What Taylor Sheridan's biggest stars really think about working with the 'Yellowstone' creator
The third season of Taylor Sheridan's hit show "Lioness" has officially begun.
"Lioness" is one of many successful shows created by the prolific TV writer and showrunner. His long list of credits also include "Yellowstone," "1923," "Landman," "The Madison" and many other popular shows.
It's not only audiences who have fallen in love with the complex characters and storylines Sheridan has created, but also the actors who work on his sets.
Here is what some of his stars have said about what it's really like to work with Sheridan.
Ahead of the season three premiere of "Lioness," one of its stars, Michael Kelly, told People that Sheridan is "truly a standalone talent."
"There’s nobody who’s doing or has ever done what he’s doing," he said. "It’s incredible what he does. And he’s just one of the smartest dudes you’ll ever meet."
He added, "He’s f---ing brilliant, man. Brilliant. And just one of the greatest storytellers."
When it comes to working with the showrunner in the future, Kelly said that while he's "never thought about how the shows could cross over," he has told Sheridan, "anything you want me to do, I'll do."
He told Sheridan, "I love being in Texas. I love saying your words," and, "Anything, dude. You can put me in. Put me in, coach. Wherever you want to put me, I’ll go."
Actress Zoe Saldaña has starred in all three seasons of "Lioness," and told "CBS Mornings" that while she can "feel like an old soldier" on set, when Sheridan shows he believes in her, "you have no other choice but to start believing in yourself again."
The actress also referred to him as "an intimidating cat," who comes to set ready and "so serious," noting, "it raises the bar for the rest of us."
"So working with him is a challenge in the sense that he does raise the bar," Saldaña also told People. "And you have one of two choices. You either accept the challenge and make sure that you don't f--- up... or you quit."
She added that one of the benefits of working with Sheridan is that "he's an incredibly smart person" who puts in a ton of research when writing his scripts, "And then he writes these incredibly elaborate shows that end up really educating us as well."
"It's actually great," she added. "When you work with him is when you realize how passionate he is about actors and about acting. I think it is his first love when it comes to the arts."
When speaking at a Q&A in Hollywood in April, "Landman" star Billy Bob Thornton told the crowd that he has a lot of trust in the show, noting, "I trust Taylor and I trust the castmates."
"Yeah, oh, it’s great. I love working with Taylor," Thornton said, per People. "I love hanging out with him after hours. He’s such a brilliant guy, great writer, and I love his company."
When speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in March, Michelle Pfeiffer spoke about how Sheridan convinced her to star in "The Madison."
"[Taylor] wanted to know who Stacy was before he started writing. I wanted to know who Stacy is before I committed. And so we went back and forth like that for a little while, and it became clear to me I wasn’t going to win this battle," Pfeiffer said. "So I asked Helen Mirren [who previously starred in Sheridan's "Yellowstone" spinoff "1923"] to speak to me about her experience."
"And she just glowed; she couldn’t say enough nice things," Pfeiffer recalled of Mirren. "She said the scripts were great, the productions were perfect. She was having the time of her life; she loved Montana. So I took a big leap of faith, and I committed. I thought, 'Well, the guy has a pretty darn good track record.'"
Harrison Ford starred in Sheridan's "Yellowstone" prequel series, "1923," and had nothing but nice things to say about the showrunner when speaking about him at the premiere of the show in December 2022.
"He’s an incredible horseman. He’s a genuine athlete, and that’s something you might not expect to find in such a talented writer and intellectual thinker," he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ahead of the release of his movie "Horizon: An American Saga" in 2024, Kevin Costner spoke with Entertainment Weekly about working with Sheridan, as his future on "Yellowstone" was uncertain at the time.
The actor told the outlet that Sheridan is "doing special work in a lot of different ways."
"He's very prolific about the things he does, and if he sees me in something that he wants to do, I'll look at it just the way I did 'Yellowstone' and maybe we will end up doing something together," Costner says. "He likes a lot of the things that I like, and the idea of us working together is not out of the question for me."
He went on to say that "the subjects he chooses are very interesting to me," and that, aside from "Yellowstone," "other things that he's doing, I think, are really, really good. He likes the same subjects that I do."
Costner ultimately did not return to film the remainder of "Yellowstone" season five. A new spinoff, "Dutton Ranch," continued the Dutton family's story and followed Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly's characters as they left Montana to start a new life in Texas.
Helen Mirren spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in December 2022 at the premiere of "1923."
When speaking with the outlet, she gave fans an inside look at what it's like working with Sheridan, calling him "fabulously hands-off."
"He presents the script, and it’s so extraordinary that you don’t want to change a word. You want to do it exactly as it’s written because it’s written with incredible precision but without being labored," she said. "To be able to be a part of a franchise in a world that is so singular on American television is very exciting. There’s nothing else quite like it."
"1923" star Brian Geraghty spoke with The Hollywood Reporter at the premiere of the show in December 2022 about his experience working with Sheridan.
Geraghty explained that he "expected someone totally different" prior to meeting Sheridan for the first time, and how his experience as an actor makes him a great showrunner.
"He told me great stories of his time as an actor, about the process and how he hired some of the younger actors on the show by giving them a break over some really big-name actors," he said. "I love that because we all need that break. I got it 15 or 20 years ago and a few of the actors on the show got that from him."
He explained that his experience as an actor makes him "really empathetic to actor," although he presents as "this tough cowboy."
"I think he casts really well, and he does not care what you have done, for the most part. He casts the people who are right for the role," he explained. "When you show up to work, everyone raises the bar. He creates that, and it starts from him, but he also is very welcoming and gives you the tools you need to get there."
Michelle Randolph, who has appeared in both "1923" and "Landman," echoed Geraghty's statement and credited Sheridan for being willing to give unknown actors a break.
When speaking to People in 2025, Randolph praised Sheridan as "one of the few people" in the business who "takes chances on actors" and who "has given us this opportunity, and I just am eternally grateful for him."
"He made my dreams come true. I tell him that every time I see him," Randolph said. "He's like, 'Michelle, stop. I get it.' I'm like, 'Thank you.' But he really did give us something."
In addition to praising his casting methods, Randolph also complimented him as a writer, telling The Hollywood Reporter in December 2022 that he gives his characters "such depth and such unique storylines."
"No matter how many different situations are going on at once," she said. "Every character is so uniquely themselves and that’s really hard to do as a writer, especially for the amount of shows that he’s writing for."
Kurt Russell could not help but praise Sheridan's writing ability while at the premiere of "The Madison" in March.
"I love his writing. I think this is his best writing. I love that this is not 'Yellowstone.' It's not that. It's very, it's very standalone, very different," he told Page Six. "I love the relationships that he digs into here. And I think that this is truly a different wheelhouse for him. It was fun to do."
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Ali Larter has developed a close friendship with Sheridan through working with him on "Landman."
When speaking with People in April, Larter shared that Sheridan will often text her as he is writing, saying "if he’s laughing at his own writing… I’ll get a text."
"I mean, you know, the first season, I spent a ton of time with Taylor," she said. "He has a very clear vision of what he wants… and he is a visionary because when he is writing the scripts, he knows how he’s going to edit them."
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She went on to say that, as actors, they often "want to advocate for your character," but Sheridan is "brilliant" at creating a world "where that fits into the story that he wants to tell."
Larter also praised his writing ability and work ethic when speaking with Taste of Country, calling him "the best working writer."
"He's brilliant at the way he crafts his stories," she said. "I love the characters he creates, because they're dynamic and powerful ... But he also has space to show their vulnerable sides."
When speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in June, Larter shared that she and Sheridan knew one another before "Landman," but that they hadn't spoken in over a decade when she was cast on the show.
"I don’t think that you can pin him down," she told the outlet. "I think that he’s not going to come back into the machine that just wants to break him down. And he wants to work. He’s an extraordinarily hard worker. He’s a brilliant talent. He wants to do it his way. And I think that it’s very hard in our industry to do things your own way when you’re part of the machine."