,” Alex had just reunited with Spencer after spending most of the season apart. She had also given birth to their son, but she refused to get her frost-bitten limbs amputated – knowingly setting herself up for death, as she prioritized her son over herself. Spencer held her through her final moments as Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara (Helen Mirren) helplessly watched from the hospital hallway.
Schlaepfer said that she found out Alex would die a few months before filming began on Season 2.
“I was told by [creator Taylor Sheridan] sending me the scripts and being like, ‘call me when you’re done.’ I had no idea what was coming.”
But, the actress said that she “had a feeling.”
She recalled, “I would say to Taylor all the time, ‘Alex is gonna die, isn’t she?’ And he’d be like, ‘I don’t know yet, I haven’t decided.’ I just had this sixth sense. Not that I wanted it, but I just think … you watch enough Taylor Sheridan, and you know something’s coming.”
After reading Alex’s death scene in the script, Schlaepfer said, “I wept. And, I just got ready to take on her battle … It was such an honor, and it was the greatest gift of my life truly as an actor and as a person. I loved playing her, and telling that story.”
Alex went through a harrowing journey all season long. She dealt with hunger, assault and frigid temperatures as the pregnant English woman traveled alone from New York to Montana, to reunite with Spencer at his family ranch.
During the birth scene, Spencer was off fighting for the future of their home, so Alex’s pseudo father-in-law, Jacob, was there to support her.
“That was definitely the most special day of my life as an actor … It was my first day working with [Harrison Ford],” Schlaepfer recalled to the Post. “It had been months. I was near the end of my chunk of filming, and I was just worn out and exhausted – both me and Alexandra. I was so excited to see how Harrison Ford worked; I idolize this man.”
Ford was “such a leader,” she gushed.
“He’s so kind and so funny. He knew exactly when to throw in a little joke to lighten the mood. And, he just gave me the floor. He took such good care of me that day. I don’t even know if he’ll fully ever understand the depth of what he did for me — but I didn’t even realize Alex needed someone to just give her a hug. And, he comes in as this fatherly figure. He was so generous with me.”
Schlaepfer said that at the end of the emotional birth scene – since Alex knows that she won’t live to raise her son – “we just looked at each other and we were crying. He gave me a big hug, and just kind of held me for a second.”
Ford gave her a “paternal” energy on set. “I didn’t know I was in need of [that],” she said. “He’s just the best. He’s so cool and so funny. It’s something that I will never forget, as long as I live.”
The finale ended with Alex and Spencer getting a “Titanic”-style reunion in the afterlife, at a 1920s dance. Voice-over narration informs the audience that Spencer died 45 years after Alex, and the characters are seen finding each other again.
“When she does die, there’s quite a bit left to the script,” she explained. “I was continuing to read the script, I was so excited to see what else happened. And then it cuts to that scene of them. And another wave of tears washed over me.”
She added that filming that final moment, “was so beautiful for Brandon [Sklenar] and I. We’ve been through a lot together, and a lot with these characters. For them to be all dressed up again and find each other – I think it also is just a testament to how strong their love is for each other.”
“They will find each other in every lifetime after this one, even if their time in ‘1923’ was cut short.”
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