Sheridan became an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and shifted to creating TV shows after he realized he had no 'respect' as an actor
Credit: FX
NEED TO KNOW
- Taylor Sheridan explained how realizing he was ‘replaceable’ on Sons of Anarchy helped him decide to leave acting and move into writing
- Sheridan went on to write hit films like Sicario and Hell or High Water and then to create TV shows like Yellowstone and Tulsa King
- Sheridan said the Sons of Anarchy incident was ultimately ‘the greatest gift’ he received in the industry
Taylor Sheridan left acting behind and turned to a different side of Hollywood that's proved much more lucrative.
Sheridan, 56, opened up about his career on the June 30 episode of The Howard Stern Show. In the episode, he told Stern, 72, about the “worst beating” he took from the industry that also turned out to be “the greatest gift” because it forced him to move into writing.
Sheridan began his career as primarily a TV actor, with roles on shows like Walker, Texas Ranger, NYPD Blue, CSI and Veronica Mars. In 2008, he was cast as Deputy David Hale on Sons of Anarchy. “It's a very successful cable show. I'm an actor on this show making scale,” he said. He remembered that, at the time, there were two people on the cover of the show's DVD: Charlie Hunnam, who was “the star” and a “great guy,” and Sheridan.
“And I literally would leave the set of that show and go to my other job, cause I didn't make enough on that show to pay my rent and live,” he said. “So, after season 2, I told them, ‘Guys, I'm not coming back and doing this again for this price. I'm just not doing it.' ” He didn't want what stars like Hunnam, Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal were getting, but what the other “11 guys” were receiving.
“And they couldn't do it,” he said. The other actors, he said, were getting $20,000 an episode for the show's 13-episode season. “We're not talking about an exorbitant amount of money,” he said.
Credit: Paramount
The show offered him $15,000 an episode and guaranteed 10 episodes. “I do the math on it, and I said, ‘That's not a raise.' ” He turned it down.
“My attorney responded to this business affairs guy. He said, ‘Look, I've got kids on f—ing cooking shows on YouTube that make more than that,' ” Sheridan remembered. “And he goes, ‘Well, then the guy should go get a cooking show on YouTube. We just don't have to pay him because there's 50 of that dude. I can recast that guy tomorrow.' ”
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Sheridan realized that his value was that he's “eminently replaceable” and that this business “did not respect me.”
“I can't take this job and tell my son, ‘Son, you can be anything you want to be, but I'm going to miss your soccer game cause I've got a Windex audition,' ” he remembered thinking. “So, I quit the show. I told him, I said, ‘Look, whether you want to call it pride or ego or integrity, I don't know what you call it, but I just realized I've maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry. So, I'm not going to try to do it anymore.”
He realized the people with the power were the ones “telling stories,” so “I'm going to tell my own stories.” Sons of Anarchy killed his character off at the beginning of season 3. Sheridan directed 2011's Vile before moving into writing with 2015's Sicario, starring Emily Blunt, Benicio de Toro and Josh Brolin. Next came 2016's Hell or High Water, starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Gil Birmingham. It earned Sheridan his first Oscar nomination, for Best Original Screenplay. In 2017, he wrote and directed Wind River, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
A year later, Sheridan made the jump to television with Yellowstone, which he created and also wrote and directed. The major success of the show spawned multiple spinoffs, including 1883, 1923, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Marshals and Dutton Ranch. His other TV series have included Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Lioness, Landman and The Madison.
Sheridan ultimately did return to acting — on his own shows. He played Travis Wheatley on Yellowstone, Charles Goodnight in two episodes of 1883 and Cody Spears in three episodes of Lioness.
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