‘The Son’ rises on AMC with Pierce Brosnan
Author Philipp Meyer brings his Texas history to TV
Texas history is in the hands of two guys from Maryland and Ireland.
Saturday brought the two-hour premiere of AMC’s The Son (9 ET/PT), based on the best-selling novel by Baltimore native Philipp Meyer. It spans the years from the mid-1800s, when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas and made it the 28th state and the oil boom of the early 19th century.
The period is seen through the eyes of Eli McCullough (played by Jacob Lofland as a boy and Pierce Brosnan as an adult), who was kidnapped by the Comanche at a young age and raised as one of their own. He later runs his family’s cattle and oil businesses using the warrior-like mentality he picked up during his time with the Native Americans. Meyer based the character primarily on rancher Charles Goodnight and real-life child kidnapping victim Herman Lehmann.
“That created a mild schizophrenia” in Eli, says Brosnan, 63. “He’s medieval-level brutal in one regard but tender and loving in the next because of his upbringing with the Comanche. I think he was with them 11 years.”
Meyer got the idea for the book as a grad student at the University of Texas after learning about the Bandit War, which started in 1910, a conflict between secessionists and the Texas Rangers, who carried out what historian John William Weber has labeled a “scorched-earth campaign of annihilation” resulting in the deaths of thousands of Mexican-Americans.
“It was kind of a shocking, shameful period in American and Texas his- tory and nobody was talking about it.” Brosnan, who became an American citizen in 2004, adds: “I think the story is as relevant now as it was then because of the borders. Nothing has changed.”
Meyer went native in his research for the book, which was a 2014 Pulitzer Prize finalist. He studied Texas’ natural history, learned how to live off the land and even spent a month at Blackwater doing firearms training.
His time with the military contractor proved crucial to The Son. “All that warrior-culture stuff comes from Blackwater: the acceptance of death and killing, moral parameters,” Meyer says. “If you’re going to write about warriors, you have to study them in real time.”
He taught the Native American actors traditional bow-hunting skills and trained Englishman Henry Garrett, who plays Eli’s son Pete, how to shoot.
“Henry had never handled a firearm before he got to Texas,” Meyer says. “He got here three months before we started filming and said, ‘Look, man, I need you to put me through a training program.’ So Henry and I shot thou- sands of rounds. By the time we were through, he looked like he’d been a competitive shooter his whole life.”
Fortunately for Meyer, Brosnan already was experienced in handling weapons thanks to his stint as James Bond, because there wasn’t time to train him. He was hired “at the 11th hour” after Sam Neill dropped out.
“We got lucky,” the writer says. “The guy’s an incredibly talented actor but also an amazing horseman. ... With literally no preparation, he walked into his role as if he’d lived it his entire life.”
The biggest challenge for the Irishman? “The summer heat of Austin was ferocious. If we do have a second season,” Brosnan says, “I’ve strongly advised them not to shoot it in the summer. October would be nice.”
“I think the story is as relevant now as it was then because of the borders. Nothing has changed.” Pierce Brosnan