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Comanche Moon will likely gallop onto the CBS network next year.
Comanche Moon Rising
This Lonesome Dove prequel is the
season's most anticipated new Western.
By Michael Giltz
CASTING A MOVIE or television show
is a difficult task; finding the right actor
for the right role can make or break a
project. When making a Western, how
ever, it is just as crucial to cast the right
animals for the right actors.
The horses must be able to fulfill the
requirements of the script, deal with all
the distractions on a set without spoil
ing a take, and, on top of it all, mesh
with the comfort level of each actor and
his or her various skills.
For the upcoming CBS miniseries
Comanche Moon-a prequel to Lone
some Dove, one of the most popular TV
events ever-boss wrangler and live
stock coordinator Tim Carroll had the
added challenge of filling all those needs
not just once, but three times, because
the epic time-span covered roughly
from 1840 to 1880 and each main actor
required three different mounts.
"There were 24 'cast horses' for the
main eight Texas Rangers:' explains Car
roll, who has been working on film sets
since he was 12 years old. "They're really good campaigner horses. They've been
around the block, and they're really
good on camera. I coordinate all the
livestock and own all of it. Basically, I'm
in the rental business. I own all my
trucks and trailers and wagons and all
the horses:'
The miniseries looks at the early days
of Gus McRae (Steve Zahn of You've Got
Mail) and Woodrow Call (Karl Urban of
The Lord of the Rings), two tough Texas
Rangers. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee
Jones memorably played those same
men as aging veterans who went for one
last cattle drive in the blockbuster 1989
miniseries Lonesome Dove, based on the
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry
McMurtry (Brokeback Mountain).
For Zahn, who owns a ranch in Texas,
it was clearly the chance of a lifetime.
"Steve is really into this cowboy stuff
and so is Kar1;' notes Carroll. "But Steve,
he really got into it. Weeks in advance,
before we started production, he was
out getting [on] horseback and running
the rope and practicing all sorts of
//-------"'\
( 158 ) , , FALL 2006 SHOW CIRCUIT
~/ things. He's got some horses of his own,
too. I had him on a Quarter Horse and
then I had him on a big black horse that
was half Thoroughbred and half Quar
ter Horse. Steve likes nice-handling
horses that stand well and put up with
all the gunfire and all that."
Many actors fall in love with the
horses while filming and are disappoint
ed when Carroll refuses to part with the
animals after the project is finished.
"Liam Neeson had this big black cast
horse that Steve Zahn was also riding.
Neeson just fell in love with him [while
making Seraphim Falls] and wanted to
take him home. The problem is, I've
raised these horses from colts and
they're kind of family. It would be like
giving your family away. If we get a good
cast horse, we keep 'em. Besides, it's not
really worth selling, even if it's for a
tremendous amount of money, because
then you gotta replace them."
Carroll has seen some lean times over
the years-for a while only commercials
and print ads like the Marlboro Man
kept him afloat-but the last three years
have been nonstop, with the miniseries
Into the West and now Comanche Moon
proving to be the most elaborate pro
ductions.
"We had a hundred Indians mounted
and a hundred loose horses just for one
scene," says Carroll. "It was the Austin
raid: the Indians came in, raided the
town and stole all the horses. So we had
a master shot of them riding into town
and then the battle, and then we took all
those horses and all those Indians and
nine times we came out of town with
them running as hard as they could.
And never stubbed a toe. It was quite
something."
Carroll has a good feeling about Co
manche Moon, even though sequels are
always intimidating and risky-and the
overwhelming success of Lonesome Dove
is a hard act to follow. Yet, sometimes
everything just works out right: one of
Carroll's horses, Magnum, had his first
job on Lonesome and Carroll decided to
retire him when the Comanche shoot
was over. "A good start," muses Carroll,
"and a good ending." •
Comanche Moon Rising
This Lonesome Dove prequel is the
season's most anticipated new Western.
By Michael Giltz
CASTING A MOVIE or television show
is a difficult task; finding the right actor
for the right role can make or break a
project. When making a Western, how
ever, it is just as crucial to cast the right
animals for the right actors.
The horses must be able to fulfill the
requirements of the script, deal with all
the distractions on a set without spoil
ing a take, and, on top of it all, mesh
with the comfort level of each actor and
his or her various skills.
For the upcoming CBS miniseries
Comanche Moon-a prequel to Lone
some Dove, one of the most popular TV
events ever-boss wrangler and live
stock coordinator Tim Carroll had the
added challenge of filling all those needs
not just once, but three times, because
the epic time-span covered roughly
from 1840 to 1880 and each main actor
required three different mounts.
"There were 24 'cast horses' for the
main eight Texas Rangers:' explains Car
roll, who has been working on film sets
since he was 12 years old. "They're really good campaigner horses. They've been
around the block, and they're really
good on camera. I coordinate all the
livestock and own all of it. Basically, I'm
in the rental business. I own all my
trucks and trailers and wagons and all
the horses:'
The miniseries looks at the early days
of Gus McRae (Steve Zahn of You've Got
Mail) and Woodrow Call (Karl Urban of
The Lord of the Rings), two tough Texas
Rangers. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee
Jones memorably played those same
men as aging veterans who went for one
last cattle drive in the blockbuster 1989
miniseries Lonesome Dove, based on the
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry
McMurtry (Brokeback Mountain).
For Zahn, who owns a ranch in Texas,
it was clearly the chance of a lifetime.
"Steve is really into this cowboy stuff
and so is Kar1;' notes Carroll. "But Steve,
he really got into it. Weeks in advance,
before we started production, he was
out getting [on] horseback and running
the rope and practicing all sorts of
//-------"'\
( 158 ) , , FALL 2006 SHOW CIRCUIT
~/ things. He's got some horses of his own,
too. I had him on a Quarter Horse and
then I had him on a big black horse that
was half Thoroughbred and half Quar
ter Horse. Steve likes nice-handling
horses that stand well and put up with
all the gunfire and all that."
Many actors fall in love with the
horses while filming and are disappoint
ed when Carroll refuses to part with the
animals after the project is finished.
"Liam Neeson had this big black cast
horse that Steve Zahn was also riding.
Neeson just fell in love with him [while
making Seraphim Falls] and wanted to
take him home. The problem is, I've
raised these horses from colts and
they're kind of family. It would be like
giving your family away. If we get a good
cast horse, we keep 'em. Besides, it's not
really worth selling, even if it's for a
tremendous amount of money, because
then you gotta replace them."
Carroll has seen some lean times over
the years-for a while only commercials
and print ads like the Marlboro Man
kept him afloat-but the last three years
have been nonstop, with the miniseries
Into the West and now Comanche Moon
proving to be the most elaborate pro
ductions.
"We had a hundred Indians mounted
and a hundred loose horses just for one
scene," says Carroll. "It was the Austin
raid: the Indians came in, raided the
town and stole all the horses. So we had
a master shot of them riding into town
and then the battle, and then we took all
those horses and all those Indians and
nine times we came out of town with
them running as hard as they could.
And never stubbed a toe. It was quite
something."
Carroll has a good feeling about Co
manche Moon, even though sequels are
always intimidating and risky-and the
overwhelming success of Lonesome Dove
is a hard act to follow. Yet, sometimes
everything just works out right: one of
Carroll's horses, Magnum, had his first
job on Lonesome and Carroll decided to
retire him when the Comanche shoot
was over. "A good start," muses Carroll,
"and a good ending." •