Top 10 Scene-Stealing Performances in Taylor Sheridan’s Gritty TV Shows

With eight shows under his belt, Taylor Sheridan has created a huge cast of TV characters, and these 10 actors brought them to life in the most spectacular fashion. While the writingof Taylor Sheridan’s many TV shows is the main attraction, the actors who put his writing to the screen are just as important. He understands that, it’s why Sheridan has so many recurring actors in his shows, and why he tries to secure as many A-list movie stars as possible. Even though Sheridan’s shows are truly star-studded, ten performances in them stood out among the rest.

Picking just ten of the hundreds of actors who have brought Taylor Sheridan’s stories to life to consider the best is no easy task. The best actors in Sheridan’s shows all demonstrated a remarkable amount of range, whether its making tragedy believable or being able to get a laugh out of viewers. They all also significantly contributed to and left their marks on their respective shows, to the point where it would be hard to imagine anyone else playing their characters. With that in mind, these 10 actors can be called the best of Taylor Sheridan’s best.

10Wes Bentley – Yellowstone

Bentley Played Jamie Dutton

It’s not always easy to play an easy-to-hate character like Jamie Dutton in Yellowstone, but Wes Bentley is absolutely superb at it. From the very beginning to the end of Yellowstone, Jamie was a delightfully devilish and annoying antagonist. Bentley did a great job of showing how Jamie went from an annoying but ultimately good-intentioned person who just wanted his father’s approval to the outright villain he became by Yellowstone season 5. He also nailed the more emotional parts of Jamie’s story, from meeting his birth father to the panic of dealing with several other crises of his own making.

Where Bentley really shone, however, was in playing a villain. Jamie is so easy to hate, particularly in the later seasons of Yellowstone, and it’s largely because of Bentley’s ability to infuse the character with a smug and overconfident self-satisfaction combined with almost endless cowardice. Every good story needs a good antagonist to rally viewers against, and Bentley was the perfect pick for the part.

9David Oyelowo – Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Oyelowo Played Bass Reeves

Taylor Sheridan didn’t actually write Lawmen: Bass Reeves, though he did work as an executive producer for the show. Sheridan probably signed on for Bass Reeves due to its Western setting and basis in historical fact, but David Oyelowo might have also been a factor. Oyelowo is tremendous as the titular Bass Reeves, and he carried Bass’ journey from slave to legendary lawman. Bass Reeves is one of the more classical Westerns Sheridan has been involved in, and Oyelowo may be the best classical Western hero he’s worked with.

Oyelowo is tremendous as the titular Bass Reeves, and he carried Bass’ journey from slave to legendary lawman.

One of the most impressive parts of David Oyelowo’s performance in Lawmen: Bass Reeves is his ability to act without saying a word. In various standoffs with criminals and other characters, Oyelowo captures the tension of each scene with little more than subtle movements of his brow and eyes. Oyelowo can turn a break in Bass Reeve’s conversation into a silent battle that’s just as thrilling as any of the show’s gunfights, which is utterly impressive.

8Harrison Ford – 1923

Ford Played Jacob Dutton

1923 is unique, even among Taylor Sheridan’s other shows, and it’s partly because of what Harrison Ford brings to the table as Jacob Dutton. As the leader of the Duttons during that era, Jacob has all the worries of the ranch and the budding Livestock Association on his plate, and Ford expertly conveys that. Jacob also has a strange mixture of weariness and fiery determination that Harrison Ford is just superb at displaying, as well as all the other conflicting and complicated parts of his character.

While he is great at conveying Jacob’s weariness and the looming threats he faces, Harrison Ford is also wonderful in more overt bits of acting. Ford has a fire in his belly that lent itself perfectly to Jacob’s fights with Banner Creighton and Donald Whitfield, and he also has a seemingly endless source of tragedy that worked perfectly when Jacob was shot. On top of it all, Ford also has a truly astounding on-screen chemistry with Helen Mirren, Cara’s actress, that gives the cold tone of 1923 quite a bit of warmth.

7Isabel May – 1883

May Played Elsa Dutton

Though there are plenty of actors in multiple Taylor Sheridan shows – Sheridan himself has played four characters in his own shows and movies – only one character has appeared in more than a single show – so far. Isabel May’s Elsa Dutton originated in 1883, but she’s since had voiceover roles in 1923 and Yellowstone, partially because of how well she played the part the first time. Elsa was both the narrator and a central focus of 1883, and May rose to the challenge to embody every part of Elsa, from the stubborn young woman at the start to the fearless warrior woman she became.

Much of 1883‘s emotional impact centers around Elsa Dutton, and Isabel May delivered nearly perfectly. Elsa’s pain is palpable at the deaths of her love interests, her rage is infectious as she fights off attackers, and May’s melancholic narration perfectly sets the tone for 1883 as a whole. In a show that featured Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, Isabel May was still able to carve her own name into stone as one of the best performances in the entire miniseries.

6Sylvester Stallone – Tulsa King

Stallone Played Dwight “The General” Manfredi

Though the show is now run by Terence Winter, Taylor Sheridan still created Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King character, Dwight “The General” Manfredi, and gave him all the pieces to put on a stellar performance. Tulsa King is quite a surprising change of pace for Stallone, who’s best known for action blockbusters like Rambo or The Expendables. The show demands him to play Dwight, an aging gangster with a life full of regrets and a broken family he’s trying to put together again. Dwight is a nuanced and emotionally open character, and Stallone more than rose to the challenge of playing him.

For all his emotional vulnerability, however, Dwight is also a tough and mean gangster, and Sylvester Stallone is perfect for that side of the character as well. When he’s not cracking skulls or delivering thinly-veiled threats, Dwight is also a very humorous character, and Stallone is great at that as well. He even charms an ATF agent into his bed, and Stallone handles every variety of acting Tulsa King demands of him with grace. Tulsa King is built around Sylvester Stallone, and he’s a great foundation.

5Zoe Saldaña – Lioness

Saldaña Played Joe McNamara

Lioness is the most action-heavy of Taylor Sheridan’s shows, but Zoe Saldaña made sure it also had more than enough emotional punch to compete. Saldaña’s Joe McNamara is constantly torn between her family and her country in Lioness, and she ends up getting emotionally ripped in half because of that struggle on more than a few occasions. Saldaña is masterful at playing the many sides of Joe: she’s as fearsome in the heat of a gunfight as she is vulnerable while discussing how her daughters’ lives are passing her by.

Saldaña is masterful at playing the many sides of Joe: she’s as fearsome in the heat of a gunfight as she is vulnerable while discussing how her daughters’ lives are passing her by.

Saldaña really shines with other Lioness characters, however. Whether she’s getting into a heated lover’s quarrel with Neal or getting into a battle of wills with the highest ranking members of the U.S. government and military, Saldaña perfectly plays off her scene partners and gives them everything they need in return. Joe was written as a fascinating character, but it’s due to Saldaña’s acting that she works as a morally gray protagonist.

4Sam Elliott – 1883

Elliott Played Shea Brennan

Sam Elliott was the biggest name involved with 1883, and he proved why with his performance. Elliott plays the serious and tragic Civil War veteran Shea Brennan, and while he isn’t a Dutton, he was an immediate standout. 1883 is arguably some of Sam Elliott’s most vulnerable and real acting in his entire career, and Shea’s pain over the loss of his family is truly infectious. By the end of 1883, Elliott succeeded in making audiences love the gruff old man just before delivering one last sucker punch directly to the heart.

Tragedy alone isn’t enough to beat out all the other fantastic actors in Taylor Sheridan’s shows, however. To do that, Sam Elliott made Shea into one of the most nuanced and complicated characters in the Sheridanverse. Throughout 1883, Shea’s trauma and deep melancholy seeps through every scene, even when he’s fiercely fighting off bandits. There’s always a very thin layer of grit separating Shea from a complete breakdown, and Elliott was a master of displaying just how close he was to falling apart completely. Shea’s mental state is almost as suspenseful as the wagon train’s journey itself, and it’s due to Elliott’s acting.

3Helen Mirren – 1923

Mirren Played Cara Dutton

Though Jacob runs the ranch in 1923, Helen Mirren’s Cara Dutton is what really ties the whole show together. 1923 is a very somber series, especially compared to the action-heavy shows Sheridan has written, like Lioness. It could easily have been too bleak if it weren’t for Mirren and her tremendous acting, which turned even 1923‘s most tragic scenes into must-watch drama. Whether it was watching her fuss over the dying Jacob or single-handedly burying her own family, Mirren was stellar at showing the more devastating side of the Dutton family’s history.

There isn’t a single emotional beat that Mirren misses throughout 1923, and the show would be much less remarkable without her.

Another notable feature of Helen Mirren’s acting in 1923 is the chemistry she seems to have with every other character. Jacob and Cara have a legendary dynamic between them, but Mirren was able to perfectly mesh with every other member of 1923‘s cast as well. She’s effortlessly decisive while talking to the livestock association, endlessly maternal and stern while talking to Jack, and beautifully caring and hopeful while wishing for Spencer to return. There isn’t a single emotional beat that Mirren misses throughout 1923, and the show would be much less remarkable without her.

2Billy Bob Thornton – Landman

Thornton Played Tommy Norris

Taylor Sheridan’s most recent show, Landman, also featured one of the best performances seen in his shows. Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as Tommy Norris in Landman was probably the most varied and compelling piece of acting any of Sheridan’s main protagonists have ever delivered. Landman relied on Tommy to provide the show’s sarcastic comedic relief, be the emotional core of the story of the Norris family trying to reconnect, and convey the stress and pressure of the oil industry, and Thornton excelled in every area.

The most impressive part of Billy Bob Thornton’s Landman performance is just how gracefully he could switch between each duty he had to fulfill. In the same scene, Tommy could go from screaming in blind rage to delivering backhanded insults and hilarious one-liners to tugging at the heart strings while talking to Ainsley (Michelle Randolph). For most actors, switching between so many different tones simply wouldn’t work, but Thornton proved he’s a master at it. No one else could have played Tommy Norris, at least not as well as Billy Bob Thornton did.

1Kelly Reilly – Yellowstone

Reilly Played Beth Dutton

The best actor in Taylor Sheridan’s shows has to be Kelly Reilly, who played Beth Dutton in Yellowstone. The clearest proof of why Reilly’s performance was so iconic is how iconic Beth has become. From Beth’s best quotes in Yellowstone to the upcoming Beth and Rip Wheeler spinoff, the character is almost as popular as the show she originated from. Almost everyone who watched Yellowstone enjoyed Beth, and she’s one of the most likable characters in Yellowstone. It’s hard to imagine Yellowstone being the television juggernaut it is without Beth and Reilly playing her.

Kelly Reilly isn’t the best actor in the Sheridanverse because Beth is likable, though, she’s the best because she made Beth so incredibly layered. Beth often makes bad decisions, she’s often cruel and headstrong, and she often causes more problems than she solves, but Reilly’s acting is so genuine that each decision Beth makes feels like a new part of the character instead of a conflicting choice. Beth feels like a real and endlessly interesting person, and it’s because Reilly fully leaned into the role, warts and all. Though she had tough competition, Kelly Reilly is the best actor in Taylor Sheridan‘s shows.