It’s safe to say Brandon Sklenar has quite a lot in common with his rugged 1923 character.
At the season 2 premiere of the Yellowstone prequel series on Feb. 19, Sklenar’s onscreen partner Julia Schlaepfer told PEOPLE that the actor, 34, is “like Spencer,” his character, in one very unique way.
“He just will throw on the same pair of clothes after two weeks and just call it good,” she said. “And I’m like, you have to do laundry sometimes. You have to wash your clothes.”
Recalling how “dirty” and “so gross” they were filming season 1 in Africa in 2022, she added, “He doesn’t care. And I’m like, Brandon, pull it together.”
The show’s long-awaited second season, the first episode of which premiered Feb. 23, was a very different experience for Schlaepfer, 29, and Sklenar, who spent the majority of season 1 together before their characters were separated in the emotional season 1 finale.
“Brandon and I were kind of partners in crime as humans season 1, and we had each other to rely on. So to have that kind of taken from you … It was very isolating and kind of jarring,” Schlaepfer, who plays Spencer’s wife Alex, said of filming season 2 without Sklenar.
It “worked for the acting performance,” though, “because that’s what Alex is going through,” she continued. “It was the total opposite experience of season 1, but really, really fun to film in a different way.”
Sklenar echoed his costar’s feelings. “It was a trip,” he told PEOPLE. “It was her and I every day for season 1 for five, almost six months.”
“[It was] definitely a different experience, seeing the different sides of Spencer and this journey that he’s on and having actors come in and working opposite different people all the time,” he said.
“The way he is with Alex is a very specific version of himself, and getting to explore other parts of him through these other characters that come in and out was a lot of fun,” he added.
The stakes were raised even further for the separated couple given that the season 2 premiere revealed that Schlaepfer’s character is pregnant — a twist that Sklenar “wasn’t surprised” by.
“It’s a great storytelling element for sure. If there’s any pocket where [creator Taylor Sheridan] can raise the stakes, he’s going to do it. So it makes sense,” the actor said.
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The season 2 premiere of 1923 is now streaming on Paramount+ and new episodes premiere Sundays.
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