Brandon Sklenar plays the ultra suave and almost painfully handsome Spencer Dutton in Yellowstone‘s latest prequel, 1923, and how he breathes life into character gives fans something to look forward to each Sunday.
He’s unlike many of the Dutton family members we’ve met before, farther away from it all somehow, but he’s still deeply connected to them. As the son of James and Margret Dutton, he’s an integral part of the storyline — but it’s almost begrudgingly at times.
Not because he doesn’t love the people in his family, it’s because he’s trying to run from himself and the trauma he’s experienced. It’s hard for him to reconcile with what life is and the ways it’s brought him so much pain. It’s as if he believes that the quicker he runs, the further he’ll be able to get from himself.
Spencer is telling one of the most unique storylines in the Yellowstone universe so far, as perhaps the most removed family member from the ranch and all of its ups and downs. Sklenar, who breathes life into the multifaceted character, is opening up about everything from Spencer’s romance to what motivates him and makes him tick in a recent chat with USA Today.
In terms of what makes Spencer the man he is, Sklenar says that it’s the heartbreak he faced early in life and never truly escaped.
“He’s kind of driven by trauma. He saw his murdered father die in front of him. His mother froze to death. Childhood trauma definitely influenced his decision to go fight in the war, where he killed. Trauma is pretty much all he’s known.”
Touched by trauma and pain early in his life, Spencer has spent almost all his time outrunning himself. He couldn’t silence his pain while on the ranch as he grew up and the memories only held more hurt after his time in the war, so it’s no surprise that he left for Africa to continue trying to escape.
“He’s this war veteran running from his past and dealing with his PTSD by putting himself in as much danger as possible because he didn’t really care if he lives or dies. But by doing this, dance with death — he found reason to live. That was the hook.”
The hook for Spencer drew Sklenar in the same way he’s already captivated audiences worldwide. He’s a newly introduced Dutton family member, but he’s already one of the most talked about in the Yellowstone cinematic universe.
It’s not just that he’s overwhelmingly handsome and sophisticated — it’s that you can see in his eyes that he’s searching for more, that there’s something underneath the surface scratching to get out. With a newly found love interest and a call to come home, we’re just at the beginning of his exciting story.
He elaborated more on those character traits of Spencers and also opened up about the comparisons between Rip and Beth and Spencer and Alex and the depths of passion and fire that exist between them.
“I’ve heard the Rip and Beth comparisons. That comes from this soul connection that doesn’t make much sense; they both know it’s not smart to be together. It’s something you can’t explain or put words to.”
While things obviously differ between both pairings, stuff with Alex and Spencer started with a bit more of a need to move quickly. After all, she was running away from her fiance to be with him. Their love affair is still unfolding, but it’s been an incredibly wild ride so far; when they first met, there was chaos between them, something so hot they knew they shouldn’t touch it but dared to try it anyway.
As Alex ran away from the life she knew to adventure with Spencer, she was letting go of all abandonment and running to freedom for the first time in her life. It’s a feeling she’s still chasing through every moment she shares with him, and he’s experiencing something new, too: the desire to want to give his heart away for the first time.