These days, Taylor Sheridan is so well-known for co-creating Paramount dramas like “Yellowstone,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Landman,” and “Tulsa King” that it’s easy to forget that he plied his trade almost exclusively as an actor before establishing himself behind the camera. In fact, his most prominent on-screen gig was on the highly rewatchable FX biker drama “Sons of Anarchy,” where he put his chiseled features to good use as Deputy Chief David Hale. But Sheridan left the seven-season drama well before the bikers in question ran out of fuel — and for good reason.
Earnest and intense, Hale is precisely the kind of presence who can go up against the hardened bikers of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. That is, until he is killed in a dramatic van attack in the Season 3 premiere “SO.” The exit was courtesy of a contract negotiation that turned sour, and according to Sheridan, an insulting close to this chapter of his career. “[The pay] was less than virtually every other person on the show and not enough for me to quit my second job,” Sheridan told Deadline. The way the “Yellowstone” co-creator tells it, the network didn’t believe Sheridan was essential to the drama.
“‘We’re not going to pay him more because guess what, he’s not worth more,'” the actor-turned-director recalled what FX’s attorney told his. “I decided right there that I didn’t want to be 11 on the call sheet for the rest of my life.”
Taylor Sheridan’s career pivot is one for the ages
According to Sheridan, his failed negotiations on “Sons of Anarchy” became a watershed moment, one that made him realize that he was fully expendable as an actor. This newfound understanding made him quit the show and reevaluate his goals. Sheridan turned his attention to scriptwriting, penning neo-Western thrillers like “Sicario,” “Hell or High Water,” and “Wind River,” which reinvented his career. “Yellowstone” soon followed, as did the numerous smash hit TV shows he’s made since.
Of course, Sheridan does still act on occasion, and famously guest-stars in his own shows, perhaps most notably as Texas-based horse trainer Travis Wheatley on “Yellowstone.” Funny enough, though, he treats the “Sons of Anarchy” negotiation as a well-learned lesson and continues to purposefully keep himself comparatively low on the cast list. “Now, I am happily 11 on the call sheet on ‘Yellowstone,’ but I don’t think anybody wants to watch me do anything on television for an hour because the business told me they don’t,” he added. “They told me I’m supposed to story tell behind the camera.”