Why Taylor Sheridan Left Sons of Anarchy and Created Yellowstone

Yellowstone is now one of the best Western TV shows of all time, and it wouldn’t have been possible if Taylor Sheridan hadn’t left a popular crime drama show. Taylor Sheridan is best known for creating some of the most successful Western TV shows in recent years, but he also has an acting career.

Taylor Sheridan’s acting debut arrived in 1995 in one episode of the action crime TV show Walker, Texas Ranger, and his first notable role was as Danny Boyd in Veronica Mars, in 2005. However, Sheridan’s biggest role, and one that changed his career, was David Hale in Sons of Anarchy, which he played for two seasons.

Taylor Sheridan Played Deputy Chief David Hale In Sons Of Anarchy

Created by Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy is a crime drama TV series that took viewers to the fictional town of Charming, California, to meet the title motorcycle club. Leading the club in Sons of Anarchy’s first seasons were President Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) and VP Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), with the latter eventually becoming SAMCRO’s President.

Throughout seven seasons, SAMCRO got involved in a variety of conflicts, not just with other clubs and criminal organizations, but also with detectives, police officers, and more. Among Sons of Anarchy’s best antagonists (but not a villain) was David Hale, played by Taylor Sheridan.

David Hale was the Deputy Chief of the Charming Police Department, but unlike his boss, Unser, he wasn’t on SAMCRO’s payroll. Instead, Hale wanted to get rid of the club out of sincere moral concern, while his brother, Jacob Hale Jr., wanted to do so for financial gain. Because of this, Hale constantly clashed with Jax and the rest.

Hale had a strong moral compass and adhered to the law, but he always did the right thing, even when that meant siding with SAMCRO for a while. Unfortunately, Hale was killed in Sons of Anarchy’s season 3 premiere episode, and his brother took over as antagonist.

Sheridan’s performance made Hale a complex antagonist that viewers sometimes despised, but other times sided with, and it was unfortunate that he was only around for two seasons and the first episode of season 3.

Why Taylor Sheridan Exited Sons Of Anarchy

David Hale’s death in Sons of Anarchy was shocking (and graphic), but there was trouble behind the scenes for Sheridan. In 2021, Sheridan told Deadline that he left Sons of Anarchy due to salary disputes that made him realize a bigger problem.

Sheridan explained that he was paid an unfair wage, earning less than “virtually every other person on the show,” and he couldn’t leave his second job. Sheridan’s attorney was told he wouldn’t get paid more because he wasn’t worth more, so he left the show. This showed a disappointing reality for Sheridan, who shared that the problem was how the business saw him back then.

Taylor Sheridan Was Able To Focus On Writing After Exiting Sons Of Anarchy

Taylor Sheridan also shared that leaving Sons of Anarchy and having the above-mentioned realization about his place in the industry made him understand his true calling. Sheridan left acting aside and began to focus on screenwriting, with his first project as a screenwriter being the 2015 movie Sicario, and he returned to TV in 2018 with Yellowstone.

Yellowstone was the beginning of a TV franchise, followed by the prequel shows 1883 and 1923, and the upcoming sequel series The Madison and Y: Marshals. While it’s unfortunate that Taylor Sheridan’s time in Sons of Anarchy was brief, it was thanks to that that Yellowstone and more now exist.

Source: Deadline.

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  Sons of Anarchy

  
  

  8/10

  Release Date

  2008 – 2014

  Showrunner

  Kurt Sutter

  Directors

  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

  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

  
  

  
  

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  Yellowstone

  
  

  7/10

  Release Date

  2018 – 2024

  Network

  Paramount Network

  Showrunner

  Taylor Sheridan

  Directors

  Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan, Christina Alexandra Voros, Guy Ferland, John Dahl

  Writers

  John Coveny, Ian McCulloch