Sklenar also is currently filming Season 2 episodes for the Yellowstone prequel.
While waiting — and waiting, and waiting — for production to start on Season 2 episodes of 1923, actor Brandon Sklenar landed a key role opposite Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in the movie It Ends with Us, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover.
Talk about a great way to elevate your profile: The romantic drama, which Baldoni directed, has proved to be a box-office smash, opening with an $80 million international gross ($50 million domestic) this past weekend. And there may be much more to come: According to the showbiz site Deadline, It Ends with Us has yet to open in France, Germany, Colombia, Thailand, Indonesia, Italy, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea and Japan.
Indeed, it looks the only American-made movie making more money domestically and internationally right now is Deadpool & Wolverine, the Marvel Comics-inspired phenom that just happens to star Blake Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, opposite Hugh Jackman.
Lively stars in It Ends with Us as Lily Bloom, a woman who still carries the emotional scars of witnessing her abusive father’s mistreatment of her mother during her childhood. After she moves to Boston to begin a new life, she meets a charming neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) who sweeps her off her feet. Gradually, however, Lily starts to see Ryle’s darker side — and is harshly reminded of her parents’ relationship.
Further complications arise when Lily’s high-school sweetheart, Atlas Corrigan (Sklenar) reappears in her life, and rekindles their relationship. Which, of course, does not go over well with Ryle at all.
“Atlas and Ryle are polar opposites,” Sklenar has said about his character. “Ryle has a manipulative, toxic presence. Atlas is strong and sturdy, an example of what masculinity can be in a calm, present and open way. Unlike Ryle, he has no need for validation. When he’s with Lily, he’s just purely there for her.”
As for 1923: Sklenar currently is filming episodes for the second and reportedly final season of the Taylor Sheridan-produced Yellowstone prequel on various locations in Texas.
And he sounds very pleased to be returning as Spencer Dutton, the dashing WWI veteran who, at the end of Season 1, was called home from his far-flung travels to help his uncle Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and aunt Cara Dutton (Helen Miren) defend the family’s Yellowstone Ranch against the minions of land-grabbing scoundrel Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton).
“Spencer taught me a lot and continues to,” Sklenar told Man About Town Magazine. “I think having not experienced war myself, the small glimpse into how I would react to it surprised me. You might react with humor or whatever your coping mechanism is. It’s a constant learning process. I’ve never enjoyed playing a character or working on a project as much as this, so it’s truly a blessing that I’m associated with 1923. I’m excited to continue that journey.”
Unfortunately, the Season 1 finale indicated Spencer’s journey home may be indefinitely delayed. While sailing home aboard the HMS Majestic with his sweetheart Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), he was forced into a duel with Arthur, Alexandra’s jilted fiancé, and wound up tossing his rival overboard in self-defense. (Honest! He want to do it!) Unfortunately, because Arthur was a member of the British royal family, his well-connected father was able to pull a few strings and have Spencer escorted off the ship in a dinghy and dropped off at the first available port. Even more unfortunately, Alexandra had to remain on board against her will, leaving her to figure out some way, any way, to catch up with Spencer in Montana.
Like just about everyone else who has ever had a recurring role in a Taylor Sheridan TV series, Sklenar is scrupulously evasive about what lies ahead for his character. But he did tell Forbes that, after having had the scripts in hand for more than six months, “I can confidently say that [Season 2] is going to be absolutely incredible.”
Tell us more, please.
"The tone shifts a lot and it’s definitely a bit darker. It’s very beautiful," he told Forbes, adding that he will get “plenty of Helen and Harrison time, and it’s going to be special.”
But, apparently, it will also be the end of the line.
“The finale of the series is probably one of the best things I’ve read in my life," Sklenar said. “I’ve kind of known how it was going to end since day one — Taylor kind of told me. I knew the full arc of Spencer from day one, so in shooting part one, you're mindful of where he needs to go. I’m really excited.”
Stay tuned for further developments. Meanwhile, It Ends with Us continues to play at theaters and drive-ins everywhere. Here is a video of Sklenar having “surprise” encounters with Blake Lively’s husband, a.k.a. Deadpool; Lively’s mother-in-law; and the Hugh Jackman, a.k.a. Wolverine.
