Taylor Sheridan now owns sprawling Texas ranches, commands some of Hollywood’s biggest television franchises and has become one of the entertainment industry’s most powerful creators.
But before the horses, cattle and Hollywood heavyweights came calling, Sheridan said he was sleeping in his car.
“I was homeless twice,” Sheridan told Town & Country.
The “Yellowstone” creator recalled driving away from Los Angeles during those desperate stretches.
TAYLOR SHERIDAN TAKES SWIPE AT LOS ANGELES AFTER BUILDING TV EMPIRE FROM TEXAS
“I lived in my car. Sometimes I’d go to Ojai, just somewhere where I could safely sleep. I did that for six months,” he said.
Sheridan is now the creative force behind “Yellowstone,” “Landman,” “The Madison” and several other series.
But the road there was brutally uncertain, and Sheridan said he could have walked away.
“I could have decided at any point, ‘I’m going to go get a full-time job, and I’m going to give up this dream,’” he said. “And I chose to sleep in my car over that.”
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Sheridan spent years trying to make it as an actor, taking whatever television work he could find.
His acting breakthrough came in 2008, when he joined FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” as Deputy Chief David Hale.
Sheridan tried to negotiate a raise but decided to leave the show after the two sides failed to reach a deal. His character was then killed off.
His run ended in 2010 — the same year Sheridan and his then-partner, actress and model Nicole Muirbrook, welcomed their son, Gus. Sheridan and Muirbrook tied the knot in 2013.
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Sheridan decided to change the rules for himself in Hollywood and started writing.
“Sicario,” which Sheridan wrote and Denis Villeneuve directed, became Sheridan’s first produced screenplay in 2015. “Hell or High Water” followed a year later and earned Sheridan an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Sheridan’s success also allowed him to build the life that had always been pulling him away from Los Angeles.
“When I sold that first screenplay, I bought a little house on an acre on a river in Wyoming,” he told Town & Country.
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He paid for it outright. Then came more land, more horses and, eventually, much bigger properties.
Today, Sheridan is a major Texas landowner whose holdings include Bosque Ranch and the historic 6666, or Four Sixes, Ranch.
His ranches have also served as filming locations for his productions, helping Sheridan bring the working Western world depicted in his shows to the screen.
