Brandon Sklenar faced a serious injury while filming 1923 season 1. The actor starred as Spencer Dutton, a World War I veteran and hunter, and worked alongside the rest of 1923’s extensive cast, which included Helen Mirren (Cara), Harrison Ford (Jacob), Julia Schlaepfer (Alexandra), Jerome Flynn (Banner), and more. The show recently concluded with its second installment, and Taylor Sheridan aims to begin a new era for the Yellowstone franchise in the aftermath. Sklenar previously worked on It Ends with Us (2024), Westworld, and Midway (2019), but his most prominent role came in 1923.
While speaking with his The Housemaid co-star, Sydney Sweeney, Sklenar admitted that filming was not always a comfortable experience. In one flashback scene, in which he was meant to attack his target with a helmet, his director instructed that he should “just go really ape-shit on it.” In the process, Sklenar accidentally struck himself in the head instead, leading to a significant injury, and he still bears the scar to this day. Check out Sweeney and Sklenar’s discussion below, via Interview Magazine:
SWEENEY: What’s the dumbest way you’ve ever injured yourself?
SKLENAR: Probably splitting my own head open with a helmet shooting a scene in 1923. That was pretty dumb.
SWEENEY: How did you do that?
SKLENAR: I was having to slam it down on this dude’s neck as he’s trying to kill me. And when we actually shot it, I had the helmet far enough in front of me to have some clearance. Then we had to shoot from his point of view, of me slamming it on his neck, and because of the angle I had to hold the helmet really close to me, and we had one shot, so the director told me to just go really ape-shit on it. So I came up and hit myself right here under my eye and just totally split my head open. They had to superglue it. Yeah.
SWEENEY: You have a scar now?
SKLENAR: I do. I got a pretty good scar right next to another scar that I already had there. But yeah, they had to CGI it into the other stuff we had already shot before, and now he just has this head wound the entire season if you look closely.
What Sklenar’s Injury Meant For 1923
Several Other Yellowstone Stars Have Been Hurt
Sklenar’s injury was dangerous, but it was not the only one in Yellowstone’s history. After all, injuries are not necessarily an unexpected part of acting in major movies and shows, and the Yellowstone franchise has had its share of hurt actors. Jefferson White (Jimmy) has permanent scars from injuries caused by horseback riding, Wes Bentley (Jamie) reportedly broke his foot in an unexplained injury, and Jen Landon (Teeter) suffered a rope burn that was so painful, that she found it difficult to sleep. Before joining the show, even Cole Hauser (Rip) damaged his back after falling from a horse.
Considering that so many other members of the cast have faced injuries, it is not especially surprising that a 1923 star would join their ranks. Sklenar’s injury was a complete accident, as director Ben Richardson did not anticipate that his star would strike himself with his helmet. Injuries do occur in Hollywood, but it can be even more concerning when they occur while filming the first episode of the entire show, season 1, episode 1, “1923,” especially since it left Sklenar permanently scarred.
Our Take On Sklenar’s 1923 Injury
Sklenar’s Cut Could Have Been Worse
Fortunately, even with scarring, Sklenar’s injury was not as dangerous as it otherwise could have been. Any injury to the head or neck area can be extremely worrying, but Sklenar had many other cast and crew members who were quick to support him. It could have been much more concerning, had the crew not been quick to respond with superglue to stop the bleeding and close the wound. While Sklenar describes it as a “pretty dumb” injury today, it would have been a terrifying scene on the set of 1923.
