Helen Mirren says women should be “grateful” for Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone & 1923 roles

Published: Feb 25, 2025, 12:47

Paramount+

Despite one of the biggest criticisms about Taylor Sheridan‘s work being his women characters, 1923 star Helen Mirren has the opposite opinion.

Between the likes of Ainsley in Landman and Beth Dutton in Yellowstone, Sheridan has never escaped backlash when it comes to how his on-screen women are portrayed.

Criticism on the topic has only spiked following the premiere of 1923 Season 2 Episode 1, which fans have claimed to be highly-sexualized and inappropriate due to scenes of sexual assault.

But Mirren, who plays matriarch Cara Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel series, has come out to defend Sheridan’s characters, and believes women should be “grateful.”

1923’s Helen Mirren says Sheridan’s women characters are “great”

“Young women should be very grateful to Taylor Sheridan for writing such great women roles. Cara is just one of them,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

“He’s written a whole series of great, great women’s roles. Those roles didn’t exist when I was growing up in our business. Even as an audience member, I never saw these people on the screen. I never really liked Westerns because the women in them were so awful.

“I just love the fact that young women now can watch 1923 or any of Taylor’s pieces and see really interesting, complicated, vulnerable, strong… just real people who happen to be women on the screen.”

Mirren’s comments come not long after Kevin Costner also expressed a stance on women in Westerns. In February 2025, he said [via Variety], “I was always bothered that we didn’t have more women in our Westerns, because there was no West without women.”