Yahoo TV | Interview Garret Dillahunt

David Milch's original vision was to create a TV drama about cops in Rome, during the time of Nero. "What had interested me was the idea of order without law," Milch said. "I wanted to focus on that idea of how order is generated in the absence of law." HBO already had "Rome" on the way, though, so when the network's executives asked if he could explore his idea in a different setting, "Deadwood" was born.

The series debuted ten years ago this year, and much has changed in the last decade of TV, in large measure because of the influence of "Deadwood." Both Alan Sepinwall in his book "The Revolution Was Televised" and Brett Martin in his "Difficult Men" include Milch's Western as one of the key shows that have helped usher in this new Golden Age of Television, which has left our viewing cup so runneth over we have to schedule binge-watching sessions just to keep up with all the great TV drama available to us.

In honor of the "Deadwood"-iversary, several of the beloved series' cast members — including actor/"Deadwood" writing staff member W. Earl Brown — shared with Yahoo TV their colorful tales of being cast on the show, their experiences working with the "mad genius" that is David Milch, what it was like to work on the "Deadwood" set (including the surprise set wedding that featured Milch as best man), how they felt about the show's use of profanity and the art of a Milchian monologue, and what made "Deadwood" such a special entry on their acting résumés.

Garret Dillahunt (Jack McCall and Francis Wolcott): I remember riding down the West Side Highway on my bike, going to Chelsea Piers to audition for Doc. It was all that was left. I was originally scheduled to audition for [Seth] Bullock when they came to New York. Walter and David were doing this audition thing, but they found their Bullock before they even got to New York. I'd been very excited about auditioning for "Deadwood." People don't know what to do if they don't have you in a box. People thought I was a cowboy my entire time in New York. I thought, "Well, finally here's a cowboy, then." And then they found Bullock before I even got there. I said, "There's got to be something else I can audition for." They said, "The only series regular left is the doc." I went in sort of hoping that I could get something else. There were all these great guys in the waiting room that looked like [they should be] Doc. Older than me, nice bellies on them, and beards. I went in and read, then started to talk. I said, "I know I'm not a town doc guy." David said, "Whoa, that's self defeating. Would you read somebody else?" I said, "Yes. That's what I was hoping you'd tell me." He gave me Jack McCall to read, and there it was.

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