Jon Bernthal beat Taylor Sheridan to one of the most iconic roles in a popular TV show. In a recent interview, Sheridan claimed that the Spider-Man star took over a “career-changing” role in The Walking Dead. However, the creator also said he was grateful for it, since this helped both of them in different ways.

Before becoming one of the most prominent show creators, Sheridan was an actor. While sitting on a Bill Simmons Podcast episode, the Yellowstone showrunner recalled his audition for The Walking Dead. He said, “I got pretty far down the road on Walking Dead. Bernthal beat me out on that.”

The creator auditioned for the role of the cop, Shane. After giving up on acting, the Yellowstone creator moved on to writing, directing, and producing. The 56-year-old made his writing debut with Sicario in 2015 and then directed Wind River in 2017.

Both of these movies featured the Punisher actor. During the podcast, the American writer mentioned that he thanked Jon for “saving him from acting” by taking on the role. Although the character was killed off after two seasons, earning the part was a breakthrough for Bernthal as well.

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What TV shows has Taylor Sheridan actually starred in?

Although Sheridan is popularly known as the Yellowstone showrunner, he started his career with acting. Some of his famous roles include Deputy David Hale in Sons of Anarchy, Danny Boyd in Veronica Mars, and Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone. His acting credits also include 12 Strong, Hell or High Water, and Special Ops: Lioness.

In 2010, the director had asked the creators of Sons of Anarchy to kill off his recurring character. In an earlier interview, he admitted, “Call it pride or ego or integrity, but I just realized I’ve maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry. So I’m not going to try to do it anymore. And the people who have all the power are the people telling stories, so I’m going to tell my own stories. That’s when I decided that I was going to write.”

Since its 2018 premiere, his show has been one of the most-watched programs on television.