In 2011, ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan was a jobbing actor down to his last $800.
When he attempted to negotiate a pay rise for his role as Deputy Chief David Hale in FX’s ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ an exec knocked his attorney back by saying:
“He probably deserves to make more, but we’re not going to pay him 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.”
That was the final insult that convinced Sheridan “I didn’t want to be #11 on the call sheet for the rest of my life.”
So he got to writing, and four years of typing away later, he’d turned in a screenplay that became Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’ (2015). A masterpiece, through and through.
The following year, Taylor Sheridan racked up nominations for David Mackenzie’s critically acclaimed ‘Hell or High Water’ (2016) starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster; before making his own spectacular directorial debut with ‘Wind River’ (2017).
The real game changer, however, was the moment he co-created one of the most successful modern television franchises with Art Linson: ‘Yellowstone.’
Despite being snobbishly rejected by HBO during a prolonged pitch process, the five-season affair featuring Kevin Costner has spawned two epic spin-off shows with three more currently in active development.
It also convinced Paramount to let him produce five more passion projects — ‘Mayor of Kingstown,’ ‘Tulsa King,’ ‘Special Ops: Lioness,’ ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves,’ and ‘Landman.’
In present day, Taylor Sheridan is worth over $200 million and the proud owner of historic Texas property Four Sixes Ranch, AKA 6666 Ranch (pictured: below).
How’s that for being #11 on the call sheet?