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“1883,� which debuted in 2021 exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service, tells the beginning of the “Yellowstone� saga about , who is the patriarch of a powerful rancher family in Montana. “1883's� 10-episodes are now airing Sundays on the Paramount Network, giving more people a chance to watch.

Prior to joining “1883," Elliott had watched a little bit of “Yellowstone� because his sister is a big fan.

“I just watched a half an hour with her one day, and it reminded me of ‘Dallas,’� he said.

“I’ve watched more of it since we shot ’1883,′ mostly out of curiosity," he said. “I truly feel that Taylor is brilliant as a writer, but it’s another thing maintaining the quality over the long haul.�

Costner's “Yellowstone� will end in November, but the other spinoffs, including season two of “1923� and a sequel set to debut in December, will continue.

Filming “1883� wasn't easy. The weather was extreme — with heat in Texas and then freezing temperatures in Montana.

“It made it more of a challenge but it brought an authenticity to it,� said Elliott. “What was it like for the people who were on those wagon trains going to Oregon back in the day?�

Then there was the homesickness, which Elliott describes as “the hardest thing about this show for me personally. It was a killer... It's hard on relationships. You can't live a relationship long distance.� (Elliott is married to actor Katharine Ross.) “And I had gone through some health issues and surgeries just before we started. It was tough for me to get going.�

Elliott is very familiar with playing tough, salt of the earth characters like cowboys. He starred in the movie "Tombstone� and TV movies including “The Quick and the Dead� and “The Shadow Riders.�

He thinks Westerns have a relatability that captures the audience. “I’ve always thought there were three classic struggles in Westerns. It’s man against man, man against nature and man against himself. There’s a lot of people who can feel or understand that.

Elliott was especially fond of working with and LaMonica Garrett. Of May he says, “Isabelle is just stunning. ... I was so taken with her. I mean, she’s just she’s a lovely girl for starters and she's just brilliant. I'm eager to see where her career is going to take her."

Garrett played Thomas, a frontiersman who helps Shea on the trail. Thomas and Shea form a throughout the series. “Nothing ever entered into it (with their characters) that spoke of race. It was just these two brothers that cared for each other,� said Elliott. “LaMonica and I hit it off right away.�

When filming wrapped, Elliott kept a badge his character wore in all of his scenes.

“The prop man gave it to me on the last day,� he said. “I was wearing my own spurs. I always wear my own spurs."

Elliott recently started rewatching the series on Paramount Network and said “I know that at this point in my life, there’s not going to be a better one that’s going to come along than this. I feel like on some level, if I quit right now, I will have done what I set out to do when I was 9 years old wanting to be an actor. I’m spoiled."

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