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Today, he’s known as the mastermind behind the epicYellowstonefranchise and is a highly respected screenwriter and director with a range of prestigious accolades to his name. However, long before he ever garnered the kind of recognition he does now, for many years,Taylor Sheridanworked as a fairly unknown actor as he gradually made a name for himself in Hollywood. Small roles in shows likeWalker Texas Rangerand even an appearance inStar Trek: Enterprisewere the kind of gigs that decorated his acting credits between the late ’90s and early ’00s.
It seems almost sacrilegious now that, for so many years, ordinary viewers had no idea what an immensely talented writer and director Sheridan actually was. However, that began changing rapidly after he wrote his first feature film, thehighly acclaimedSicario.A Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Original Screenplay followed, and it quickly became apparent that Sheridan was far more than just a TV actor. Now, with the massive success as a writer and director he’s gone on to achieve, it’s easy to forget just how many appearances he actually racked up in his earlier days.
One of those came in the hugely popularCSIfranchise, another TV dynasty that’s now as iconic as Sheridan is forYellowstone.As themulti-talentedstar continues to build his own TV empire, here’s a look back at the lone appearance he once made onCSI: NYand how much his fortunes have changed since.
Taylor Sheridan Made Many TV Appearances in the Early ’00s
The year was 2005, and it would be a full decade before Hollywood and audiences discovered what a prodigious talent Taylor Sheridan actually was. Around this time, he had already appeared in many once-off appearances, playing small parts in many well-known shows likeParty of Five, The Guardian,andNYPD Blue.During thatperiod,police procedurals basedin New York seemed to be working well for him as he followed up his appearance in the latter with a single appearance onCSI: NYa year later.
Every TV Show Created by Taylor Sheridan, Ranked
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Playing a character named Joel Banks, the episode was titled “Supply and Demand” and it aired in January 2006. In it, the CSI team, led by Detective Mac Taylor, who was famously portrayed by Gary Sinise, investigated the murder of a young student in his apartment. Found badly beaten and shot dead, it initially looked like a drug deal gone wrong until the team began piecing things together. The plot thickens when they realize the victim had a female roommate who was missing.It would soon emerge that Taylor Sheridan’s character actually had an important role in the matter.
Taylor Sheridan Was Soon the Main Man of Interest
As the episode went on, although Joel Banks initially did not seem to have much of a connection to the victim’s death, details of his shady activities soon unraveled a different story. In the end, it turned out that Joel was, in fact, the killer. Far from being a businessman who sold handbags, it was discovered that he was actually a drug dealer who had left some of his product in a bag sold to the victim’s roommate. In the end, it’s discovered that Joel Banks sadistically killed the girl’s innocent roommate to send her a message when he couldn’t find her or his missing product.
A pretty gritty role,Taylor Sheridan was great in it and already showed more than enough screen presence to see that a big break wasn’t far off. That break would come a couple of years later when he ended up with recurring roles in shows likeVeronica MarsandSons of Anarchy.However, before that, he also went on to make one more appearance intheCSIuniverse, this time as a character named Evan Peters inCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
He’s Come a Long Way Since ‘CSI’
Having once been confined to one-off TV roles like those, it’s hard to believe just how far Taylor Sheridan has since come. His rise to prominence as a writer and director has been nothing short of meteoric. The 2010s proved to be Sheridan’s decade, and his greatest hits as a writer/director all began after his success withSicarioin 2015. By 2017, after creatingYellowstone,it’s safe to say he’s now cemented himself as one of the mosticonic showrunners of the 21st centuryso far.
Jeff Bridges & Taylor Sheridan’s Western with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes Score Becomes a Streaming Hit
It may be Taylor Sheridan’s most acclaimed script, and Jeff Bridges masters the Western genre in this great streaming hit.
Chief among the long list of insiders, stars, and critics who have praised Sheridan was Kevin Costner. Before the pair suffered theirhighly publicized professional falloutduring the last season ofYellowstone,Costner was known to always speak of Sheridan’s talent in glowing terms.
The people that Taylor admires from a film standpoint, he has a real chance to be better than all of them.
Unfortunately, despite the success both men brought toYellowstoneand the massive franchise that the show spawned, their rift and its consequencesleft the much-anticipated finale a little flat. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that Sheridan has become a tour de force who is now better known for making cameos on his own shows.
Aside from all the acclaim and awards he’s been nominated for and won for theYellowstonefranchise, Sheridan also has many other notable films and TV shows to his name. For instance, he was nominated for every prestigious writing award there is forHell or High Water, including an Academy Award. He’s also the creator, writer, and executive producer of other hit shows likeTulsa KingandLioness.
Differences with his stars aside, it seemsTaylor Sheridan’s fanshave a lot more to look forward to as he’s become known as one of the most prolific showrunners in the industry with a voracious appetite for screenwriting. It’s safe to say his days of playing characters like Joel Banksare long behind him.CSI: NYis streaming onParamount+.
