‘1923’ Pays Tribute to Cole Brings Plenty: Aminah Nieves Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details

1923 paid tribute to the late Cole Brings Plenty, who played Pete Plenty Clouds in Season 1, in the Season 2 premiere that debuted on Sunday, February 23 on Paramount+. The actor, whose uncle is Yellowstone star Mo Brings Plenty, died in April 2024 at age 27. His 1923 character is a love interest for Aminah Nieves‘s Teonna Rainwater (pictured above, left, next to Brings Plenty’s Pete, right). TV Insider connected with Nieves ahead of the 1923 premiere, and she opened up about honoring Brings Plenty’s memory while expanding Teonna and Pete’s storyline in Season 2.

The 1923 Season 2 premiere opens with an in memoriam to Brings Plenty, showing footage of him as Pete in Season 1. Pete is played by Jeremy Gauna in Season 2. Honoring Brings Plenty’s contributions to the series by recasting the role instead of writing Pete out of the story is “the best thing we could’ve done,” Nieves tells TV Insider. She admits that she struggled to return to the series as she grieved the death of her friend.

“I could have easily gone into this with a lot of resentment and with a lot of hate and a lot of pain. And it’s not to say that I didn’t at first, but there comes a moment where you have to really think about the person that Coco was,” Nieves shares. “And he’s my brother. We talked every day about this. He lives on and with us every day. He was so excited and so happy to be a part of something of this magnitude. I could have sat there and been sad, or I could have sat there and honored him in the best way and uplifted Jeremy Gauna too for coming here and holding all of that weight, which it’s an extreme weight to hold and to come in and take over for Coco. And he did it with such grace.”

Jeremy Gauna as Pete Plenty Clouds in ‘1923’ Season 2 Episode 1 (Ryan Green / Paramount+)

“I think everyone felt like, in those moments when we were there and Pete was there, Coco was also resting his hands on us and was like, it’s OK. Please, you guys got this,” she continues. “He really allowed us to dip in some much needed joy and moments when it felt like almost like, why? It was a lot. It was a lot. But I love my brother, and I think we all did as best as we could. And I know Jeremy did the best that he ever could and it’s going to be great.”

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Nieves’ Teonna starts off in a much safer place in 1923 Season 2, albeit she’s still on the run from Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) and the vicious Marshall Thomas (Ross Crain) who are hunting her down for murdering the nuns who abused her at the residential school in Season 1. Teonna and Pete are guided by Teonna’s father, Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), as they trek through what they thought was Oklahoma but is actually Texas.

1923, Sundays, Paramount+

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