Why Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan left Sons of Anarchy

Years ago Taylor Sheridan played Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone. in Sons of Anarchy, he was often seen clashing with Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and his beloved but regularly law-breaking biker gang. Kurt Sutter's series, which mixed Hamlet with pigs, cast Sheridan as the tight-lipped Deputy Chief David Hale, a regular thorn in the side of Teller and his team. At least for a while.

While watching Sons episode 21, Hale was suddenly killed off in the third episode of season 3. (one of the best seasons of Sons of Anarchy) driving past at a funeral. Like many of the deaths on the show, his offering was visceral, convincing viewers that he was well and truly done. According to Sheridan, the exit was his choice, and it all came down to the numbers on both call sheets and contracts.

While promoting his Yellowstone prequel series 1883 in 2021, Sheridan clarified his Sons of Anarchy departure with Deadline and his career choices that were instrumental in transforming him into the dynamic dynamo of film and television that he is today. “At the time, they offered me what I thought was a very unfair salary. It was less than virtually every other member of the show, and it wasn't enough for me to quit my second job,” he explained.

From there, Sheridan received some important advice that would change the trajectory of his career and cause Hollywood to seize anything with his name on it for years to come.

It's a tale as old as time in Hollywood. Tell someone they won't achieve anything and chances are they'll do all that and more. In Sheridan's case, it was a few words from a business attorney that defined him. “This crappy business lawyer says, 'He probably deserves to make more, but we're not going to pay him more because guess what?' He is not worth more. There are 50 of them. He has 11 on the call sheet. That's who the guy is and that's all he'll ever be,” he recalled.

He wasn't. Three years after leaving Sons of Anarchy, it was announced that Denis Villeneuve would direct Sheridan's script for Sicario, becoming a career landmark for both writer and director. “I decided right then and there that I didn't want to be an 11-year-old on the call page for the rest of my life. Now I'm happy 11 years on the Yellowstone call page, but I don't think anyone wants to watch. I'll do anything on TV for an hour, because the company told me they weren't doing that, they told me I had to tell the story behind the camera,” he added. Now with eight shows of his own (for more, see /Film Sheridan's Show Rating) and six of his screenplays (two of which he directed) to critical acclaim, it's clear that Sheridan riding solo was the right thing to do.