We all know the Taylor Sheridan TV universe (“Yellowstone” and its prequels, “1883” and “1923”) is filled with vast scenery, centuries-old feuds, and riveting drama. But it’s also filled with something else: a Montana-sized list of characters who know how to give a compelling speech. Here are some of our favorites and, as always, reader, beware: Spoilers ahead!
1. “1923” Season 1, Episode 1: Cara gets real with Elizabeth
After her nephew Jack (Darren Mann) and his fiancée, Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph), have to postpone their wedding due to Jack’s obligations to the family ranch, matriarch Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) gives the dismayed Elizabeth something between a pep talk and a wake-up call. Told in the no-nonsense fashion that could only come from a woman hardened by the Old West, this monologue is a great one for any older performer hoping to show both shades of toughness and motherly love.
Cara: You know, I admire you. And the opportunities you’ve had. I regret not sending Jack back east for school. I feel sometimes that we’ve robbed him of countless experiences, all of which you’ve had. But what you haven’t had, however, is an education about this way of life. You will miss more than weddings for cattle, my dear. If you give birth during calving season it will be a month before he sees his first child. If you give birth in the fall it will be even longer. You will stand knee-deep in mud to help a sick foal. You will drive wagons through blizzards with hay for cattle and hear them screaming their gratitude when you approach. And you will be free in a way that most people can barely conceive. Now, if this is not the life you want, you must tell the boy now. Because you have to want more than the boy, you have to want the life, too. Because in this life, there’s no debating which is more important: the wedding or the cattle. It’s always the cattle.
2. “1923” Season 1, Episode 2: Jacob and the ranch’s greatest enemy
Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) is one tough son-of-a-gun. After a disagreement over land leads to him fitting his enemies with nooses and leaving them (presumably) to die once their horses run away, Jacob tells a surprised Jack that he actually hopes the men survive their ordeal. An intimidating but sincere speech about the brutality of man, this is a great monologue for anyone who is looking for a piece that marries life-lesson wisdom with Wild West–level stakes.
Jacob: You give a man enough time, he’ll figure his way out of anything. I figure a few’ll make it. I hope a few do.
[Jack: Why?]
Someday, you’re gonna run this place, and for your son to someday run it, too, you got to understand what this ranch’s greatest enemy is. It’s not wolves or drought or blizzards or Texas Fever. It’s other men. Man will choose to take what you’ve built rather than try and build it for himself. Every civilization in this world is built on top of the one they conquered. You go to Rome or Jerusalem or Paris, France, and its cities stacked on top of towns stacked on top of villages on top of one man’s house built on top of one man’s cave. Wish it wasn’t so, but it is. Your enemies have got to be so terrified that their fear is greater than their greed. I gave those men a chance ’cause I wanted them to tell the world what happened when they crossed me. Let’s get some sleep, boys. There ain’t no telling what tomorrow’s gonna throw at us.
3. “1923” Season 1, Episode 4: Spencer opens up about his time in the war
When Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) finds a stack of letters among Spencer’s (Brandon Sklenar) things, she initially assumes they’re from a lover back home. Alex confronts him, but Spencer reveals the letters to be something sweeter and stranger—they’re all from his aunt Cara, and all unopened. When pressed on why, he muses about the horrors of war and the trap of false hope. This brief but emotional monologue is great in the context of the show, but it can also stand on its own, making it a worthwhile choice for the audition room.
Spencer: War’s not living. War is... If insanity was a thing you could touch, that’s what war is. A letter is a window out of that hell for a minute. But it’s a double-edged sword. Missing home and dreaming has killed more soldiers. You want to eat a bullet in battle, you start wishing for a letter. We had so many letters to dead men we bundled them up and made furniture out of ’em. I credit not reading ’em for keeping me alive. Then the war’s over and I got two years’ worth of ’em. Then I just felt guilty. Now I don’t know what I feel. I... I spend most of my time trying not to. Till you.
4. “1923” Season 1, Episode 5: Captain Lucca’s ominous tale
In a rush to get back to Spencer’s family in the United States, Spencer and Alex hitch a ride with the elderly tuberculosis-ridden tugboat captain Lucca (Peter Stormare). Despite succumbing to his illness about 20 minutes after appearing onscreen, Lucca still has time to entertain our heroes with a foreboding tale of a mysterious ghost ship. This is a great monologue choice for a very specific character type—the wise, old, jaded, and mysterious guy who appears more often than you might expect.
Captain Lucca: There was this ghost ship called the Zebrina. British cargo ship hauling coal. She ran aground in France after floating past all of you fellas coming to join the war. My hospital ship ran from her for weeks. I swear that empty bitch, she was chasing us. But the strangest thing I ever saw was off the coast of Indonesia. Little dinghies, two-man fishing skiffs, just floating, 300 miles offshore. The seagulls swarmed ’em like hornets, picking at the men inside. And there must have been a thousand of them small dinghies, maybe more. I passed ’em for a week. Must have been a big swell that pushed ’em all out to sea. I don’t know. It’s a mystery. The sea’s like that. Cunning... like a fox. Always looking for ways to trick you.
5. “1923” Season 1, Episode 6: Cara gives Jacob a piece of her mind
By the middle of the first season, the Dutton family’s ongoing feud with the sheep ranchers has cost them a lot. They’ve lost their nephew John (James Badge Dale) and his wife, Emma (Marley Shelton), for starters, as well as Jacob’s health after he was nearly killed in a shootout. Having almost lost him once, Cara rips into her husband when she realizes he’s trying (yet again) to go above the law and risk his life by taking matters into his own hands. This piece has everything an actor could want in an angry monologue. It’s pointed, confident, and ruthless, but comes from a place of love: a wife who doesn’t want to live without her husband.
Cara: How dare you give your back to me? After all I’ve given to you. It’s not even justice. It’s more petty than that. It’s vengeance you seek. Never mind he’ll be arrested in the morning. You’d rather put the bullet in him yourself. Then it’s you in prison and the ranch is lost all the same. You think it’s you who’s suffered the most? How would you know? You were asleep half the time. While I bathed you and spoon-fed you like an infant, I wiped your ass like an infant. While I shoveled graves between unanswered prayers. You don’t know what it is to suffer. Emma did. She suffered her way into the hole I dug her. Elizabeth knows it. Father in the ground, family gone, stuck in this house like a dungeon. Can you fathom the strength it took for that girl to smile again? If there is a line forming for vengeance, you are at the back of it. But we’ve abandoned any desire for vengeance. Even Jack, for you. I wonder if your pride can withstand the sacrifice of showing us the same courtesy.
How to Get Cast on ‘Yellowstone’ Prequel Series ‘1923’6. “1923” Season 1, Episode 6: Jacob apologizes to Cara
A scene later, in response to Cara’s concern, Jacob issues a much needed, deeply heartfelt apology. Perhaps the most powerful monologue from “1923” to date, this is a dynamic emotional showcase with a full story arc, giving any actor who decides to use it the opportunity to explore themes of forgiveness and vengeance, alongside vivid imagery and deep sincerity.
Jacob: You saved my life. I know it. I did not need to be told. It’s not vengeance. It’s preservation. You’ve been to New York, you’ve been to Boston. Now close your eyes and imagine those places if the cities weren’t there. Come on, do it. White sands stretching to a forest of hickory and elm... taller than the buildings that stand there now. Meadows filled with bison and moose and bear, and millions of salmon swimming up the east river to spawn, so thick you could walk across them. Now think about what’s there now: a 13-mile island of cement with rivers of sewage running underneath it until they dump in the bay where salmon don’t dare to swim. That’s what they’ll do to this place: dam the rivers... flood the valleys... cut every tree that stands to build cities. This paradise becomes another concrete desert. I’m not going to kill him for what they done to me, or what they done to John, or what they’re still doing to you. I’m going to kill them... because the men who build cities always send men like Banner first. I do it for the child of a child I’ll never meet. I do it for the land. I do it for you. So that when you’re laid to rest under the aspens... no one cuts them down and builds a city over you. I know how much you’ve suffered. And I thank you for it. It’s their turn now. God damn it, it’s their turn now.
7. “Yellowstone” Season 2, Episode 10: John seeks vengeance
No strangers to a feud, the stakes for the Dutton family reach new heights when patriarch John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) grandson Tate (Brecken Merrill) is kidnapped by the Beck brothers. But John is a Dutton, after all, so once he gets a hold of Malcom Beck (Neal McDonough), he shoots him first and asks questions later. This monologue is perfect for anyone looking for a tough-guy, taunting narrative for an older actor, all while maintaining the highest stakes imaginable.
John: There you go. Get it all out, you son of a bitch. Tell me where my grandson is and I’ll get you to the hospital. You have my word. Go on, scream. Scream till whatever makes you want to hurt a child to hurt me leaves you. If there’s a heaven, and I sure hope so... this is your last chance to do something that just might get you in it. You know, I think a lot about the 10-or-so years I’ve got left before there’s not much left for me to do, but sit around and reminisce. You, on the other hand, have to cram a lifetime of reminiscing in the next 30 minutes or so. Or you can lay there and... not telling me where he is will be your last thought. Not whoever you may have loved or your brother’s ninth birthday. None of that shit. Your entire lifetime’s gonna be reduced to my grandson’s face. It’s up to you, Malcolm.
8. “Yellowstone” Season 4, Episode 10: Beth tells Jamie his options
When Beth (Kelly Reilly) learns that her adopted brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) knows who’s behind the attempts on her family’s lives (and that, even worse, it’s Jamie’s biological father), she shows up to his office with a gun and a plan. If blackmail were a monologue, this would be it. This is a worthy choice for anyone who needs a piece to show off fury and rage all within the confines of somebody who’s completely in control of a situation.
Beth: And when he did admit it, why didn’t you blow his head off? I’ll tell you why. Because deep down in here it’s what you always wanted. I’m sure he told you that he did it ’cause he loves you, right? He loves you, Jamie. And he wants the best for you, and all the things you deserve, but that’s just not the truth, is it? He just wants what you want. He wants what everyone who has ever attacked us wants: He wants the land. Option one: I tell my father. He will call the governor and he will have you both arrested. Your spineless, woman-murdering father will instantly say it was your idea. You know that, right? He will cut an immunity deal and he will testify against you. You will be charged with attempted murder times three and will spend the rest of your life in jail, which actually it won’t be that long because you’ll probably commit suicide after your first rapе. Option two... now this is a good one. I tell my husband what your father did, and he will kill him. And then I’ll tell my husband... that you had his child cut from my belly and then you had me sterilized, so he can never have a family of his own. And you, no matter where you hide, he will find you and he will tear you apart with his bare fuckin’ hands. Wouldn’t you like to know which option I picked?
9. “Yellowstone” Season 5, Episode 3: Beth makes a deal
When Beth realizes she’s going to have to somehow punish Market Equities for trying to build an airport on her family’s land, she reaches out to an unlikely ally: Rob (Aaron Lazar), a higher-up at her former employer Schwartz & Meyer. Much like her previous monologue, this one has Beth calm, cool, collected, and completely in control of her situation, casually smoking a cigarette as she lays out her plan. It’s not so much about what the plan is as it is about how the actor is given an opportunity to rattle off business jargon in a way that convinces the audience (and Rob) that she’s not a woman to be messed with.
Beth: Care for one? Rob, I have seen you snort cоcaіnе off a stripper’s stomach. M.E. is going to sue me. They’re going to claim they fired me for cause, and that my severance should be nullified by me violating their company’s NDA. Then they’re going to sue me for my piece in this place, saying that I negotiated in bad faith, and therefore the ownership agreement for Schwartz & Meyer should also be nullified. Then they’re going to sue the state for breach of contract and seek to initiate eminent domain in federal court.
[Rob: All those things seem likely.]
No shit. Market Equities is your largest competitor, right? Don’t you want to fuck them over just a little bit?
[Rob: I want to fuck them over a lot. I just don’t want to get fucked in the process.]
Well, I will place the land in a conservation easement. OK, since this is the land they intended to build Terminal Two, their development is done. No matter what a fucking federal judge says. They will write down a billion in losses and 20 times that in lost revenue over the next 10 years. I still control this place, so I can still sell it and when I do, there is not a court in this country that can give it back. That’s another 2 billion off their balance sheet. And that is how CEOs get fired. There is zero risk to you. You will inherit 12 pipe-hitting investment bankers generating half a billion in profits and 40 million in your pocket every fucking year, and it didn’t cost you a dime. Where’s the rattlesnake in the deal? I am the rattlesnake. But you’re not who I’m going to bite.
10. “Yellowstone” Season 5, Episode 4: John comforts Monica
After Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) lose their infant son, John takes it upon himself to reveal to the grieving Monica that he understands how she feels, at least a little bit. It’s poignant and touching, and despite the usual trappings of a story monologue, the context gives it additional stakes—namely the fact that this is John’s first time telling this story, and he’s using that vulnerability to help someone in crisis feel better.
John: I know how you feel. I wished I didn’t, but I do. I buried a son right over there.
[Monica: I remember.]
Blaming yourself, aren’t you? Yeah, I did that, too. Still do some days. I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anybody. I had a brother for about 18 hours. His name was Peter. He was born early, and his little heart wasn’t strong enough. Not much they could do back in those days. Not a lot they can do now. So, they just gave him back to my mother. The doctors hoped and we prayed and... neither worked. And it changed my mother. It hardened her. She never... she never tried to have children again. Years later, I was grown and Lee had just been born. Both my parents are looking at him, taking turns holding him. And my father got white as a ghost, looked at my mother and said, “Peter lived a perfect life. All he saw of this planet was you and all he knew was you loved him.” That boy lived a perfect life, Monica. We’re the only ones who know it was brief. All he knew was you and that you loved him.
