Andy Dispensa on His Powerful Role in ‘1923’ and Bond With Brandon Sklenar (EXCLUSIVE)
He opens up about Luca’s emotional arc in ‘1923’ and what fans can expect from ‘The Chosen’ S5
When Andy Dispensa first appeared as Luca in season 2 of 1923, viewers quickly fell in love with him thanks to his kindhearted demeanor and super sweet friendship with Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar). Sadly, though, his time on the show was short after he met the lethal end of a bullet trying to bootleg for his family.
Despite ending his time on the show, Dispensa still thinks of his time on the Yellowstone prequel as “special” and believes that his character’s death “is gonna help” Spencer out a lot down the road. To learn why he believes that and more about Dispensa and his time on 1923, keep scrolling!
Andy Dispensa spills on ‘1923’ and working with Brandon Sklenar
Viewers first meet Luca in season 2, episode 1 of 1923, when he is working on the coal section of a boat headed from Europe to Galvaston, Texas, with Spencer Dutton. The two quickly become friends after Spencer saves Luca from being sexually assaulted. From then on out, they are inseparable—at least until episode 3 when Luca is shot and killed.
“Luca might be the only real glimpse of friendship that Spencer has in the entire series,” Dispensa told Woman’s World. “Of course, he has Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), the love of his life. But I think when Spencer meets Luca, he becomes a bit of a protector for him. He saves him on the boat, and when Spencer’s child comes along, this friendship will help out quite a bit because he’s already been through some sort of trial with the person he’s trying to protect.”
“When I got the audition for the three episodes, I was very excited to work on it,” he continued. “From a television standpoint, a three-episode arc as complete as that, it’s special, and to be a part of Spencer’s 1923 journey, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
It turns out that Luca and Spencer’s friendship extends off-screen as well, with Dispensa saying, “He’s [Skelner] one of my favorite scene partners I’ve ever had the chance to work with.”
“He’s a really cool guy who is extremely talented, focused, and committed to the craft. And we had a good time. I thought our dynamic of my small character and his macho cowboy worked really well. Brandon’s fantastic.”
Before joining the Yellowstone Universe, Dispensa was a fan of it and Taylor Sheridan’s, saying that “his writing is prolific and excellent.” However, Dispensa didn’t watch season 1 of 1923 because he didn’t want to come across any potential spoilers.
“My character comes into it, and he’s separate from everything. I didn’t watch the first season to prepare for the show because I didn’t want to think about it, and I didn’t want to have a preconceived notion of Spencer,” the actor explains. “And I didn’t want to be, like, ‘Oh man, there’s Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford.’ I just want to focus and do my job.”
Andy Dispensa reflects on career highlights and what’s next
Aside from his work in 1923, Dispensa is also very well known as Dion in The Chosen, a role that he claimed “helped hone my screen acting.”
“There were days when we were filming with 5000 extras for The Feeding of The 5000, and I was sitting at the front of Jesus’ sermon, listening with 5000 hectares behind me. I mean, that pulls you into a world.”
Dispensa is set to return to The Chosen for Season 5, which airs later this year.
“Every actor you meet is friendly and great to talk to,” the actor said of his time on set. “It was just really good to see some people from Season 3.”
Be sure to watch the end of Spencer Dutton’s journey on Sunday, April 7 at midnight EST on Paramount+.
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