Taylor Sheridan says his toughest pre-Yellowstone film taught him a lesson that wasn’t sexy — but shaped the storyteller he is today.

Before Yellowstone made him the king of cowboy drama, Taylor Sheridan hit some serious bumps in the road. One movie, in particular, nearly broke him, but it also taught him a lesson he’d never forget. And nope, it wasn’t some wild-glam Hollywood moment. It was something far from sexy. But again, that’s exactly what helped him level up.

That tough experience ended up being the creative boot camp he didn’t know he needed. Guess before the ranches and rough riders, TS had to wrangle his own doubts, and that made his Yellowstone rise even more epic.

Taylor Sheridan’s pre-Yellowstone grind with Wind River

Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner star in Wind River | Credits: The Weinstein Company

Before Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan was battling snowstorms, bad luck, and stuck costume trucks. Wind River (his 2017 directorial swing) was anything but smooth.

During a GoldDerby convo with director Peter Berg that aired on May 5, Sheridan pulled back the curtain on his grind, talking about the chaos behind Wind River. Day one was no snow when he needed it. Day two was a full-on blizzard when he begged for sunshine.

Check out his full quotes below:
I shot listed every frame of Wind River, and then, of course, on the first day we had no snow when I desperately needed snow, and on the second day we had a blizzard when I desperately needed sunshine, and I threw the shot list away… I know the movie in my head. I’m going to go out and capture it as best I can, and just what is my obstacle today? Is it weather?
Is it a generator that goes down? Does a camera freeze up? Does the costume truck get stuck on the side of the road? Do I have an actor that doesn’t show up? Do I have an actor that won’t come out of their trailer? What am I dealing with? What is today’s crisis? And then how do we overcome it? I wish it was sexier than that, but that’s what it is for me.
That chaos, though, taught him to pivot. From missing actors to frozen cameras, he treated each day like a new obstacle course. But that mindset carried straight into his Yellowstone universe.

Berg, who is Sheridan’s long-time friend and co-collaborator, chimed in with some serious praise. He said Sheridan was like a caged beast who got hungrier over the years, then exploded with creative energy once the gates finally opened. The conversation then drifted into creative trust and early cuts.

Taylor Sheridan may’ve spent two decades in the shadows, but those hard-won lessons fueled a monster run – Yellowstone, Landman, 1923 – and counting. Sexy or not, it worked.

Taylor Sheridan says Yellowstone makes no sense, and that’s the point

Taylor Sheridan in Yellowstone as Travis | Credits: Paramount Network

Taylor Sheridan dropped a truth bomb: “Yellowstone, which is nonsensical… it’s not trying to [make sense].”

The mastermind behind the Dutton dynasty called his own show a “horse opera” not exactly logical, but undeniably captivating. During the same chat with American Primeval director Peter Berg, Sheridan admitted that while he approached Yellowstone with purpose, it often veered into the wild. Still, he leaned into the chaos and made it work.

That raw, rugged energy stretched into spin-offs like 1883, 1923, and the upcoming Y: Marshals, proving the audience’s appetite for messy Western drama hasn’t died down.

Even if the plot occasionally galloped off track, Sheridan knew what mattered: grit, grandeur, and emotional horsepower. Because let’s face it, no one tunes in for calm prairie vibes.