1923 stars Julia Schlaepfer as Alexandra, Spencer’s beautiful love interest. Alexandra leaves behind a life of fancy dresses and dinner parties to adventure with Spencer Dutton. The young woman has already faced dangerous wildlife in Africa and a capsizing tugboat at sea. While on set, Schlaepfer and her co-star Brandon Sklenar tried to do as many of their own stunts as possible. At times it was hard for Schlaepfer to hide how much she enjoyed her work.
[Warning: 1923 Episode 5 spoilers ahead.]
Filming for ‘1923’ partially took place in Africa
Julia Schlaepfer and Brandon Sklenar had a lot of work ahead of them for their roles in 1923. The actors who play Spencer Dutton and Alexandra traveled to South Africa, Kenya, Malta, and Montana, to shoot different parts of the series.
They filmed with exotic animals in Africa and attended cowboy camp to prepare for their scenes that would take place on the ranch. “I get to go on the adventure of a lifetime, for real, and it’s amazing,” said Schlaepfer while speaking to KTLA5.
In an interview with TV Insider, Schlaepfer further discussed her African adventure. “It was truly so much fun,” she told the outlet. “It was hard work too, but it was just unreal. Every location, every costume, and set piece, and we kept getting more scripts with all of this incredible stuff to do.”
Brandon Sklenar and Julia Schlaepfer performed many of their own stunts in ‘1923’
The action for Julia Schlaepfer and Brandon Sklenar picks up pretty much right away. In episode 3, an elephant charges Spencer and Alexandra’s car, flipping it and nearly crushing them inside.
“We had a herd of elephants on set that day, and they were these lovely, magnificent creatures,” Sklenar told Newsweek of filming the scene. “They were 3 feet from your face all day. We would have to keep them near the car, so they get a shot of this elephant running towards us.”
“Julie [Schlaepfer] and I would have to hide a bunch of oranges in our pockets and around the car and off camera to nudge them towards the car. Sometimes they’d come over, and you’d have to hold out an orange, and this thing, like their hairy elephant lips, would come down, and that was a really special experience.”
Additionally, TV Insider reports that Schlaepfer and Sklenar performed as many of their own stunts as they could in 1923, so the actors were really in the overturned car in episode 3. Schlaepfer stated that director Ben Richardson had to remind her not to let her “glee” show on her face as the car rolled over.
Schlaepfer was tossed around in a boat in episode 5
Spencer and Alex’s adventure isn’t over when the pair depart Africa. In 1923 Episode 5, the couple board a tugboat headed for the Suez Canal. A run-in with a ghost ship causes the boat to flip, tossing Alexandra around inside.
“It was a big platform that rotated completely sideways,” Schlaepfer said while describing filming the scene. “They made that one side of the boat wall all cushion, so none of that was real metal. They were like, ‘Just let the momentum take you, protect your head, and just let yourself fall.'”
New episodes of 1923 air Sundays on Paramount+.
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