Oscar-nominated Taylor Sheridan is best known for creating Yellowstone and a slew of other TV gems. But before that, the creator was an actor–a role he gave up after being denied a raise.
Sheridan, 56, revealed on The Howard Stern Show that he left FX’s Sons of Anarchy, where he played David Hale, a deputy chief in the police department.
“I’ve taken my beatings,” Sheridan said. “The worst beating, which is also the greatest gift that I ever got, Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy had ended, it’s a very successful cable show, I’m an actor making scale. I’d literally leave the set and go to my other job, because I didn’t make enough on that show to pay my rent and live. So, after Season 2, I told them, ‘Guys, I’m not coming back and doing this again for this price.’”
Sheridan said he wasn’t for the kind of salaries the main cast received, but instead requested $20,000–a fee given to other supporting regular stars.
“They couldn’t do it,” he said. “We’re not talking about an exorbitant amount of money, especially not in L.A. They said, ‘We’ll give you 15, and we’ll guarantee you 10 episodes, that’s all you’re getting.’ I do the math, and I said, ‘That’s not a raise. No.’ My attorney responded to this business affairs guy, ‘I’ve got kids on cooking shows on YouTube that make more than that,’ and he goes, ‘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 him tomorrow.’”
Sheridan said he realized “my business did not respect me.” He decided to exit the show, with his character being killed in the Season 3 premiere.
The Hollywood director appeared in a few other roles, including 2011’s NCIS: Los Angeles. But he quickly transitioned to creating his own work, writing 2015’s Sicario, a crime thriller that was nominated for an Academy Award.
Then came Yellowstone, 1883, and Lioness. Sheridan has also appeared in his critically-acclaimed shows as an actor.
“Call it pride or ego or integrity, but I just realized I’ve maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry,” Sheridan said. “So I’m not going to try to do it anymore. And the people who have all the power are the people telling stories, so I’m going to tell my own stories. That’s when I decided that I was going to write.”
The move towards creating his own shows has paid off for Sheridan, who is now worth an estimated $200 million.
The creator has been candid about his experience in the industry, saying on The Bill Simmons Podcast on Monday that he doesn’t care for critics.
“The critics and me… I don’t care what they think and it annoys the s–t out of them that I don’t care. I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit, and this is one of them. F— ‘em, honestly.”
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