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It comes 23 minutes into theseason-three premiere ofDark Winds, and it lasts about 30 seconds.
But the scene in which some guy named Robert Redford and some other guy named George R.R.
Martin pop up onscreen has been in the making for years.
(Leaphorns contribution to the conversation is to suggest the move that leads to Martins character checkmating Redfords.)
Getting to that moment, however, was complicated.
I was never really sure it was going to happen until it happened, adds Wirth.
Wirth came up with a concept.
So the idea for these guys was aMen in Blackthing.
They would show up in suits in this black truck looking for the sheep.
Steven Paul Judd and I wrote up a couple-page scene and we sent it to Bob and George.
Bob was trying to talk George into it on set, Wirth recalls.
He said, Ill do it if George does it.
And George would not say yes.
We had already gone quite a ways downstream on this, Wirth continues.
We were building theMen in Blacksuits for each of these guys.
That ended up being fairly costly.
We were getting theMen in Blacktruck.
We had the sheep.
It just got nuts.
It was a very funny bit.
So I had written a line in this little scene about that, just an allusion to finishing something.
I can relate, Wirth says.
The showrunner liked it, even if it was a bit of a non sequitur.
You could probably get past it.
Director Eyre came up with a backstory for the actors.
They were picked up there by one of Leaphorns deputies.
There was palpable excitement among the crew but also some anxiety.
Bob is so kind and he was so nice on the day, and so was George.
Youre making me nervous.
I was giddy, but I was a nervous giddy, says McClarnon.
My demeanor on set, and in real life, I guess I dont speak a lot.
Im a bit on the shy side.
It looks like Im brooding, but Im really not.
Im just focusing on what I need to do.
That day, I couldnt take the smile off my face.
Tina Elmo came up and said, Oh my God, Ive never seen you smile so much.
Originally, the scene was not going to involve dialogue.
In the script, the characters werent even given specific names.
Then I heard that Bob wanted to say something and he would be calling George Gene, says Wirth.
I was like, Okay, fair enough.
Its another thing if Redford does it.
