Taylor Sheridan, the mastermind behind iconic tough-guy figures like Rip Wheeler from Yellowstone and Tommy Norris from Landman, likely draws some of his daring character concepts from his own life. In a candid chat on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, the acclaimed writer and producer shared a throwback to a time in his acting career when he resorted to settling disputes in a rather old-school manner—involving a bit of fist power.
Taylor Sheridan was stunned when he landed this acting job
During an audition for a commercial, Sheridan found himself dealing with a rather disruptive fellow actor who wouldn’t stop interrupting, as he explained to the famously candid radio host. Frustrated and reaching his limit, Sheridan bluntly warned, “Keep that up, and I’m going to knock you the f*ck out.”
Recalling the event, Sheridan described how the other actor gave him a bewildered look, yet continued his chatter. Unperturbed, Sheridan recounted sitting on the couch and, with a swift and unexpected move, gave the nuisance a light punch. Realizing the situation’s finality, he calmly concluded, “This is over. I guess this ain’t the job for me. Thank you, everyone.” With that, he exited the room with his dignity intact.
Convinced his actions had cost him the commercial, Sheridan was in for a shock when he returned to his talent agency. Despite the altercation, the surprising news awaited him: the role was his. He had landed a spot in an advertisement for the now-defunct department store Montgomery Ward.
While filming the spot, Sheridan stepped out for a smoke break.
“There’s this dude,” he said. “I still remember, he’s wearing a baseball cap, like a Chicago White Sox baseball cap, a sport coat, and jeans and tennis shoes, and just that whole combination fascinated me, and I said, ‘So, what do you do? You like a camera guy or something?’ And he looks at me and he just laughs. He just can’t stop laughing when he looks at me and he goes, ‘I’m the executive producer. I’m the one who hired you.’”
Sheridan asked the man why he’d hired him for the job. He admitted to Stern that he was hoping to hear something like, “Well, you’ve got it, kid. You’re just so charismatic. You’re a movie star. I could just tell when you walked in.”
“He starts laughing,” Sheridan continued. “He said, ‘You told that guy you were going to hit him, and then you hit him and it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched it 50 times.’”
‘Yellowstone’ creator explains why he gave up acting
Sheridan might have gotten the job promoting Montgomery Ward. But he eventually realized that the instability of an actor’s life wasn’t for him. After a stint on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, he mostly stopped performing in front of the camera, aside from some roles in his own projects. He made the decision after his request for a raise was shut down.
Decision-makers on Sons of Anarchy told Sheridan that they didn’t have to up his pay because it would be so easy to recast him.
“I realized my value is I’m imminently replaceable and that my business did not respect me and I thought to myself, I’m like, ‘Man, 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.’ So, I quit the show,” he said. “…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 and the people that have all the power are the people telling stories, so I’m going to tell my own stories, and so, that’s when I decided that I was going to write. I quit.”
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