Rarely has a major character had a death as perfunctory as Jack Dutton in 1923, but actor Brian Konowal is confident fans will soon see the masterful vision behind the shocking scene. Konowal plays Clyde, the livestock agent who shot Jack (Darren Mann) point-blank after getting the go-ahead to wreak havoc on the Duttons from their enemy, Banner. While Jack was far from the only life lost in season 2, episode 6 – which could charitably be called a bloodbath – his will certainly have the most impact on the Dutton family.
Taylor Sheridan has been brutal to the Duttons in his Yellowstone prequel series, each of which has seen more than its fair share of family members die before the end credits. But with 2 episodes to go in 1923 season 2, Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara (Helen Mirren) are ready to fight back – especially as their nephew Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) reaches his final destination to avenge the earlier death of his brother. Clyde may have been trigger-happy when it came to Jack, but he’s surely about to get a taste of his own medicine when Spencer learns what he’s done.Yellowstone toys
ScreenRant interviewed Konowal about how he reacted to being the one to kill Jack, which he called a “gift” from Sheridan, and how the final episodes will play out as a consequence of his actions. The actor also praised his co-star Darren Mann’s sportsmanlike behavior and Sheridan’s command of emotional beats in the 1923 narrative.
Darren Mann Didn’t Take His Death Scene Too Poorly
While The Jack Dutton Actor Was Disappointed, He Reacted With Grace
Despite knowing that he was going to catch some heat for killing Jack Dutton, Konowal was more than grateful when he received the “fantastic” script. “When I read it, I was sitting there with my wife Heather, who’s sworn to secrecy with an NDA. I go, ‘You’ve got to read this. Oh my God, the fans are going to despise me. This is awesome.’”
Though Konowal called the scene “a gift from Taylor as an actor,” he acknowledged that it was difficult to film from a technical perspective. “You’re riding a horse, firing a gun, doing an accent, and you want to be there in the scene and be able to do the acting,” he said, breaking down the various facets that went into making it such a memorable moment. The horses were especially tricky because “they have a personality of their own,” and the characters had to gallop into frame. Nevertheless, “it was an awesome day on set, and Darren was fantastic.”
That scene is really a culmination of all the prep and training coming together because you’re doing the action, you’re riding the horse, and you’re doing the acting. It was like, “Let’s put everything together in one moment.”
As for Mann himself, Konowal shared the first moment he and his co-star interacted after reading the fateful moment between them. “When I first saw Darren in Texas, he was like, ‘Oh, man, you killed me!’” The actor revealed. “I said, ‘I’m sorry, and he was like, ‘Nah, it’s going to be great.’” But having Mann’s blessing doesn’t mean he’ll receive the fans’ forgiveness so quickly.
“Darren’s character is so beloved,” Konowal acknowledged. “There’s no one who wants to get into that fight more than Jack. He’s like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’” But that enthusiasm for the fight without the proper training to back it up is a cautionary tale all on its own, and Sheridan doesn’t do things without reason. “For Clyde to just take him down in cold blood without even letting him get his pistol out? That’s the genius of Taylor Sheridan. He is not afraid to just rip it right from under you.”
