On-screen, Julia Schlaepfer, 30, and Brandon Sklenar‘s, 34, characters fell in love at first sight. 1923‘s Spencer and Alexandra Dutton met in season one at a resort in Africa while Alex was technically engaged, only for her to ditch her fiancé to run away with Spencer. This epic love story is only enhanced by Julia and Brandon’s off-screen friendship.
While they didn’t know each other before being cast in 1923, cast mates like Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and Darren Mann assumed the two were longtime friends.
“We showed up for day one of cowboy camp, and everyone in the cast thought that we knew each other,” Julia told PEOPLE. “It was like our first conversation, and I remember one of my friends, Caleb, who plays Dennis in the show was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so crazy. They cast two people who are super close already.’ And we were like, ‘We just met.'”
© Getty Images“We instantly just had a chemistry that was really special,” she continued. “I think we both knew that we were about to embark on something really special, and so we both, I think, had this instinct to take care of one another and look out for one another.”
Because most of their scenes were in Africa, the two just enjoyed cowboy camp by getting to know each other while the rest of the cast filmed in Montana.
“We’d just go ride horses together every day, we’d eat all our meals together, we got manicures and pedicures once together,” Julia revealed.
She continued: “We just did all of the bonding, and then when we left for Africa, we were just by ourselves…so it was nearly impossible for us not to get thick as thieves. Whether we wanted to or not, we were bonding.”
While filming in Africa, they felt like they were shooting a “little Indie movie.” As their on-screen romance kept building, their off-screen friendship did too. Julia remembered spending “a really goofy Halloween in Cape Town” with Brandon.
At the end of season one, Spencer and Alex were separated, vowing to reunite in Montana at the Dutton family ranch. Due to this separation, the characters share a lot less screen time in the second season.
© GettyBrandon told PEOPLE this separation from Julia was a “trip.” “It was her and I every day for season one for five, almost six months,” he explained.
“[It was] definitely a different experience, seeing the different sides of Spencer and this journey that he’s on and having actors come in and working opposite different people all the time,” he continued. “The way he is with Alex is a very specific version of himself, and getting to explore other parts of him through these other characters that come in and out was a lot of fun.”
While the two lamented on this storyline, they also understood how good it was for the characters.
“You see a much deeper…level of love being poured into this season,” Julia explained. “Because it’s not just two crazy kids off on a love story adventure anymore, it’s survival and it’s bigger than just Alex. She’s got so much more to live for and to take care of now that feels so precious to her.”
© Getty ImagesWhile their on-screen chemistry is palpable, they are truly just friends in real life. Brandon is dating Courtney Saviolo, a personal trainer and wellness coach. Julia, on the other hand, keeps her dating life public.
