Taylor Sheridan divulges final straw that made him quit ‘Sons of Anarchy’ — and ditch acting altogether

Prolific TV creator and producer Taylor Sheridan revealed he took a break from acting because he took a few “beatings” throughout his career.

On Tuesday’s episode of “The Howard Stern Show,” Sheridan said the “worst beating” he took was while starring as local police chief David Hale on “Sons of Anarchy,” which ran on FX for seven seasons from 2008 to 2014.

The “Yellowstone” creator, 56, explained that “Sons of Anarchy” was a “very successful cable show,” but after filming the series, he would, “literally leave the set and go to my other job, because I didn’t make enough on that show to pay my rent and live.” 

Sheridan was in the first two seasons of the biker drama, and got paid much less than his castmates, including Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman.

He said he asked for the same $20,000 the series regulars got per episode, and “they couldn’t do it.”

Sheridan told Stern, “We’re not talking about an exorbitant amount of money, especially not in LA. They said, ‘We’ll give you [$15,000], and we’ll guarantee you 10 episodes, that’s all you’re getting.’ I do the math, and I said, ‘That’s not a raise. No.’”

Sheridan alleged that his attorney was told, “We just don’t have to pay him because there’s 50 of that dude; I can recast him tomorrow.'”

After Season 2 ended, Sheridan — who was feeling disrespected — told the network, “’Guys, I’m not coming back and doing this again for this price.'”

So in the Season 3 premiere of “Sons of Anarchy,” which aired in 2010, Hale was fatally struck by a car during a drive-by shooting. 

Fortunately for Sheridan, his fortunes are vastly different these days.

After writing the Oscar-nominated 2015 movie, “Sicario,” he created the American neo-Western drama television series “Yellowstone,” starring Kevin Costner. It ran for five seasons from 2018 to 2024.

Currently, Sheridan is the showrunner on several hit TV shows that attract big movie stars, including “Landman” starring Billy Bob Thornton and “The Madison” starring Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer. 

In October 2025, it was also reported that Sheridan was leaving Paramount for NBC Universal – in a deal that was worth $1 billion.

And as far as acting is concerned, he hasn’t entirely left it all behind because Sheridan has appeared in front of the camera in minor roles in some of his own shows, including “Yellowstone” and “Lioness.” 

In “Yellowstone,” he wrote himself a role as a horse trainer who was dating Bella Hadid in Season 5.

“Call it pride or ego or integrity, but I just realized I’ve maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry,” he told Stern.

“So I’m not going to try to do it anymore. And the people who 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.” 

In another recent interview on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Sheridan ripped into studio execs, slamming them for knowing, “nothing,” and delivered a scathing message to his critics: “Fuck ’em, honestly.”