Taylor Sheridan (born May 21, 1970)
is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed
David Hale in the
FX television series ''
Sons of Anarchy
''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...
'' and Danny Boyd in ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
'' (2005–2007).
Sheridan has written several films, including the screenplay for ''
Sicario'' (2015), for which he was nominated for the
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
for
Best Original Screenplay. He was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Awards, Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Be ...
for ''
Hell or High Water'' (2016), which was nominated for three other
Oscars, including
Best Picture. Sheridan also wrote and directed the 2017
neo-Western crime film ''
Wind River'' and wrote
the 2018 sequel to ''Sicario''. He is a co-creator of the
Paramount Network television series ''
Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
'' and creator of its prequels ''
1883
Events
January–March
* January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States.
* January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people.
* Ja ...
'' (2021) and ''
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
'' (2022), and he co-created the crime thriller ''
Mayor of Kingstown
''Mayor of Kingstown'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon. The series premiered on November 14, 2021, on Paramount+. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which is s ...
''. He also created the crime drama ''
Tulsa King'', which he co-writes and
showruns with
Terence Winter.
In 2021, Sheridan was inducted into the
Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Early life
Sheridan grew up on a ranch in
Cranfills Gap, Texas. His family lived minimally, not even having a stereo system in their house. Had they not lost the property in the early 1990s, said Sheridan, "I would still be living there". After Sheridan dropped out of
Texas State University, he moved to
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, where he mowed lawns and painted houses. While looking for jobs in a shopping mall, Sheridan met a talent scout, who offered him the chance to go to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and pursue an acting career. He later lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
during his time as an actor.
Career
Sheridan began his career in acting, appearing in small films and in recurring roles in television series like ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
,
Walker, Texas Ranger
''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...
'' and most notably, as
David Hale in ''
Sons of Anarchy
''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...
''. He made the transition into screenwriting after he turned 40. His first film as a screenwriter was ''
Sicario'', directed by
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...
. It revolves around Kate Macer (
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. ...
), an FBI agent who is enlisted to a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal
Mexican drug cartel.
It also starred
Josh Brolin and
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...
. The film received critical acclaim, with a 94% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, and received a
number of nominations, including a
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
nomination for
Best Original Screenplay for Sheridan.
Sheridan wrote ''Comancheria'' after ''Sicario.'' ''Comancheria'' sold first but was
stuck in development for quite a few years, appearing on the
Black List
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
in 2012. It was later retitled ''Hell or High Water'' and was released in August 2016, starring
Jeff Bridges,
Chris Pine and
Ben Foster Ben Foster may refer to:
*Ben Foster (actor) (born 1980), American actor
*Ben Foster (footballer) (born 1983), English goalkeeper
*Ben Foster (composer) (born 1977), British composer, orchestrator and conductor
* Ben Foster (director) (born 1984), ...
, and again received critical acclaim. For his screenplay, Sheridan received a large amount of awards attention, earning
BAFTA,
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, and
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations.
The low-budget horror film ''
Vile'' is credited as Sheridan's first film, but he does not consider the film his directorial debut, stating in a 2017
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
interview:
His second feature as director, but third as screenwriter, ''
Wind River'', starring
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as '' Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T.'' (2 ...
and
Elizabeth Olsen, premiered at
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
in January 2017. The film follows an FBI agent (Olsen) and a veteran game tracker (Renner), investigating a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
had acquired the distribution rights during the 2016
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, but dropped the film prior to the Sundance premiere. However, the company later finalized its deal to distribute it. ''Wind River'' was widely released in the United States on August 18, 2017, following a brief limited release. Following ''Sicario'' and ''Hell or High Water'', ''Wind River'' is the third installment of Sheridan's trilogy of "the modern-day American frontier".
On September 15, 2016,
Deadline reported that Sheridan had been set by
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
and
Escape Artists
Escape Artists Productions, LLC, commonly known as Escape Artists, is an independently financed motion picture and television production company with a first look non-exclusive deal at Sony Pictures Entertainment, headed by partners Steve Ti ...
to script the American remake of the
Matthias Schoenaerts drama-thriller film ''
Disorder'', a 2015 French film directed by
Alice Winocour
Alice Winocour (born 13 January 1976) is a French screenwriter and director.
Life and career
Winocour was born in Paris, France, to a Jewish family. After studying screenwriting at La Fémis, Winocour made three short films and wrote the script ...
. Escape Artists' Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal,
Steve Tisch and Tony Shaw were scheduled to produce the remake and David Beaubaire to oversee it for the studio.
James Mangold
James Allen Mangold (born December 16, 1963) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the films ''Cop Land'' (1997), '' Girl, Interrupted'' (1999), ''Walk the Line'' (2005), '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (2007), '' The Wolverine'' (2013) and '' Logan'' ...
was going to direct.
In 2017, Sheridan created the television series ''
Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
'' starring
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
that has aired on the
Paramount Network for five seasons running beginning June 20, 2018.
Sheridan wrote the sequel to ''Sicario'', titled ''
Sicario: Day of the Soldado'', which was directed by
Stefano Sollima and released in 2018. More recently, his overall deal with ViacomCBS was renewed.
In May 2019, it was announced
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...
and
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
acquired distribution rights to the film ''
Those Who Wish Me Dead'' with Sheridan as director. The film had a theatrical debut internationally in South Korea on May 5, 2021.
In the United States, it was released on May 14, 2021.
Style
As an actor, Sheridan has explained that the amount of expositional dialogue he read for television caused him to form an "allergy to
exposition" in his writing. He has also said that he looks for "absurdly simple" plots in order to focus solely on character. He has cited the
Coen brothers,
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
, and
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. as influential to his writing.
He is known for toying with the form and structure of a screenplay in his work. In ''Sicario'', Sheridan incorporated a "five-act structure and a five-act structure within that." He believes in the intelligence of the audience, and uses the structure and context of his stories as a way to subvert expectations: "I look at each movie as, 'How am I breaking the rules this time?'"
Personal life
Sheridan has been married to actress and model
Nicole Muirbrook since 2013. The pair have a son.
They currently reside in
Weatherford, Texas.
Filmography
Film
Television
Acting
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Taylor
1970 births
21st-century American male actors
People from Bosque County, Texas
American male film actors
American male television actors
Screenwriters from Texas
Film directors from Texas
Living people
Male screenwriters