Role Recall: Keith Carradine Talks ‘Deadwood,’ ‘Fargo,’ ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller’ and More

Keith Carradine was “Wild Bill” Hickok in HBO’s Western series ‘Deadwood’ (Photo: HBO)

Looking to explore America’s frontier this summer? Hitch your horse to Turner Classic Movies, which has programmed a month-long tribute to the dusty trails and winding rivers of the American West. Starting July 5, TCM is turning its Tuesday and Wednesday line-up over to the curated program “Shane Plus 100 More Great Westerns,” which will air such classic examples of the genre as John Ford’s The Searchers, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch and, of course, George Stevens’ Shane. (Visit the official TCM site for the full schedule.)

And the network has picked an experienced hand to host this particular wagon train: Keith Carradine, the veteran character actor whose filmography includes more than a few Westerns, among them McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Riders and Deadwood. “It’s quintessentially American subject matter,” Carradine tells Yahoo TV. “Westerns are invariably morality plays, with archetypal characters and consequences. I find them an incredibly rich reflection of the American psyche.” We spoke with Carradine about his own experiences in the Old West, as well as his memorable roles in non-Westerns like Nashville and the first season of FX’s Fargo.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
In one of his earliest film roles — and his first collaboration with director Robert Altman — Carradine plays an eager young cowboy who visits a brothel located in a remote mining town run by would-be tycoon, McCabe (Warren Beatty).

That was an extraordinary experience for a young actor like myself. I’d made one movie before that, which was also a Western: A Gunfight, with Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash. Then, Robert Altman came to me with this movie, which is a Western that completely explodes the genre. In the first place, there’s no dust! It was shot in Vancouver, so there’s just mud and eventually snow. There’s a very different geographical feel to it. But, like most Westerns, it’s a classic morality tale that Altman, in his usual fashion, manages to turn on its head. The hero, played by Warren Beatty, is flawed and the actual bad guys in the movie represent the classic monolithic enemy of corporate America. The movie was shot in sequence, which had was a great benefit because you could actually see the town develop during the course of the film. There’s something kind of wonderful and atypical about that.

Nashville (1975)
Altman’s sprawling political satire remains one of the most trenchant pieces of social commentary of its era. As love ‘em and leave ‘em folk singer Tom Frank, Carradine has one of the standout musical numbers, crooning the love song “I’m Easy” to a roomful of his past, present and possibly future conquests.

There’s a reason why Nashville is a lot of peoples’ favorite Robert Altman film. It’s an absolute masterwork that has stood the test of time and beyond. The “I’m Easy” sequence was an example of Altman’s loving cynicism at its best. I wrote that song as a straight-ahead love song with no double entendre. That fact that he put it in the context of the various liaisons my character had was his genius. It made for an unforgettable cinematic moment.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

One of Hollywood’s most notorious bombs, this all-star musical featured everyone from Aerosmith to the Bee Gees singing beloved Beatles tunes. Carradine doesn’t have a speaking role in the film, but does appear in the final scene alongside Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John and Wolfman Jack singing the title track.

That was a case where I just accepted an invitation to show up on the MGM lot over in Culver City. I walked onto a soundstage and they had these bleachers set up, and we stood up there and sang. It was one of those things where you couldn’t really say no. And then the film was such a disaster! I’m still very pleased to be a part of that. That was a particularly iconic moment in pop culture.

The Carradine brothers — (l. to r.) Robert, David and Keith — play the Younger siblings in ‘The Long Riders’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

The Long Riders (1980)

Walter Hill’s re-telling of the Jesse James saga cast real-life siblings as the various members of the James-Younger gang. Carradine acted alongside his brothers David and Robert as the Younger boys, while James and Stacy Keach played Jesse and Frank James respectively.

Walter Hill is one of our great, underappreciated filmmakers. He’s as good as it gets. And I think The Long Riders is one of the most compelling cinematic telling of the James-Younger gang, because he had actual brothers playing the brothers in the movie. It’s one of those moments of genius casting, and adds an extra layer of authenticity to the story.

Carradine in ‘Southern Comfort’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

Southern Comfort (1981)
If you think ‘Deliverance’ is intense, get a load of Walter Hill’s Louisiana-based war movie. Carradine is part of a nine-man squad of National Guard soldiers who are pitted against a guerilla army of Cajun locals.

That film is a straight-ahead Vietnam allegory. It takes the lessons of Vietnam and re-tells them in a contemporary context. The whole idea of an ineffectual army in a land and culture it doesn’t understand. And the fact that we were National Guardsmen and all we had were blanks. It’s pretty obvious what the metaphor is. It was a physically miserable shoot. We started filming just before Thanksgiving in a place called Caddo Lake, which is located on the Texas/Louisiana border. There were some mornings where he had to wake up and break the ice on the ground. We had rain machines and were getting water dunked on our heads constantly. It was cold and miserable, but ultimately worth it in terms of what we got on film.

Deadwood (2004)
Carradine portrayed iconic frontiersman “Wild Bill” Hickok in five episodes of the HBO Western’s first season, before receiving a fatal bullet in the head courtesy of Garrett Dillahunt’s Jack McCall.

It was Walter Hill who brought me into Deadwood and gave me the opportunity to play Wild Bill Hickok. It was an elaborate set. We shot at Melody Ranch, which was owned by Gene Autry, and we made a lot of jokes about Gene turning over in his grave based on the language being spoken on his old Western musical set! But the set was used to great effect and worked very well in terms of recreating the illegal outlaw community in the Dakota territories. The real Deadwood was on Native American land and all of those people were there invaders and squatters, the result of gold having been discovered and this boomtown that sprang up. Greed will have its way, and that was certainly the underpinning for such much of what happened in that place. I thought that David Milch and Walter Hill did an extraordinary job of capturing that place and time. I have no idea if HBO will bring it back. They keep talking about it, and I’d love to see whatever it is they’re going to do.

Carradine as Lou Solverson in ‘Fargo’ (Photo: Netflix)

Fargo (2014-2015)
Carradine originated the role of Lou Solverson, former Minnesota state trooper-turned-diner owner, in Season 1 of the hit FX series. For the show’s second year, Patrick Wilson portrayed a younger Lou back in the ‘70s.

I didn’t know how the show would be received while we were making, but what I did know is that Noah Hawley is a genius. He somehow tapped into the sensibility of the Coen Brothers, took what they had done with their movie and took it to a whole other place. I knew we were doing something good and worthy. Patrick didn’t get in touch with me when he took over the role for Season 2; I think he was smarter than that. He had seen the first season and used what was useful to him in terms of making the audience accept that it was me thirty years ago. I thought he did a masterful job of that.

Carradine gets presidential in ‘Madam Secretary’ (Photo: CBS)

Madam Secretary (2014-2016)
Carradine’s current gig on CBS’s popular political procedural elevates him to higher office as President Conrad Dalton, who won admission to the Oval Office after a career in the CIA.

I’m looking forward to getting into Season 3, which we’re going to start filming next week. There will be some surprises in store. I didn’t really model President Dalton after any real-life presidents. I don’t do that. What I do is rely on what the writers have given me in terms of the character on the page. Then I make choices based on how I might act in that position, the aspects of myself I can bring to the part. I just try to do justice to the nature of the office.

“Shane Plus 100 More Great Westerns” is currently airing on TCM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.