While Taylor Sheridan has been a part of Hollywood since the early 2000s, it is his rise as a screenwriter/director that has made him the icon that he is today. Things kicked off with 2015’s iconic Sicario, which starred the likes of Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin, and made around $85 million against a budget of $30 million.
Delving into the heights of the US Government’s war against drugs and their efforts to subjugate US-Mexican cartels, the movie was initially shelved by Sheridan himself, who thought that it was simply too dark for Hollywood. While Sheridan wrote the script following his Sons of Anarchy stint, which came to an end in 2010, the movie eventually entered production in 2013, and was released in September 2015.
Taylor Sheridan wanted audiences to keep guessing what will happen in Sicario next
In an interview with Esquire, Sheridan himself went in detail about what he wanted to do differently with Sicario. Considering his TV experience, he initially talked about teasers, in particular:
Television is an extremely rigid structure. You’ve got a teaser that lasts a minute that sets up the episode. Then you have four or five acts depending on what network you’re on. Show me the teaser, and I’ll tell you how the whole thing’s gonna end.
Taylor Sheridan claimed that most TV projects tend to be utterly predictable, partly due to their teasers. He claimed that he can easily deduce the plot of most TV episodes out there, if he merely sees the 1-minute teaser.
The 54-year-old then extended his hypothesis to the overall industry, claiming that even movies tend to be extremely predictable for audiences, a lot of times:
People have seen so many films that they can intuit what happens next. They can feel ‘Here’s what’s coming.’ I wanted it to feel like anything could happen at any point. Kate could die. Josh Brolin could die. You have no idea what I’m going to show you. You don’t need a guy calling his wife in a scene and explaining everything that’s happening. To me, what’s really interesting is you can get to know someone so intimately without knowing anything about them.
Hence, Sheridan revealed that he effectively wanted to attach a sense of unpredictability to Sicario. This was to ensure that audiences were always on the edge of their seats, and simply could not deduce what would happen next.
Taylor Sheridan once punched a fellow actor during an advertisement audition
On one hand, Sheridan revealed how he aims to maintain a sense of unpredictability in his movies, which according to him is in contrast with how a number of projects tend to be. However, scripts apart, the actor/screenwriter himself has given ample evidence of his unpredictable nature.
Back towards the beginning of his career, Sheridan had once showed up for an audition for a Montgomery Ward commercial. The actors were called in, in groups of two, and Sheridan’s partner apparently spoke over him, multiple times. This led to the Yellowstone creator threatening the actor, in front of the producer:
“Hey, man,” Sheridan told him, “you interrupt me again, I’m gonna knock you out. Just letting you know.
As it turned out, the actor ended up interrupting Sheridan again, who ended up punching him in the face. Sheridan proceeded to walk out of the audition, but was later informed that he had indeed, been given the part. The producer claimed that it was the funniest scene he had ever seen play out in front of his eyes, which was effectively why Sheridan got the part.
Hence, talent apart, apparent from a plethora of his projects, Sheridan has also had luck on his side, at times.
