Taylor Sheridan might be one of the most powerful voices in modern television, but even he wasn’t immune to the growing pains of making a hit. In a recent sit-down with longtime friend and American Primevalcollaborator Peter Berg, Sheridan opened up about the creative turbulence behind the scenes of Yellowstone Season 3 — and he didn’t mince words about just how close the show came to falling apart after he briefly stepped away from writing duties.

“They did try to hire a room for Season 3,” Sheridan said, “and the scripts were so bad that they called me back while I was directing this movie in New Mexico with Angie [Jolie], and they said, ‘You’ve got to help us out. The actors won’t go to work. They’re mutinying.’” His solution? “I wrote an episode of Yellowstone every Saturday.”

Let that sink in: Sheridan was directing a feature film while rewriting an entire season of prestige television on weekends. It wasn’t always like this. Sheridan — who first met Berg when the Friday Night Lights director took an early interest in the script that would become Hell or High Water — spent two decades struggling to break through in Hollywood. That stretch of rejection forged his relentless work ethic.

“You take a smart guy with a lot of talent, and then you keep him caged up for 20 years,” Berg joked. “He’s just getting hungrier and hungrier, and then you let him out. The man’s gotta eat.”

For Sheridan, writing isn’t just about hustle — it’s something deeper. “I think it’s divine,” he said. “It’s as close to religion as anything I’ve ever experienced.” He remembered a moment where an idea about Billy Bob Thornton in Landman struck him out of nowhere. “Four-and-a-half hours later I’d written half the script. My wife was standing over me. I wasn’t even aware she was there.”