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Taylor Sheridan has explained why he rode off into the sunset so early into the run of Sons of Anarchy.
Sheridan is now best known for being the creator of Yellowstone and popular streaming series including Landman, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown, as well as being the screenwriter of movies such as Sicario and Hell or High Water. However, his earliest work in the industry was as an actor. Beginning in the mid-1990s, he appeared on episodes of a number of major TV shows (Walker, Texas Ranger, Party of Five, NYPD Blue), but his biggest role was as deputy police chief David Hale in FX’s Sons of Anarchy, which he played for 21 episodes through the season 3 premiere.
During a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Sheridan explained why he left the crime thriller so early in its run (it eventually ran for seven seasons and spawned the five-season spinoff Mayans M.C.). Ultimately, it had to do with pay. Although Sheridan was a major character in the first two seasons, he says that he was being paid considerably less than the other cast members at his level, who were getting $20,000 an episode. When he asked for a raise, “they offered me 15.”
He ultimately decided that he couldn’t accept the offer, and that the experience taught him that he is “eminently replaceable,” which is what spurred him to begin his behind-the-camera career and become the one telling stories rather than the one bringing them to life. Read his full comments on being a part of the Sons of Anarchy cast below:
Taylor Sheridan: The worst beating [I ever took in the industry], which is also the greatest gift that I ever got. Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy had ended and it’s a very successful cable show. I’m an actor on this show making scale. There are two dudes on the friggin DVD. One is Charlie Hunnam, who was the star, who’s a great guy, and me. We’re it and I literally would leave the set of that show and go to my other job, ’cause I didn’t make enough on that show to pay my rent and live. So after season 2, I said, “Guys, I’m not coming back and doing this again for this price. I’m just not doing it. I want what the other 14 people — not even asking for what Charlie gets or Katey or Ron Perlman. I just want what the other 11 guys are getting.” And they couldn’t do it. And what the other guys were getting, by the way, it’s a 13-episode show. They’re getting $20,000 an episode before taxes, before agents, before everything.
We’re not talking about an exorbitant amount of money… especially not in LA, and they offered me 15. They said, “We’ll give you 15 and we’ll guarantee you 10 episodes. That’s all you’re getting.” And I do the math on it and I said, “That’s not a raise. What is that?” And I said, “No.” And my attorney responded to this business affairs guy. He said, “Look, I’ve got kids on f—-ng cooking shows on YouTube that make more than that.” And he goes, “Well, 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 that guy tomorrow.” So, I realized my value is I’m eminently replaceable, and that my business did not respect me, and I thought to myself, I’m like, “Man, I can’t take this job and tell my son, ’Son, you can be anything you want to be, but I’m going to miss your soccer game, ’cause I’ve got a Windex audition.’” So, I quit the show. I told him — whether you want to call it pride or ego or integrity, I don’t know what you call it, but I just realized I’ve maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry, so I’m not going to try to do it anymore and the people that 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. I quit.
Even though Sons of Anarchy was a huge series, Taylor Sheridan deciding to leave could very well have been the best career decision he ever made. His final episode of the series aired in 2010, and he pulled back from his acting career more or less immediately, with his only acting role between then and a cameo in Hell or High Water in 2016 being a single 2011 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. However, in spite of an early slow burn, his behind-the-camera career took off more than his on-camera career ever did.
Although he wouldn’t have a screenplay produced for half a decade (the first Sheridan-written movie to debut was Sicario, which arrived in 2015), that movie served as the first proof of concept that audiences would respond to almost any new project he created. In fact, a report from TheWrap in November 2025 says that Taylor Sheridan shows earned Paramount+ more than $800 million between 2021 and then. That is more money than the 2025 blockbuster movies Marty Supreme, Weapons, and One Battle After Another earned put together.
His burgeoning writing career also allowed him to resurrect his acting career, as he has appeared in many of his own projects, including 1883, Lioness, and Yellowstone. He has also appeared in a project that he didn’t write, playing a supporting role opposite Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon in the 2018 war movie 12 Strong.
Ultimately, Sons of Anarchy was just a stepping stone for Taylor Sheridan, in spite of being by far the biggest television role he ever got during his early acting career. However, while the show helped launch or revive the careers of many of its stars, including Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, and Kim Coates, it may never have done the same for Sheridan, especially if he continued to have conflict with producers throughout its run.
- Release Date
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2008 – 2014
- Showrunner
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Kurt Sutter
- Directors
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Paris Barclay, Guy Ferland, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Peter Weller, Billy Gierhart, Kurt Sutter, Stephen Kay, Adam Arkin, Paul Maibaum, Phil Abraham, Terrence O’Hara, Allen Coulter, Charles Haid, Charles Murray, Karen Gaviola, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Dinner, Seith Mann, Tim Hunter
- Writers
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Dave Erickson, Misha Green, Liz Sagal, Regina Corrado, Mike Daniels, Kem Nunn, Roberto Patino, Gladys Rodríguez, Peter Elkoff, Marco Ramirez, James D. Parriott, Julie Busher, Pat Charles, Stevie Long, David Labrava, Vaun Wilmott
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Charlie Hunnam
Jax Teller
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Katey Sagal
Gemma Teller Morrow