8 Heartwarming "Little House On The Prairie" Behind-The-Scenes Stories From Mr. Edwards Himself

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Little House on the Prairie was a staple of my childhood, and new generations are now discovering the magic.

I grew up watching Victor French's charismatic Mr. Edwards, so I was especially excited to see his character brought to life in a new way. For actor Warren Christie, stepping into such an iconic role was no small task. It meant not only finding his own version of the character but also immersing himself in the world of the 1800s — and, yes, there were a few (literal) bumps along the way.

As Warren continues filming Season 2 of Netflix's Little House on the Prairie, we sat down over Zoom to chat about stepping into Mr. Edwards' shoes, building friendships with his co-stars, and some of his most memorable behind-the-scenes stories.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Warren wanted to honor Victor French’s Mr. Edwards while still making the character his own.

Warren: Little House is one of those shows that's always on reruns, and I have two older sisters who are really big fans, so it was on quite a bit. Coming into the role, I was aware of it and of Victor French and his portrayal. I was fortunate enough to hear some great stories about Victor French after the fact.

This adaptation of Little House is obviously different, with 50 years between the shows. While I portray Mr. Edwards quite differently, there are many core values that are very similar. We wanted to make sure we hit certain points properly: he's incredibly loyal, he loves the girls, and he loves the family. He's also dealing with grief and a lot of other things. 

We tried to bring it all together. It was about trying to find those throughlines, that connective tissue, to make sure there was a reflection of that while we still made Mr. Edwards our own.

Warren says the writing helped him find the balance between Mr. Edwards' darkness and his hope.

Warren: When I got sent the audition, I was fortunate enough to read the first two episodes. Specifically in Episode 2, it was very clear who Mr. Edwards was.

When I got the part, we discussed what his transition was going to be like; how he was going to come out of that grief. When we meet him, he's probably at his lowest of lows, right? This family is the perfect potential. He sees what life could be, and they give him hope.

That's the biggest throughline in our show — it's always about hope. I knew what his progression would be, and I knew they were going to bring him back to who he was a little bit.

We're in the process of doing Season 2 right now, which I can't talk about too much, but we get to see even more of Mr. Edwards start to become the man he once was, and the man that he's hoping to be.

That's a really great journey for any character or actor to go on. I've been really lucky. I think the writing on this show is phenomenal, and we have great directors. My castmates are incredible, so it's all part of telling the story.

Warren said he and Luke Bracey [Charles Ingalls] "hit the ground running" and quickly became close friends.

Warren: Sometimes on a set, you get lightning in a bottle. When Luke and I met, we hit the ground running and became very good friends very quickly. We like to have a laugh, and we have a lot of fun together — we're serious about the work and nothing else. That's how we live. It allowed us to form this friendship that, I hope, and I think, shows on screen. You'll see even more next season.

As far as working with Alice [Halsey], who plays Laura, she's so exceptional. She's very wise from a working perspective, way beyond her years. She's a very fun kid, she's a professional, and she's exceptionally good at her job.

We all just clicked. We feel very fortunate to be a part of this story. Everyone shows up with a smile on their face, even if they're doing heavier stuff that day. It's really been a dream.

Warren fell off a horse while filming the first two episodes — and you can actually see the injury on screen.

Warren: It's well known here at work: I fell off the horse a couple times.

In the first two episodes, you can see that I have a big cut on my nose. That's because I fell off a horse and landed on my face. (Laughs) That wasn't the best way to start. But then we practiced, and we got to ride a lot. Anytime Luke and I had a chance, we would go ride together, and so we both worked on it.

At the end of the year, I had a week of lovely riding, and I hopped on my horse, Sancho. We take three steps, and the poor guy gets stung by a bee. He rears up, then he rears up a second time, and I'm hanging on. I think I'm doing okay, and then all of a sudden he slams back on top of me — and that one hurt. Nothing was broken, but my entire back was black, and we still had a week left of shooting. 

Sancho and I practiced through the winter as well. He was out near where I was, so we went riding. You always have these dreams of being this incredible cowboy — but it took a hot minute to figure it out. I had a couple of wipeouts.

Warren says acting with a harmonica wasn't nearly as difficult as Luke's fiddle.

Warren: The harmonica was fun. I will tell you right now — it was not nearly as hard as Luke's fiddle. Worst-case scenario, I just have to do this [mimics playing the harmonica]. Luke had to be very specific.

Immersing himself in the 1800s was one of Warren's favorite parts of making Little House.

Warren: The thing that's so great about our job is research. That sounds nerdy, but you're thinking, Okay, it's 1869 — it's about the clothes, it's about building a house using old-school, authentic tools. It's really, really cool, and you have to learn so much about it, and about your character.

Warren said riding horses with Luke has given them some "all-time" days on set.

Warren: The other day, Luke and I went out riding together. We had to do some shots, and while they're setting up, we'll go ride off by ourselves a little bit. We're a bit better at riding now. (Laughs.)

We're just hanging out, and we had the most fun day of riding horses. Luke turned to me, and he said, "Wow. This is unbelievable." I was like, "Yeah, this is an all-time day here."

It's everything you could hope to do, which you don't always get in work, and we have a lot of fun adventures.

Warren loves that Little House continues to bring families together across generations.

Warren: I've had to travel a little bit, and people have come up to me. I ran into somebody a few days ago at the airport, and he came up with his son, who was probably about 12 or 13. They had both watched it, and they both loved it.

I'm a dad, so I know it's hard to find shows that everybody can enjoy. I think you have something with Little House where youngish kids, adults, and grandparents can all sit down and enjoy it.

We feel incredibly fortunate that the show has hit on the scale that it did. We love that it's reaching the people it needs to reach. That's all you can hope for. 

Little House on the Prairie is streaming now on Netflix.

Can't get enough Little House? Check out our other interviews:

- Luke Bracey and Crosby Fitzgerald on Charles/Caroline

The OG Series:

- Karen Grassle on Caroline Ingalls

- Alison Arngrim/Dean Butler on Nellie/Almanzo

- Charlotte Stewart on Ms. Beadle

- Patrick Labyorteaux on Andy Garvey

- Bonnie Bartlett on Grace Edwards

- Lucy Lee Flippin on Eliza Jane Wilder

- Rachel Greenbush on Carrie Ingalls

- Susan McCray on casting, and Michael Landon

- Sherri Stoner on Rachel Oleson and The Little Mermaid

- Pamela Roylance/Stan Ivar on the Carter family

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