Taylor Sheridan’s turn from television actor to one of the most successful writers, directors, and producers in Hollywood started with an insulting response to a request for a raise.
At the time, Sheridan was playing Deputy Chief David Hale on Sons of Anarchy, but studio brass didn’t think he deserved more money for his work, as he recalled to Deadline this year.
“When my attorney said, ‘Look, there are kids on the Cartoon Network making more than you’re offering this guy,’ this jerk business affairs attorney goes, ‘He probably deserves to make more, but we’re not going to pay him more, because guess what? He’s not worth more. There are 50 of him. He is 11 on the call sheet. That’s what that guy is and that’s all he’s ever going to be,’” Sheridan said.
So the Texas native got to writing, penning the scripts for the films Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River (which he also directed). And in 2018, he launched what has become a TV empire with the premiere of Yellowstone, the Paramount Network drama he co-created, produces, writes for, directs, and even acted in. Now that his latest TV show, 1923, has premiered on Paramount+, scroll down to see all of Sheridan’s small-screen creations ranked by average IMDb rating.