‘Tulsa King’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Approached Sylvester Stallone With 1 Simple Question — ‘Do You Want to Play a Gangster?’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Tulsa King is a new Taylor Sheridan mob drama on streamer Paramount+ that stars film legend Sylvester Stallone. It will be his first attempt at being a series lead, but Stallone says it didn’t take much for Sheridan to convince him to accept the role. When Sheridan called Stallone, all he had to do was ask one simple question — do you want to play a gangster?

Sylvester Stallone would have been a ‘fool’ to turn down ‘Tulsa King’

At the recent Tulsa King premiere, Stallone talked with Variety about making his debut as a leading man on TV. He noted that it’s difficult to find a project that’s original, so when Sheridan approached him about starring in the new mob drama it was impossible to turn it down.

“When it comes knocking on your door, you have to be a fool to say no,” Stallone said.

Tulsa King stands out from other gangster series simply because it takes place outside of the big city. It’s more of a western, with Stallone playing New York City mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi. A man who has just been released from prison after 25 years. Upon his release, his boss exiles him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to set up shop.

“The idea of taking him out of New York, so he’s not like a Tony Soprano, he’s completely in an alien world. He might as well have been walking around on the moon,” Stallone explained. “This is a fantasy role. I’ve always wanted to play a gangster. Not a cowboy, not an Indian, [but] a gangster. Don’t ask me why, but there’s a romanticism about these kinds of characters.”

All Taylor Sheridan had to do was ask Sylvester Stallone 1 simple question

Stallone actually met Sheridan years ago at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where they bonded over their shared histories as struggling actors turned writers. 

In a recent interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, the Oscar nominee told us that he and Sheridan had “a lot in common,” even though this was before Sheridan had actually “made it” with his award-winning film scripts and the creation of Yellowstone. He never expected, though, to get a call from Sheridan about starring in a TV series. But when he did, he only had to say one thing to get Stallone to say yes.

“Little did I know that four years later I would get a phone call like, hey, remember me slightly? Yeah. How are you doing? You want to play a gangster? I said go no further. Well, do you want to hear the rest of the story? I don’t even care. You say gangster. I’ve wanted to do it my whole life. Bang. Seriously. And that’s how it started,” Stallone told us.

‘Tulsa King’ fans will ‘think they’re looking at a gangster’

Sheridan won’t be the only showrunner for Tulsa King, though. The other is Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, who says that Stallone is essentially playing a version of himself in the new mob drama. 

“Aside from the murder and mayhem, he is that guy,” Winter said. “It was a really easy thing to write for. I had his voice in my head and I knew he could pull this off in a heartbeat. It wasn’t a big stretch acting-wise. He is very imposing, and when you get in that glare, you think you’re looking at a gangster.”

Tulsa King premieres Sunday, November 13 on the Paramount Network before moving exclusively to Paramount+. New episodes will drop every Sunday.