Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for 1923 season 2, episode 5.Taylor Sheridan's cast of 1923. Sheridan has more than a bit of experience working with superstars, and one former teen heartthrob ed that ever-growing list.

The cast of 1923 has grown considerably in season 2 as Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar), Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) and Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) make their way across the country. Thanks to Teonna, 1923 was able to bring in another notable actor: Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Mamie Fossett. She briefly interacted with Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) and Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché), and that unlikely pairing also let C. Thomas Howell in on 1923 season 2. It's also startling just how different Howell looks from his most notable project in the 1980s, even though it has been over 40 years.

C. Thomas Howell Is Unrecognizable In 1923 Season 2

Howell Plays The Cowboy Anders In 1923 Season 2

In 1923 season 2, C. Thomas Howell plays Anders, one of the cowboys in Texas. It seems that Anders is something akin to a wagon boss for the ranch that Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves), Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), and Pete Plenty Clouds (Jeremy Gauna) wandered onto. It's also notable that Howell looks significantly different while playing Anders than he did as a teenage heartthrob: he has a huge gray mustache and a weather-beaten face that fits with the rough conditions 1923 depicts. Interestingly, Howell's father was and is a real-life cowboy, meaning this part was very familiar to him (via The Mirror).

Long before 1923, C. Thomas Howell had his big claim to fame in the 1980s, thanks to a long string of successful movies. In 1982, when he was just 15 years old, Howell played Tyler in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and he starred as Ponyboy Curtis in The Outsiders just a year later. His film career had a major setback due to 1986's Soul Man, in which Howell appeared in blackface (via Looper), though it has recovered considerably in recent years. Howell had a recurring role in SEAL Team, and he had a main role in 2023's Obliterated, along with smaller parts in movies like The Amazing Spider-Man.

How C. Thomas Howell’s Anders Affects 1923 Season 2

Anders Began As A Friend Of Teonna Rainwater, But He Put Renaud & Kent On Her Trail

So far, though he hasn't had much screen time, C. Thomas Howell's Anders has proven to be a fairly important part of 1923 season 2. Anders was one of the many cowboys who welcomed Teonna, Runs His Horse, and Pete Plenty Clouds into their fold, and he gave them sanctuary for a while. However, in 1923 season 2, episode 5, Marshal Kent and Father Renaud convinced Anders to reveal where Teonna and her group had gone. That led to Kent and Renaud finding the group, and Anders may even be responsible for Pete Plenty Clouds' death in 1923.

Unfortunately for C. Thomas Howell, it looks like Anders may have had his final scenes in 1923 season 2. Teonna and Runs His Horse will likely continue heading North, and since Spencer Dutton is on a train to Montana, it seems like the show is leaving West Texas behind. There's really no reason why a cowboy like Anders would crop up again anywhere else, so Howell's time in the Yellowstone franchise is more than likely over. He may not have played the most important character in 1923, but C. Thomas Howell certainly made Anders memorable.

C. Thomas Howell's 1923 Role Shows A Big Strength Of The Series

Sheridan's Writing Is Capable Of Making Even Side Characters Like Anders Into Complex People

The fact that an acclaimed actor like C. Thomas Howell signed on for such a small part in 1923 season 2 is actually a sign of one of the show's - and Taylor Sheridan's - biggest strengths. Sheridan is supremely capable of creating incredibly deep and well-developed worlds, as he did with 1923, where each and every character is capable of being complex and worthy of being played by a star. A lesser writer with a lesser show would have made Anders little more than a plot device, but Howell and Sheridan turned him into yet another example of the moral complexity of 1923.

That little moment where Anders refuses to believe that Teonna could be capable of killing nuns added so much depth to what amounted to a character with less than 15 minutes of screen time. One interaction turned Anders from just some cowboy into another real person struggling to do the right thing in a cruel world. Anders is also far from the first time Sheridan has been able to make guest stars and small characters have a huge impact. Even in 1923, characters like the woman Alexandra meets at Ellis Island to Lucca (Andy Dispensa) have made every second of their screen time powerful.

Taylor Sheridan Shows Have A Habit Of Casting Big 1980s Actors

Howell Is Just The Latest In A Long Run Of 1980s Stars Making Comebacks In Sheridan's Shows

As previously mentioned, Taylor Sheridan's shows have a habit of drawing in major movie stars, but the writer also seems to have a particular affinity for stars of the 1980s. Kevin Costner's John Dutton III in Yellowstone is an obvious example, but Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King, Demi Moore in Landman, Harrison Ford in 1923, and Sam Elliott in 1883 are all great examples of actors who were at the heights of their careers in the 1980s. In many ways, Sheridan has marked a renaissance for many of those actors, and his shows have brought them back into the limelight in spectacular fashion.

Sheridan's shows have given a lot of notable actors a chance to step back into wildly popular projects again, but they've also helped him out in turn. It's hard to imagine Yellowstone or Tulsa King being nearly as successful without Costner and Stallone, respectively. They almost certainly wouldn't be as well-received critically without some very talented and proven actors to put Sheridan's writing into action. At the very least, it has proven a winning strategy so far, so the biggest question remaining is who Taylor Sheridan will cast after C. Thomas Howell in 1923.