Posted in: Deadwood, HBO, Movies | Tagged: Deadwood, Deadwood Movie, Dispatches from the Thoroughfare, HBO, w. earl brown

'Deadwood': W. Earl Brown Shares "Dispatches from the Thoroughfare V"

Published Mon, 12 Nov 2018 12:45:26 -0600

by Mary Anne Butler

Last updated Thu, 20 Dec 2018 10:28:26 -0600

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W. Earl Brown has been our best source of first-hand news about the upcoming Deadwood feature film, which we're grateful for. Not only is Brown a delightful person to follow on the social medias, he obviously loves his character Dan Dority from HBO's Deadwood just as much as we do.

Also YES, Brown is in the movie. Although he's not mentioned in the official HBO casting notice. (*cue eyeroll*).

Today on his personal Instagram, Brown shared another account of working on the production, a series of thoughts he's been calling "Dispatches From The Thoroughfare", this one being numbered "V" (aka 5):

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DISPATCHES FROM THE THOROUGHFARE V "A piano, Dan? What the fuck does it profit me to listen to a bunch of drunken Hoopleheads, sitting around wailing about their points of origin???," spoke Al Swearengen after the arrival of an Upright that Dan had ordered from the Montgomery Ward Company. Dority longed for the comfort of a melodious atmosphere, Al grew used to it over time. Since Milch had a way of weaving an actor's personal tics and proclivities into the characters they played, the seed of music in The Gem likely grew out of John Hawkes and I's habit of bringing guitars to set and caterwauling about our points of origin. Music played a big role in DEADWOOD. That may seem like an odd statement about a show that had no underscore, but as Mozart was meticulous about quilling notes to stave paper such was Milch about putting his words on the page. Like Shakespeare, the words ARE music. An actor speaking them from the page has to be aware of the meter much in the same way a pianist handles notes on a staff. I met and befriended numerous musicians through the show (a few of whom I had posters of on my wall as a kid). It sort of became an open door for musician buddies to visit and play Cowboy. Invariably instruments would come out between camera setups and/or during lunch break. A few days ago, I wrote of the magic I felt when 15 cast members were gathered for a big scene. It was stories and jokes and laughter and tears… yesterday was like that, but with the added element of music. Yesterday, we began work on an even bigger scene which will take three days to film, it includes almost every character in the show. We also had a special guest that warranted bringing out the guitars. If you don't already listen to the music of @JasonIsbell, do yourself a favor and buy a record. Before we got there, he had no idea how many fans he had on set. When the guitars came out, the requests started. Soon, we had a genuine Hootenanny on our hands. Me, John Hawkes, Brent Sexton, Keone Young, Cleo King, Sean Bridgers, Kim Dickens, McShane, and a few other stragglers made music for the better part of an hour. You haven't lived until you've seen and heard Keone, dressed in full

A post shared by W Earl Brown (@wearlbrown) on Nov 12, 2018 at 8:57am PST