Recasting Deadwood 20 Years Later: All 12 Main Characters

Deadwood is indisputably one of the greatest Western TV series ever created, making actors like Timothy Olyphant into Western genre icons and showcasing standout performances from the entire cast. When it comes to Deadwood and other perfectly-cast HBO TV shows, it is often hard to imagine the characters played by anyone other than their original actors, but it can be a fun exercise to explore who could take on the roles in Deadwood if the show was made today.

Many credit Yellowstone with reviving the Western, but Deadwood redefined the Western genre itself by replacing the classic hero and villain dynamic with something much more exciting. The show is packed with morally-complex characters and antiheroes, and any actor cast in a Deadwood remake would have to carry the show's emotional weight as well as its groundbreaking script that blends profanity with an almost-Shakespearean twist. Simply copying the original actors is not an option, as a recast requires actors experienced and creative enough to put their own stamp on Deadwood's iconic characters.

Paul Mescal As Seth Bullock

Paul Mescal's best movies and TV shows demonstrate his impressive range, with Mescal playing characters from a struggling father to a vengeful gladiator, with Hamnet proving that he can handle Shakespearean script, having played Shakespeare himself. His characters often conceal fury and intense emotion behind a calm and controlled mask, and this is the exact skill needed to play Seth Bullock, especially after Timothy Olyphant's career-making performance.

Crushed over time by the weight of his duty, Deadwood's lawman often appears one second away from punching somebody, and visibly ages throughout the show. Mescal is young enough that he could convincingly play such a transformation, while pulling from his experience playing Calum in Aftersun to convey the barely-contained emotion that Seth carries, especially while being manipulated by other characters.

Brendan Gleeson As Al Swearengen

Mr. Mercedes, Calvary, and even 28 Days Later prove that Brendan Gleeson is the perfect actor to take over the role of Al Swearengen from Ian McShane. He can be theatrical without seeming cartoonish, menacing without being overexaggerated, and vulnerable without appearing weak. Deadwood's most compelling character is a brutal pimp and murderer, while remaining the center of the town, albeit a corrupt figure.

Deadwood changed some details about the real Al Swearengen, which leaves actors with the opportunity to add their own interpretations, and Gleeson would be more than capable of capturing Swearengen's spirit without merely emulating McShane. Having built his career through playing intimidating men with depth, his height would give the character a different kind of imposing presence, easily dominating any room and gathering.

Jessie Buckley As Alma Garret

Jessie Buckley is among the most versatile actors of the 2020s, and her emotional range could showcase a new side to the wealthy laudanum-addicted widow, Alma Garret. She is one of the few Deadwood characters to directly challenge the show's villains, and with Buckley preferring to play "disobedient" women, this is a role that would give her a lot to work with.

Alma combines two of Buckley's previous acclaimed roles: the gentle and responsible Princess Marya in War and Peace, and the fierce and vulgar Rose Gooding in Wicked Little Letters. Buckley could play Alma's addiction storyline with all the realism it requires, and as her relationships set the course of the show, the relationship between her Alma and Paul Mescal's Seth would be compelling as Buckley is famous for her onscreen chemistry with her co-stars.

Alex Wolff As Sol Star

From Hereditary to Oppenheimer, Alex Wolff excels at playing level-headed characters surrounded by chaos, and Sol Star works as a foil to Seth Bullock's simmering rage. He is the sane voice of reason in Deadwood, and internalizes the stress of dealing with Bullock, which gives the character a hidden struggle of his own. Star is a Deadwood character who is based on a real person, and Wolff could use this to break away from John Hawkes, who originally played him.

Deadwood's more exaggerated characters tend to steal the scene, but Wolff's role in the drama Pig proves that he can hold his own as a scene partner. Acting opposite Nicolas Cage, his nuanced performance works as the "straight man" to Cage's eccentric character, Rob, and Wolff can take this skill to a Deadwood recast, making Star just as compelling as the louder characters in the series.

Isabel May As Trixie

Of all Isabel May's best movies and TV shows, her breakout role in Taylor Sheridan's Western prequel, 1883, is still one of her greatest. May played the resilient Elsa Dutton onscreen in 1883, then narrated 1923 as Elsa, with an additional uncredited voice role in Yellowstone. Elsa's strength defined 1883 and her slow decline is one of the most powerful moments in any Western TV show.

This previous experience in a Western period drama makes her the ideal actor to play Trixie in a Deadwood recast, with Trixie's loyalty and survival instinct sharing DNA with Elsa's transformation from dreamer to frontierswoman. Any actor playing Trixie will share intense and dialogue-heavy scenes with accomplished veteran actors playing intimidating characters like Al Swearengen, and May has already shown she can do just that through her work with Sam Elliott.

David Thewlis As Doc Cochran

The Deadwood script is a masterclass in writing, giving actors a mixture of grandiose Shakespearean monologues and the kind of language that accompanies a gritty barroom brawl. This is a difficult balance to get right, keeping viewers immersed in the Western frontier setting while delivering complex and wordy speeches that are even more impressive on a rewatch. Brad Dourif was perfectly cast as the brilliant but tortured Doc Cochran, but David Thewlis would also be an inspired choice.

Thewlis' multi-award-winning performance as the conspiracy theorist Johnny in 1993's Naked is just one of many times in which he has played a character with complex and emotive dialogue. With Doc Cochran being among the most quotable characters in Deadwood, Thewlis is one of the few actors capable of delivering his lines conveying empathy while screaming profanity.

Florence Pugh As Martha Bullock

Martha Bullock is comparatively understated for a show like Deadwood, surrounded by loud and ambitious men and defined by her sense of duty and quiet grief. A character like Martha could fade into the background, but in the hands of an actor like Florence Pugh, her emotional range would be just as compelling as any of the larger presences in the series.

In a marriage of obligation, Martha manages Seth in a way that few others can, and many of Pugh's most memorable roles involve this intense but understated strength. Her screen presence ensures that she can command attention even in scenes with Deadwood's villains or Seth at his most explosive, while her ability to put her own spin on well-established characters like Little Women's Amy March ensures that she could make Martha her own.

Sam Claflin As Charlie Utter

Charlie Utter has the world on his shoulders and progressively gets worse throughout the show, but while Dayton Callie was spot-on playing the slightly-unkempt caretaker, business partner, and loyal friend, Sam Claflin could do something very interesting with the character. The real Charlie Utter was a famous "dandy" who was fastidiously clean and obsessed with dressing well, and Claflin's breakout role as The Hunger Games' Finnick Odair sets the groundwork for combining these two sides.

Claflin has built his career playing characters who appear effortlessly polished but are navigating a brutal world, whether due to their surroundings or an internal struggle, and his interpretation could totally redefine Utter. With Utter's arc involving being the protector for his self-destructive friends, the contrast between an outwardly stylish and well-dressed person and his messy personal life could be emphasized more if Utter is played by Claflin.

Julia Garner As Calamity Jane

Swaggering through camp, Calamity Jane has one of the most iconic entrances in any Western TV show, and the foul-mouthed survivalist remains one of the standout characters in Deadwood. Julia Garner might appear fragile when compared to Robin Weigert's physical presence, but she would be a perfect recast as she has already played a version of Jane before, in another time period.

Garner’s Emmy-winning performance as Ozark's Ruth is essentially a modern Jane, complete with swearing rants and internalized trauma, and another role shows that she can adapt the heavy accent needed for the character. Inventing Anna sees Garner adopt the same bizarre hybrid accent used by the conwoman known as Anna Delvey, while still coming across as sincere, making her a potentially surprising but smart option for the role of Jane.

Kevin Sussman As E.B. Farnum

E.B. Farnum is a pathetic, cringing, obviously desperate character who wants nothing more than to be seen as none of these things, which makes him a fish out of water in Deadwood and the ideal character to manipulate. Hardly a fan-favorite character, he is still both funny and tragic, while avoiding being reduced to a caricature, and this is where Kevin Sussman has already excelled.

The Big Bang Theory's Stuart is a comedic version of Farnum, but the show's earlier episodes gave the character more dimension, and Sussman's acting was spot-on, leading to the role being expanded. Sussman has mastered the ability to make viewers laugh and recoil, often within the same scene, and a role like Farnum would play to his strengths while giving him much more to work with.