Why Yellowstone Creator Taylor Sheridan Left Sons Of Anarchy

Years before Taylor Sheridan cast himself as Travis Wheatley on "Yellowstone," he was often seen butting heads with Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and his beloved but regularly law-breaking biker gang in "Sons of Anarchy." Kurt Sutter's series, which mixed "Hamlet" with hogs, cast Sheridan as strait-laced Deputy Chief David Hale, a regular thorn in the side of Teller and his crew. For a while, at least.

Staring down the Sons for 21 episodes, Hale was abruptly killed off in the third episode of season 3 (one of the best seasons of "Sons of Anarchy") during a drive-by at a funeral. Like so many deaths on the show, his offing was visceral, assuring audiences that he was well and truly done. According to Sheridan, the exit was his choice, and it all came down to a matter of numbers, both on 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 choice, which played a massive part in transforming him into the film and television-churning dynamo he is today. "At that time, they were offering me what I thought was a very unfair wage. It was less than virtually every other person on the show and not enough for me to quit my second job," he explained.

From there, Sheridan received some key advice that would change his career trajectory and have Hollywood snatching up anything with his name on it in the years that followed.

It's a tale as old as time in Hollywood. Tell someone they won't achieve anything, and chances are they will do all that and more. In Sheridan's case, it was a few choice words from a business attorney that set him on course. "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,'" he recalled.

He wasn't. Three years after leaving "Sons of Anarchy," it was announced that Sheridan's script "Sicario" was going to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, becoming a career landmark for both writer and director. "I decided right there that I didn't want to be 11 on the call sheet for the rest of my life. Now, I am happily 11 on the call sheet on 'Yellowstone,' but I don't think anybody wants to watch me do anything on television for an hour because the business told me they don't. They told me I'm supposed to story tell behind the camera," he added. Now, with eight shows of his own making under his belt (for more on that, see /Film's ranking of Sheridan's shows) and six of his movie scripts (two of which he directed) earning critical acclaim, it's clear that Sheridan riding solo was the right thing to do.