Isabel May landed on 1883 after auditioning for another Taylor Sheridan series: Mayor of Kingstown

The Hollywood Reporter

"I was the only person to audition for Elsa,” May tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Taylor was doing another project called Mayor of Kingstown, and in March 2021, something like that, he flew three girls out to Texas, including myself. So I auditioned for that, and I was terribly wrong for it...I don’t know what happened or what it was about myself or our interaction that sparked something in him, but Elsa came to life after our meeting. He called two weeks later and said, ‘You’re Elsa Dutton. I want you to be Elsa Dutton. Please be Elsa Dutton.’ And I said, ‘Well, of course, I’ll be Elsa Dutton because you’re Taylor Sheridan and it’s my dream to work with you.'”