1923's Julia Schlaepfer Breaks Down Alex's Harrowing Ellis Island Experience and the Titanic Similarities

Julia Schlaepfer had just one day to tear her 1923 character down to the studs and rebuild her stronger than ever.

In "Wrap Thee in Terror," the third episode of the Paramount+ series' second season, Alex (Schlaepfer) arrives stateside in her journey to get to the Dutton ranch and her husband Spencer (Brandon Skelnar) in Montana, only to learn that she will have to be processed through Ellis Island alongside those also immigrating to America. But there is no red carpet or greeting party awaiting the wayward travelers, who immediately face invasive medical examinations and degrading remarks that strip them of their humanity and dignity –– all to determine if they are worthy of the American Dream.

Alex, a posh Englishwoman, finds no friends among the staff of Ellis Island, who have her strip down for exams that violate her and forcibly reveal her four-month pregnancy, something she learns is often used as a means of turning away new arrivals before they even reach the mainland.

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The medical exam scene and the ensuing confrontation with the immigration officer, who learns quickly that Alex can only be knocked down so many times, were filmed back-to-back in just one day. 

"The first scene took eight hours, and I think we had two hours to get the scene with the immigration officer," Schlaepfer told TV Guide. "We really just had to fire into it, which I think injected the last scene with a bit of energy that was necessary."

Creator and writer Taylor Sheridan called Schlaepfer to tell her his unique plan for the episode, which spends almost a half an hour of uninterrupted time with Alex, a rare feat in a show serving more than a dozen characters scattered across the world. Sheridan told her he wanted to make sure she was ready to sink her teeth into the harrowing Ellis Island story, something he didn't know would strike a personal chord with her.

"It was really important for me because my great grandfather had gone through Ellis Island with no money and had a difficult time, so I think bringing that to life will be really challenging to watch and it was really challenging to act," she said, noting her great-grandfather, Valentino, came to America in 1925. "There is an extra level of heart that goes into it knowing that an experience like this is where I came from."

In doing her own research about Ellis Island, Schlaepfer found that the darker experiences of those processed through Ellis Island were often purposefully overshadowed by the positive ones that made America seem like it had an open-door policy for anyone who risked leaving their home countries. Of course, American history is always more complicated than what is recorded, and Alex learns that firsthand as she is left to stand naked and exposed while crude male doctors examine her more as livestock than person.

"It wakes her up to the harsh realities of the world she is in and hadn't seen before," Schlaepfer said. "I also think it forces her to dig deep and find a greater resolve and determination to get to where she is going. She knows at the end of the day, all she cares about is getting this baby to Spencer, and making sure their family is complete and making sure the baby is OK. I don't think she quite understands what she has gone through just yet, but she takes every little win that she can."

The atrocities that happened to Alex also pushed Schlaepfer to dig deeper to portray her rebounding spirit by the end of the episode. After the final immigration officer dismisses her as another woman claiming she has a husband waiting in America, Alex summons that familiar defiant spirit she is known for. Sheridan wrote Schlaepfer an extended monologue about the disillusionment of the American Dream and how it was falsely broadcast across the world, yet offers very little for those who buy into such a promise. She even schools him with a well-aimed line from Walt Whitman, before the sting of his shaming persuades him to approve her citizenship.

"I love that moment so much for her," Schlaepfer said. "Taylor wrote such a beautiful monologue for her and I think it came really naturally at this point. Once I really had it down pat and I could put everything I could into it, we filmed the violation/assault scene right before that scene. So, for me, that was very helpful, trajectory wise, because as Julia you are feeling so much. You are feeling violated because it is a lot to go through as a person and I feel everything with Alex. So to then feel like she has this moment of redemption, it just felt like the right way to shake off the day. I think everyone on set felt her redemption, and this return back to the Alex we all know and love. The spunky, sparky, feisty woman that she is. It felt really good."

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Her troubles aren't over, by a long shot. She has already attracted the attention of a nefarious pickpocket scoping out marks in Grand Central Station, who goes into the attack in the episode's final seconds. But Schlaepfer still thinks Alex has a resilience in her to navigate the inevitable challenges ahead as she heads to the Dutton's ranch. "I think every horrible thing that happens to her just pushes her to fight more and more," she said.

But one moment, in particular, may have given pop-culture minded viewers a sense of déjà vu. When Alex first arrives, her English regional name of Sussex is denied at Ellis Island, so she instead takes Spencer's last name of Dutton on her immigration forms. The scene recalls the ending of Titanic, which ends with Rose (Kate Winslet) entering into her new life by taking the last name of her lost love Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio) as they pass in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. With that in mind, Schlaepfer does think Alex would have made room for Spencer on the floating door had they been in Jack and Rose's predicament.

"Of course, I think she would have tried to scoot but Spencer is too big," she said, laughing. "I think Spencer would have been like, 'Absolutely not. You are staying on that door.' But yeah, she would have at least tried!"

New episodes of 1923 air Sundays on Paramount+. Season 1 also available.