Legends of the Old West - DEADWOOD Ep. 2 | Making The Movie

Episode Date: June 2, 2019

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. Live from Deadwood the day after the movie premiere, actors W. Earl Brown, Geri Jewell and Keone Young tell behind-the-scenes stories of the production and share deeply personal moments about their journeys through the years of the HBO drama that finally concluded with "Deadwood: The Movie." Join Black Barrel+ for early access and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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a safe digital space to play in. Download Fortnite on consoles, PC, cloud services, or Android and play Lego Fortnite for free. Rated ESRB E10+. Discover more value than ever at Loblaws. Like Fresh Promise. Produce is carefully selected and checked for freshness. And if it's not fresh, it's free. Yes, you heard that right. From the crispest lettuce to the juiciest apples, Loblaws is committed to fresh, so you get the best fruits and veggies. Look for new value programs when you shop at Loblaws, in-store and online. Conditions may apply. See in-store for details. Welcome to a truly unique episode of the Legends of the Old West podcast.

I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and if you're hearing this episode right after its release, I'm here in Deadwood, South Dakota to celebrate the premiere of the long-awaited Deadwood movie on HBO. South Dakota to celebrate the premiere of the long-awaited Deadwood movie on HBO. As a part of the celebration, I was fortunate to host a live panel discussion at the old-style No. 10 Saloon on Deadwood's Main Street. My guests for the panel were three actors from the film, W. Earl Brown, who played Dan Doherty, Jerry Jewell, who played Jewell, and Keone Young, who played Mr. Woo. If you're a fan of the show, you won't want to miss this one, and I won't waste any more time setting it up. Just let me give you a message from our friends in Deadwood, and then we'll dive into the show.

Explore the Adams Museum, the Days of 76 Museum, the Adams House, and Mount Moriah Cemetery to fully understand Deadwood's raucous past. At the Adams Museum, get up close and personal with the legends and outlaws who brought Deadwood international notoriety and see Deadwood's own one-of-a-kind Wild Bill Hickok collection. Visitors to the Days of 76 Museum become acquainted with an astonishing collection of wagons and carriages, including the infamous Deadwood Stage become acquainted with an astonishing collection of wagons and carriages including the infamous Deadwood stage along with an extensive collection of historic firearms and American Indian artifacts. The Adams House, built in 1892, is an elegant Victorian era home with original contents that chronicles Deadwood's transition from a lawless mining camp to a prosperous and technologically rich metropolitan city. And finally, Deadwood's boot hill, Mount Moriah

Cemetery, provides a tranquil location to pay homage and respect to such notables as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock. Let your journey through the Wild West begin in historic Deadwood, South Dakota. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch, and organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage. Whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell everywhere. They have an all-in-one e-commerce platform and in-person POS

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Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. And now, here's W. Earl Brown, Jerry Jewell, and Keone Young, live from the old-style No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood. Hi, everyone. Welcome. Here we are. The No. 10 Saloon. Welcome, Deadwood fans, to yet another post-movie celebration. Thank you guys all for coming. We appreciate it. I have two quick notes before we really jump in here. Number one, obviously we are in Deadwood. We're talking about Deadwood the movie.

There might be some adult language. You are warned now. We are also talking about the movie, Deadwood. Deadwood the movie. There are going to be spoilers. This is again your warning. We are going to get into a little bit of detail. I have some fun questions for our three esteemed actors, so that's another one of your warnings. Now, let's really get into it. I am Chris Wimmer, the host and producer of the Legends of the Old West podcast. I'm obviously here with W. Earl Brown, Jerry Jewell, and Keone Young. So let's just jump in here. We're going to get started with a couple, I have a couple kind of softball questions for the group here that we want to talk about.

You guys have probably answered some version of this in the past, but for our audience here we want to talk about it a little bit. So let's dive into the movie itself. And when you guys all got back to set, after 12 years, you got all the actors back, you got most of the crew back the surviving casting crew almost everybody's back did each of you have a moment on set where you thought oh my god this is real this is actually happening we're doing this what was that moment for each of you well for me it was the table read um that was the first time that we had been there in mass right common purpose and because i'd been out to the lot i mean i've went out over the years but i said to my wife before we started i said i i can't expect that same feeling and spirit that we had then to exist now because that's a moment frozen in time it was 12 years ago and it's over right so i i can't walk in with those expectations. This has to be its own experience.

So I got there early. Keone and I, remember? We were there at the same time. Oh, yeah. And we got there about half an hour before anybody else. I did my little walk through the thoroughfare with a cup of coffee. Then went back. Anyway, we got in the room.

Almost the whole cast was there. There were a couple that couldn't make it. Right. But David came in. And I had not seen Dave in two years. And time has not been kind. And he was sitting at the head of the table. There's 50 or 60 people in the room. And I remember Robin was sitting across from me, Calamity Jane.

And Greg Feinberg read read Exterior Deadwood Mountain. Jane, astride her horse with a bottle in hand, looks down upon the town. And then Robin, her first line is, Ten years past. Well, she looked up at me, and we made eye contact. We play poker together. We're friends. But she made eye contact with me, and we both started to cry. And I had to close my eyes, and for the split second in the room,

I heard this sound I couldn't identify. It was Kleenex. Everybody in the room is pulling Kleenexes. Well, then Robin, she stops, because David's sitting right there from us, and she goes, 10 years past. And then she became Calamity Jane for the rest of it. I said, but to me, that's the moment it felt like the door swung open and the spirit just threw the room. And it was like, there we all are.

We're back here for a common purpose and it's David's words and so for me that was it. Well definitely the table read. I'm blessed that I was even able to do it. I had spinal cord surgery on July 7th and I had the surgery then because I could no longer walk I couldn't stand any longer than two minutes without going to my knees in chronic pain so I went to the surgeon and I said hey I have to do a movie I said you gotta fix this

and I had the surgery in July I said, you've got to fix this. And I had the surgery in July because he told me that I would be back to my normal by August. I said, okay, that's cool. Well, by mid-September, I still did not have my total walking ability. I was using a walker, a wheelchair, physical therapy, occupational therapy, whatever. And I got this clip in mid-September, and I freaked. I was like, how am I supposed to do this?

So I called production, and I wanted to speak to David, and they said he wasn't taking any messages. Can we leave him a message? And I said, yeah. I said, tell him that you're a Jewel card and that I had surgery on July 7th and I'm not healed yet and there's no way I can do this role

and he has my blessing to recast Jewel. And there was a deep silence on the line. And she said, are you sure you want me to tell him that? And I said, yes, because I've known him for a lot of years and he doesn't like surprises and he called me the next day and he said Jerry it's David and I got your message I said yeah and he said there's only one jewel. Yeah. And it's you.

And I don't care if we have to get a wheelchair accessible trailer, if hair and makeup has to come to you, if we have to make script changes, you're going to do it. Do you understand that? And when I got to the table read, I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe we were all together again. And I went to David outside and I said, thank you for believing in me when I didn't even believe in myself. And he said, I believe in you from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. And he kissed me.

I don't know if I can be as eloquent as my... as Jewel or Earl, but I didn't have the same feeling that Earl might have had. I, you know, I wasn't, Mr. Wu was not in the first script. And I had called Earl because Earl and I have a relationship. And he was the one that I could call. And he got the script and said, Earl, am I in the first script and I had called Earl because Earl and I have a relationship and he was the one that I could call and I said and he got the script I said Earl am I in the script and he said there was pause and he said no he says but it's just the first draft so don't worry about it so I said well that that's okay that's okay I understand that I said but but I have to talk to David and I said David I don't need to be in it I said but I would like to be in the there for the first day when when you all re and reunite and do the script

read just to to say hello to everybody David gave me a call and he said oh you know I'm in your corner don don't you? And I said, yeah, I know that, but you don't have to be because there's 800 people ahead of me in line. And he said, I'm in your corner. Don't worry about it. We'll be in touch. And so I got the call after the third or fourth draft, and they called my people, and they said, well, we want to set it up so you'll be there. I said, fine. Now, just to tell you this, because, well, we're here, and this is what you're here for.

I didn't feel the same way that Earl felt, because David had, I got real sick in 2007 after the show closed. My doctor had put me under some medication and I reacted to it very badly. And I called David because David is just one of these very smart guys. And he says, you know what? says you come to me he says I says David I'm not able to drive he says he was in San Diego and he says don't worry I'll send a car for you so he sent a limo for me and he talked to me about it, and he discussed it with me, and he said, this is what you have to do. He says, whatever happens, it's going to get better. So he took good care of me, and so when I saw David at the reading,

he already had felt, and everybody's got a David story, you know. Everybody's got a David story. He was just, to me, a friend that I would be there for no matter what. And I think we all feel this way. And so he took care of me for over a year. So he took care of me for over a year. And so when I saw him again for the reading, I felt like I was seeing, it was like a family reunion, you know. Like you haven't seen your family for a while, you've been separated.

And it just felt very good to be in his graces and to be amongst him and my fellow cast members. I don't know if you can understand what I just said. But I just felt loved. I think there were several characters that weren't in that first draft. Not, wasn't just woo. No, I think part of it may have been concerned with HBO because they were already freaking out about how the fuck are we going to schedule all of

these actors doing all of these other shows. I really think he didn't put people in there because he wanted to get a fucking green light. Yeah. And then once the wheel started to turn and they can't turn back, then they go, and he's in it, and he's in it. And everybody is in it

except Titus because he was tied into Bosch. He's got his show. And he's Bosch, and they wouldn't release him. I mean, Molly, we filmed on the weekends. They had a plane taking her from Vancouver to LA to go back for Lost in Space. So again, I think those early

drafts were simply that. Of Dave trying to get through the front door of the fort. Yeah, I was going to actually, at some point I was going to comment and say he did a masterful job of working in, I believe there were 22 actors that he found some role for, even if it was just a couple scenes

and a couple lines, he found a way to get everybody who was available and still around into the film. I thought it was fantastic that he was able to pull that off. Well, you have to understand the film has been cut by HBO as well. It was a much longer film, and all of us had more scenes. It was. But we were cut. Please, Lord, let that be the Blu-ray release in a few months. Well, Greg had said

that that may be the case, that they may put, because I have a big scene that's gone. There's 30 minutes that were cut. Oh, man. It felt like it probably

could have been a lot more. Kind of knowing the way you guys worked it with the original show, I would assume there would almost have to be. Well, the concern was, this is a movie.

It has to stand alone. It's not an episode of the show. So you need somebody that comes in that doesn't know the show at all, can watch the film and understand it. Yeah. So with Dave, plot's a tertiary concern when he's writing. Yeah. It's about character.

And it's about these discoveries of humanity in these characters that you don't expect, that are completely grounded and believable. To him, that's the drama, not the plotting. Yeah, exactly. And I think they cut away some of that character stuff because they wanted to focus on the plot because you have to initiate those who

haven't seen it. So they're all going to get hooked and go back and watch the series and then buy the Blu-ray and watch those cut scenes. Ultimately, in the long run, it's going to benefit everyone, including HBO. They'll get all that re-watching from all of us. So did you guys think that it was a good follow-up?

Understanding that of the confines of the movie that it had to be filmed for the uninitiated who'd never seen it. Did you guys feel it was a pretty good follow-up given all the limitations that had to be present there? Yeah, anyone can jump in, whatever you... Yeah, I did.

The thing that wasn't... This is between us. The flashbacks weren't in the original script. They weren't in the shooting script. I'm sorry, what was... The flashback part. Oh, okay, gotcha. And that was added after we finished shooting, because there was confusion

With with an audience that didn't know the story at all and with Dave You know his main mind mindset was what the audience is lost So fucking what let him find her way back Let him go get the TV show We'll leave some fucking crumbs let him find it But again that was part of that's my if it's an episode of the show that's okay because there's going to be another episode

and it's going to tie back of oh that's what that meant and the show's full of stuff like that this is a movie it's not the show so I think that's why go ahead what the show so I think that's why go ahead what the movie did I think was

it's been 12, 13 years and it inspired a lot of people to go back and re-watch the show and I was very happy to hear about that when people said I sat down and I binge watched the show before I saw the movie

and I think-watched the show before I saw the movie. I think that's great. Our social media following was just one after another. Everyone's saying, oh my god, now I get to binge it as if I needed a reason. I binge the thing regardless. But apparently people needed reasons and this was the perfect one for them to go back and re-watch the whole series again.

It was for me. I remember you telling me a couple months ago. It's my fourth time watching it straight through. And this was after we'd filmed. I mean, it just started a month ago. There's still shit in there that I'm discovering. And, you know, I was in the writer's room at times when Dave came up with the ideas.

So, like, from the very beginning, but I'm still watching it and I'm like, oh my god, I never thought of it that way. So that's why it stands up to re-watch. Religious re-watching if you're some of us who are diehard fans. Absolutely. Well, that actually kind of ties into the question

I wanted to ask you specifically. I have a specific question about the movie for each of you. Yours is actually related to the writing. Hopefully you can talk about this, we'll kind of see. But one of the things that jumped out to me immediately in watching the film was that the dialogue was even more poetic than it was in the show. It had evolved beyond even the Shakespearean analogies that were used from the show. It had an even more poetic quality to it. Do you have any insight into the evolution of that process from David? You were very close with him. You were in the writer's room.

For the movie, I had nothing to do with any of that, no. I know you didn't help write with it. I mean, it was never openly discussed in the writer's trailer. A couple of times I had one-on-one meetings with him where he pontificated for a couple of hours on his theory of writing. And I mean, the thing that's always stuck with me most, he said, look, stories have a way of telling themselves. There are truths in the universe that need to be shared. So story will tell itself. So story will tell itself.

You have to set your ego aside, open your spirit, open your ears and eyes, and let the story flow through you. And that story will then tell itself the way it needs to be told. So, you know, now, because Dave is dealing, Swearingen's Dave. Yeah, I was going to say, there seem to be some pretty obvious similarities. It feels like he wrote some of his self into that. Well, when Doc asked him what there seemed to be some pretty obvious similarities. It feels like he wrote some of himself into that. Well, when Doc asked him what day of the week it is, Friday, it's Tuesday. Wow. And then later there's a line of bollocks about

did you tell Swearer? I'm paraphrasing. Yeah, I told him, but he probably won't fucking remember it by now. Yeah. So, you know, knowing the struggles that David is going through and excising them through his writing but as far as the change of the language I didn't really see I mean it's still in meter oh yeah but there's a

sophistication to the town grew you know and wardrobe changed Dan Doherty became really wealthy here some Dan's clothes were nicer. So if there's any refinement in it, it's that. And Dan, you know, was a bit more refined in tongue. Yes. Just a little. But, yeah. And actually, Jerry, I'm going to have a question for you in a second,

but I do want to touch on this because you mentioned it to us a couple days ago. You were talking about the back surgery you had, and could you tell people about the special piece of wardrobe? Oh, the back brace that I wore in the movie. Well, I called the surgeon, and I told him we were filming in October, and I needed to be out of the back brace. And he said, no.

And I said, you don't understand, I'm doing a movie. And he said, you don't understand. You're going to stay in the back brace. He would not let me out because if anything went wrong, he couldn't do surgery again if I didn't stay in the brace. The insurance wouldn't cover. So they had to make my costume bigger over the back brace that was prescribed to me. And then to cover up that back brace, they had to make one from the 1800s to wear over the dress.

So I was wearing two back braces, which really helped me heal faster. I thought you were doing the whole Daniel Day-Lewis thing and gaining weight so that Jewel would be more matronly as the years passed. I didn't know because you had a rig underneath the other one. No, they had to hide that stupid back brace.

Well, so much for dedication to the craft. Thank you. I thought that was really interesting there. Keone, my question for you was, it piggybacks a little bit off what you just said a couple minutes ago, but it was, I think the scene that you do have with Al, and there's almost, I think we can all imagine

there almost has to be a scene with Mr. Wu and Al in the movie. If it wasn't in the first draft, the fans obviously really wanted that. There was an audible reaction in the theater to that scene last night. How gratifying was it for Mr. Wu to have that moment where he gets to push back against Al? Al tries to be the tough guy that he was in the TV show. Wu quite literally stands up, holds his own, and gets to throw a little bit back at Al there. And we get to see just a little glimpse

of another level of evolution from the character of Wu. Well, you know, the thing about this scene with Wu, you have to remember we had a great leader in David Milch, and everything flowed from that. I'm proud to say that I'm one of the only characters, I'm the only character that wrote my own dialogue. Because David didn't know Chinese, and that's what I told him. Right.

But he was pretty open to that. But I don't know about you guys, but I've had, you know, as great as David is, he's very smart, and I can count the many times he told me how stupid I was. But it was great. In a fatherly way, we really struggled

through a lot with that scene. And we didn't know how it was going to turn out because David didn't write my part. He just told me, this is what I want to see happen. For example, the picked charcoal drawing.

Well, the art department came down and they said, well, we have all the charcoal drawings set for you. And David looked at them and went, no, he's got to do it himself. I said, I do. He says, yeah. He says, no, who's got to do the drawing himself? It can't be an artistic, it can't be set. And the artistic department got really upset.

He says, well, we spent a lot of time making these drawings. And David said, I don't care. He says, Wu's got, so that evolved in that way. And that was really funny. I mean, because Ian is a great actor. And I learned a lot from him. He helped the flow of the scene, and he was not the type of actor that,

I mean, whatever you gave him, he would take and push it back on you. So it was natural that I would push it back on him because he was open to it. A lot of actors aren't. A lot of stars aren't. A lot of stars aren't. You push back and they go to the director and say, you know, don't let him do that. Yeah.

And I've been in that situation before. I mean, you've seen me on Magnum P.I. maybe. But it usually happens with great actors who have confidence in their own ability. And with Ian, he would push and he would force you to respond. It's like a great musician plays his own piece and you have to respond. And if you don't, you better get off the stage and that's how it worked with me and Ian we worked on that that first scene that

cocksucker scene for a while just and Ian would take me in the back and he says key you call me key it's a key we got to work on this we'd work on it we work on it work on it David will come and go I'll leave it up to the two of you and then we knew it worked when we actually on it, work on it. David will come and go, I'll leave it up to the two of you. And then we knew it worked when we actually filmed it and the camera would keep shaking. And they go, cut, the camera's moving, what's happening?

We can't stop from laughing. So we knew then that the scene was right, that the temperature was right. And you can tell. But see, you had a great release valve in Dave not knowing the language. Oh yeah.

He could insult you that way, and then you could sit there and go, oh yeah, go fuck yourself, you bastard. In Chinese. And he wouldn't know what the fuck you're saying. No, it's true. I'm improvising, Dave. Just let you're saying. No, it's true. I'm improvising, Dave. Just let me work it.

I'm working the language. Yeah. And Dave was open to me about a lot of things as well. I don't know. You know, he would say something like, I see this operatic, and I say, well, Dave, you know, we have opera in our culture. It's Peking opera. And in that scene where I fight with that guy and I take my hair down, well, that's what happens in Peking opera all the time.

When the warrior comes out, he makes himself look bigger. Like animals do. They make themselves look bigger than they are. And I said, and I pulled my hair out and I just started whipping my hair. And I pulled my hair out and I just started whipping my hair. And it was from David's concept of trying to be operatic. But there's a lot of exciting things. I don't know if you guys experienced that with Dave.

I would suggest something and he would go, yes. And he would give me some time to rewrite that scene. Yeah, it sounds like that was the heart of the show. Yeah. Yeah, because there was one point where I said, you know, Dave, we were sojourners, meaning we came here and we were going to go back. But then we realized we couldn't go back. So these cues that we were wearing, all Chinese had to wear cues. But there's one time in America where they stopped wearing the cues. I said, David, there's got to be a point where the Chinese liberate themselves. And he says, okay, I'll write that scene. And that whole scene where I cut my hair and say America, that's how it evolved. So David, you know, just working with David in that way, I don't know if you have those, you probably have those experiences as well.

That, you know, scenes that become iconic, you know, come from this pattern of working collectively. Stories have a way of telling themselves. Yeah. Yeah. But David was brilliant with that. I mean, you know, I know you experience, I experience a lot of times network and management get, you know, kind of like, well, well, I don't know. We don't know how that sector of our audience would, you know, relate to that. So, but David was open all the time. And he wasn't always kind and generous about it.

My favorite was I had written, in development, you come up with a story idea, and he'd tell you, yeah, write three scenes, develop an arc, let me read it. So I had three things that I had written, and it was one of those bad days for him, I could tell. All right, what do you have? Let me see it. He takes them, stapled together each of the three scenes.

This is it. That is shit. Yeah, he would say to me, you're not smart, you know that? You're just not smart at all. Well, I think there's, maybe not similar to that, but Jerry, can you quickly tell the story of how you got the role?

Because I don't know how many people know this story and that you helped create your own character. I know you've told that one before, the backstory that you wrote for the character of Jewel. Well, you know, I had spinal cord surgery at that time, too. Wow. I had spinal cord surgery in 99 and in order to deal with the chronic pain I was getting three vials of Botox injected in my neck every three months for chronic pain and this was 2002 and I had surgery in 99. I still wasn't healed yet. And I was standing in line at this yuppie, buppie pharmacy in Santa Monica. And I looked like shit because I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't get dressed that morning because my neck was in so much pain so I went to the pharmacy in pajamas and I wore a jacket over it.

I thought, nobody's going to recognize me. And I'm standing in line and this man turns around, oh my god, you're Jerry Jewell. And I thought, oh, should I admit I am who I am? I thought, yeah, okay. And he said who I am? I thought, yeah, okay. And he said, I love you. I'm a huge fan of yours. And I said, well, thank you. You've made me laugh.

You've inspired me. I said, thank you, but I haven't seen you on TV in a long time. What are you doing with your life now? I said, Botox. He said, you want a television series? I said, wait a minute. This is a pharmacy, right? And he said, yeah, in case you don't recognize me,

my name is David Milch. I said, the executive producer of NYPD Blue? He said, yep. And I said, well, Mr Meehlch, I'm proud of that you believe in me, but I'd make a real shitty cop. He said, no, no, I just signed a contract with HBO. I'm doing a new western called Deadwood. You want to do a western?

And I looked up as far as my titanium neck would let me, and I said, God, you have a real quirky sense of humor. I'm standing here with cerebral palsy, a titanium neck, dependent on Botox, and David Mills wants me to ride a horse. And he wrote his phone number that morning on a prescription pad for an antidepressant. Nothing could be

more apropos and symbolic. And then I think if I remember correctly, you actually, you wrote a really long, he asked you to write backstory for your own character. I did. So you, in essence, created at least the core of Jewel. I went to a production meeting with all the writers at his office at Paramount.

And after a two-hour meeting, he walked me to my car, David, and he said, okay, now I want you to forget about everything we talked about. And I thought, oh, I must have fucked up. And he said, just forget what the writers said. I want to know what's in your heart, what's in your mind, how you perceive your character. I want you to read everything you can get your hands on. He gave me a book on the Black Hills. He said, I want you to write your character's backstory. Let me see what you come up with. And I wrote him about 20 pages and faxed it to him.

This was when we had fax machines. And he called me within 30 minutes, and he said, Jerry, it's David. And I thought, wow, he's fast. And he said, I got what you read, and I like 95% of it. I said, well, what's wrong with the other 5%? And he said, I don't like the name you chose. I don't like Crazy Kate.

I said, I love Crazy Kate. And he said, nope, her name's going to be Jewel. And I was kind of bummed. It took me a while to accept that, because I was thinking, gosh, I was Cousin Jerry on Facts of Life, and now I'm Jewel on Deadwood. You know, they use my name every time. And then I thought, well, let it be, you know,

and hopefully someday a producer will find out what my middle name is. Another role coming up in the future. It's Anne. Uh-oh, there it is. Producers in the room. Come up with an Anne. Uh-oh, there it is. Producers in the room.

Come up with an and. So actually, the last specific question about the film that I wanted to ask is for you. And we might get a little emotional here again because I do want to ask you about the end of the film. You have the final scene of the movie with Al Swearengin. Yes. And I wanted to ask you, the two of you, these characters that were so outwardly combative during the show

but obviously had a very strong inward connection. Was it emotional to film that last scene and have the final moment of not only the movie, but probably the Deadwood saga as we know it? Well, it was an

emotional scene, and as Earl has pointed out, some of the scenes were cut and there was more to that scene. I also carried him a tin cup of water and brought it to his lips and I kissed him and I said a prayer for him and I had tears in my eyes. And so they didn't show that part. But the Waltz team, Matilda, I had so much anxiety over singing.

I mean, I couldn't say those words if my life depended on it. I kept singing it again and again. I kept singing it wrong. And at one point, I started singing, it's the busy spider. And Ian looked at me shocked, like, what the fuck? And what I realized in the final showing of the movie that they used that look to itsy-bitsy spider, but I finally learned the words to Watsi Matilda and could carry kind of a tune. Yeah, absolutely.

And it was a very symbolic scene for me because I had just lost my sister to cancer a year and a half before. And so when I did that scene with Ian, I was saying goodbye to Gloria again. And that was such an important scene for me. It was symbolic. It was, I love you, Gloria. I love you, David. I love you, Ian. I love you, God. I love you, David. I love you, Ian. I love you, God.

Thank you. You know, I want to say something about the names that we have as characters. I've been plagued by Mr. Woo. That every time I do another project, they always say, we're going to change your character's name, and I already know what it's going to be. It's Woo. I've been Woo in Men in Black. I've been Woo in this series that I did with Amy Poehler. It was an animated series. I've been Woo so many times, I can't count. And that's what the effect that Deadwood had on a lot of people,

and in our industry as well. A lot of people actually would have me come in and audition, not for the part because I wasn't right for it, but just to have me come in and say, San Francisco cocksucker. I don't know about you guys, you Dan, I don't know, but people would ask me to come in because

they were fans of the show and they get a personal performance basically well they they just would want to meet you and just want you

to come in and talk about David and talk about the show and yeah just the general public going hey cocksucker

hey that's especially comforting when it happens at the urinal general public going, Hey, cocksucker! Hey! That's especially comforting when it happens at the urinal. You know, when I first started the series, and this was after we started shooting, they put a contract in my dressing room that I had not

seen previously. And it was basically giving me consent to pull nudity and sexual not seen previously. And it was basically giving my consent for nudity and sexual assimilation. To view it. I'm like, it's free? Sure. And I

looked at that contract for about two hours, but I thought, okay, mom's on the other side. She won't know about it. Well, she'll know about it, but she can't say anything about it. And I'm thinking, it's art. It's not porno. And then I really set myself up into believing that, hey, this is going to be cool,

because I'm going to be the first person with a disability to have a nude scene on a television show. And every time I got a new script, there was never a new scene. Oh, so you were signing off on your own nudity, not just viewing it? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Well, I don't know if you...

I signed it with full confidence that they were going to do this, and I could do it. You just had to tell it Dave in the moment, because the post-fight Doherty scene was actually a two-page scene with Johnny and I after the fight. And I'm supposed to be taking off the muddy clothes.

And I said to Dave, as we were rehearsing, I went, you know something? This would be more powerful if I don't say anything. That Johnny comes in, and I think there's like one word response or something, and I should be naked. And that's the one time that I know, in my instance,

that he let the image tell the story rather than the words. So that's what it is in the moment. Great idea, Dave. I need to be naked in this. Well, but, you know, I don't know if you recall that scene where there is a man in full frontal nudity

in one episode. Yeah. And after that, David would always threaten me and say, in the next, if I got out of hand or if I got too cocky, David would say, next episode, Wu's gonna take a bath or if I got too cocky, David would say, next episode, who's going to take a bath?

I went, uh, no, Dave. But just think, if you'd whipped it out first, you would have been Ron Swanson on Parks and Rec. I said to Dave, no, please, I'm sorry. Whatever I did to offend you, please. Did you know that, that that is Nick Offerman? Yeah, everyone realized that from the first season? That's Nick Offerman.

Is it? Yeah, Ron Swanson of Parks and Nick Offerman. That's him. Really? Yeah. Wow. Yep. It is.

The full Nick. Yeah, it's three or four episodes into the season, yeah, when the two road agents come to town. Yeah, that's right. So for your next viewing, all of you are going to go binge it again. You've got one more thing to look for. It's obvious. And it's a GIF on the internet.

Yeah. I've been told. Definitely haven't used that at all, though. So let's wrap up with one more thing. We're right at the end of our time here. So you've already kind of touched on it. Did this provide a moment of finality for you guys to wrap up the entire saga the the entire journal has now been a 15 year journey that of course nobody expected but did this movie provide

you guys with a little bit of finality finally to put a period on the end of the deadwood sentence well as i've said many times the show did not The show stopped. And there's a vast difference in those two things. We were all blissfully unaware of the axe hanging over our heads. Only Greg and Dave and Scott knew what was going on backstage. So when we finished production of season three, I never dreamt that we wouldn't be back. And only found out two days before we had the red carpet premiere. Hence, I was loaded

and I had a Johnny Cash fuck you t-shirt on. Which you can also find on the internet if you want to see that picture. We didn't get a chance to say goodbye to each other and to the characters and to come to terms with it. It's like a sudden death.

When you lose someone gradually, you can accept the eventual fate. But when it comes out of the blue, and it was like losing a family member. So getting back together, just the blessing of being back in that place with those people and sharing those moments. As I said, there's a great ray wiley hubbard

lyric every day that my gratitude is higher than my expectation i have a good day and i had two months of good days and this is probably it yeah um if it is i can i can accept that i couldn't accept it before it took me a long fucking time to quit kicking a dead horse. But I've learned dead horses can claw their way out of a grave. Jerry, what about you? Did this provide a moment of finality for you to bring it all together one last time? Yes.

I mean, like you said, I agree with you 100%. I mean, it was amazing to be back with all of us. It was a family reunion with family members that you liked. And I have to say, last night when I watched the film again, I cried. Because I was crying at the end. But it just stopped. It just stopped. Thank you.

Because it's such a gift that David gave me that I will have in my heart and soul forever. I mean, what are the odds of getting an experience like this? Wow. You know, and he, you know, I've been in the industry since 78, and it's hard for me to get work because of the disability. People don't consider hiring an actor with a disability david wasn't afraid of it even when i told him i couldn't do it he said bullshit you're gonna do it that's a gift and i don't take anything for granted

keone the final word belongs to you um Well, I take it a little different. You know, it doesn't end for me because of the nature of the show and the people that I've had relationships with in the show. That is still alive today. I met David on Hill Street Blues when he was a writer. I did one of his episodes on Hill Street Blues. That was the first time I met David on Hill Street Blues when he was a writer. I did one of his episodes on Hill Street Blues. That was the first time I met David. Then I did a couple episodes

of NYPD Blue. And I keep running into David and it's nothing. It's a living piece of work, Deadwood is. It's a part of my life. And that has no beginning or end in that sense.

It's living for me. Every day I think of it. I'm woo when I go to the grocery store. Because David took the best and the worst parts of me and put it on paper and put it on the screen. So for me, I don't think in terms of finality or the end of it, I mean, every day I breathe, I'm Mr. Woo. The one thing I do regret is I don't think I'm ever going to see a lot of those people again.

Like at the premiere, and that's what is hurting me because I know on the premiere, I walked up to Ian and he held me and I said, you know, I don't know if I'll ever see you again. I said, but you mean so much to me in Chinese when we say hang day it means older brother but it means much more than that it means someone who you who is your you are what you are because of that Hengdai.

And I said, I don't know if I'm ever gonna see you again in this life. And he held me and he kissed me. So there is not that kind of finality. There's more than that. It continues to live. Absolutely. I don't know how I'm gonna end that. I'm just gonna sit here and be flabbergasted for a second. Yeah. Thank you all very much for coming up here. Thank you for coming to Deadwood. Thank you for being a part of this. From all

the fans, thank you for helping enhance our experience. This has been a fantastic time. Yeah, lots of diehard fans in the room. A few more quick thank yous. Obviously, thank you to the number 10 for hosting us for this event. Thank you to the City of Deadwood and Deadwood History, Inc., the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce

that has organized all of these events. They've done a phenomenal job. Thank you guys all. Thank you all the fans. This has been a hell of a ride. So thank you guys very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

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