In addition to writing, producing, and directing, Taylor Sheridan is also an actor to boot, having starred on "Sons of Anarchy" and "Veronica Mars" and made cameo appearances on both "Yellowstone" and "1883." And those acting chops, according to actor LaMonica Garrett, are what help set Sheridan apart from other showrunners.
"When you're a writer, a producer, a director, a filmmaker, and you have that background in acting, there's a way to communicate with actors to get through to them, and Taylor knows that language," Garret told Looper. "Taylor will never ask you to do anything that he wouldn't do. Even during cowboy camp [in preparation for '1883'], he set the tone for work ethic. He was the first one out there, in 100+ degrees. He wasn't sitting in a cooling tent yelling at us to do certain things and to go here and to go there. He was the first one on a horse and he was out there wrangling with us."
One example of how this hands-on approach creates a desirable work environment for actors came while filming the first episode of "1883." There's a scene where Thomas and Shea (Sam Elliott) first meet James Dutton (Tim McGraw), who had just killed some bandits in a shootout. Thomas tells James not to take the horse, or the bandits' buddies will come after him, so he lets the horse run off. What happened next is what makes Sheridan so down-to-earth and beneficial to work with.
"When Taylor said 'cut,' there's dozens of wranglers that could have went and got that horse," said Garrett. "That horse took off. He hit the grass and he was gone. Taylor jumped on his horse and rode out as fast as I've seen anyone ride a horse, and he roped that horse and brought [it] back, and then started setting up the next shot. His hand's in everything. When you see the main guy in charge of all this have that kind of work ethic and care for what goes into everything, it bleeds off into everybody. It set the tone for a good work environment."
All 10 episodes of "1883" are now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
