Sylvester Stallone reveals why ‘Tulsa King’ creator Taylor Sheridan quit acting: ‘He was…’
Sylvester Stallone has built a career out of defying expectations, and at 79 years old, the actor continues to surprise fans with his choices and his reflections. As ‘Tulsa King’ returns for its third season on Paramount+ this September, Stallone is taking audiences behind the scenes of the hit crime drama. He’s also opening up about his personal connection to the creator of the show, Taylor Sheridan. Stallone recalls a moment early in his career when he realized the only way forward was to take control of his own destiny. “There was a crossroads where I knew I was always going to be ‘thug number three’ coming through the door,” he said in a recent interview with People.
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He added, “I saw the handwriting on the wall and knew I had to pivot, big time, and the same thing happened with him.” Before Sheridan became one of television’s most influential storytellers, he was an actor struggling to break out of supporting roles. His credits included projects like ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ but he was rarely offered the kind of material that could propel him to stardom. According to Stallone, that reality forced Sheridan into a crossroads. “He was a serious actor, but no one was giving him his break,” Stallone said. That pivot, of course, changed television.
Sheridan went on to write ‘Sicario,’ co-create ‘Hell or High Water,’ and eventually expand his empire with ‘Yellowstone’ and its spinoffs. But Stallone revealed that the decision to reinvent wasn’t about ambition alone; it was about survival. “He realized the clock was running out, and he had to learn to write. He was always kind of a lonely kid, like I was. I was always making up fantasy stories in the mirror and all that stuff. But I get his dilemma. I get the reason he pursued another career. It isn't because you wanted to, you had to, or you're gone. He’s a survivalist,” he admitted.
The two men first crossed paths years before ‘Tulsa King’ was even conceived. Stallone recalls a casual meeting at a barn, where they bonded over their shared love of horseback riding. “When we finally met—unwittingly at a barn, both riding horses—I started to talk to this kid,” Stallone laughed. “I go, ‘Why don’t you help me write Rambo, the fourth one?’ He says, ‘I’m working on this thing called Sicario.’ So he went off in his own direction, and so did I. About ten years later, here he comes with this idea.” When Sheridan eventually approached Stallone with the idea for ‘Tulsa King,’ the timing was perfect.
The actor was ready to step away from the larger-than-life action roles that had defined much of his career. “My career started out dramatic, then it got very physical, and I wanted to stay in that action genre for a reason,” Stallone explained. “I thought it was kind of like modern mythology. Since we don't really have new heroes like Achilles or Hercules, these were the characters we created.” He continued, “But as time moved on, I thought, ‘I want to go back to something like Rocky,’ which was a drama. There’s only six minutes of fighting outta two hours, that’s it. So I thought, ‘But what am I going to do?’”
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Sheridan’s pitch was exactly the kind of challenge Stallone had been waiting for. He recalled, “Taylor Sheridan called me and goes, ‘You want to play a gangster out of water in Tulsa, Oklahoma?’ I go, ‘Oh — now there’s a challenge. Absolutely.’” Season 3 of 'Tulsa King' premiered September 21 on Paramount+. And according to The Hollywood Reporter, the series has already been renewed for a fourth season.