How Sons of Anarchy inspired Taylor Sheridan‘s Westerns is a story of creative transformation, industry ambition, and unexpected influence. Decades before Yellowstone redefined the TV Western, Taylor Sheridan’s time acting on the gritty biker saga became the unexpected catalyst for his career shift, leaving a permanent mark on his writing and the worlds he would later create for television.
Taylor Sheridan’s Beginnings: From SAMCRO to the Old West
Long before Taylor Sheridan became a creative powerhouse in Hollywood, helming the likes of Yellowstone, 1883, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves, he occupied a far humbler place in the television hierarchy. As Deputy Chief David Hale on Sons of Anarchy, Sheridan found himself at the periphery of the violent and twist-filled world of SAMCRO—the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original. Set in Charming, a fictional California town, the biker series was created by Kurt Sutter and chronicled outlaw life, power struggles, and conflicting visions of law and order.
Sheridan’s character, Hale, was among the few honest officers trying to maintain order in Charming. Surrounded by powerful figures such as Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), Hale’s mission was to keep his town safe without compromising its unique spirit. He was neither a full antagonist nor a typical hero, walking an uneasy line between serving the law and respecting local loyalties. This sense of moral ambiguity and conflict—a man torn between professional duty and personal ethics—would later become central to Sheridan’s signature style as a writer and showrunner.
Although his tenure as Hale was relatively brief, spanning 21 episodes mostly across supporting storylines, the experience would have a profound impact. Sheridan had no creative control on Sons of Anarchy; his job was purely to act. But the world he inhabited there—the tense power dynamic, codes of honor, and blurred lines between right and wrong—seeded themes he would explore on a much grander scale in his own shows.
How Sons of Anarchy Served as a Catalyst for Sheridan’s Writing Career
Sheridan’s true departure from acting happened with sudden force. In the opening episode of Sons of Anarchy’s third season, Hale’s life was violently cut short—a narrative decision made by the show‘s writers, with no input from Sheridan himself. This abrupt end, combined with the realities of working as a mid-level television actor in Los Angeles, proved pivotal. Sheridan has openly discussed how his salary as David Hale barely covered his living expenses, and how he had little say over his character‘s fate.
Faced with the limits of minor roles and creative frustration, Sheridan decided to step away from acting altogether. Sons of Anarchy, rather than keeping him tethered to television’s supporting class, gave him the nudge to take a bold leap behind the camera. No longer content to have his career dictated by others, he redirected his energy into writing and producing—an arena where he could finally claim creative authorship and determine the stories that would be told.
This career swerve quickly bore fruit. Sheridan’s script for Sicario, released in 2015, earned him widespread acclaim, showcasing his knack for tension, character, and complex morality. Just two years after his feature film breakthrough, Sheridan launched Yellowstone on Paramount Network in 2018, forever changing the face of the modern Western on television. Had it not been for the push—and the lessons—of his time with Sons of Anarchy, it’s unlikely Sheridan’s Western empire would exist in its current form.
Parallels Between Sons of Anarchy and Yellowstone: Loyalty and Power Redefined
It is easy to see why viewers might underestimate the link between a show about outlaw bikers and a drama about wealthy ranchers. Yet, beneath the surface, the similarities deeply inform Sheridan’s storytelling ethos. Sons of Anarchy and Yellowstone both immerse audiences in close-knit families—families that function more like empires than households, bonded by loyalty, legacy, and a willingness to use violence to protect their domain.
For example, the Dutton family’s control of their sprawling Montana ranch in Yellowstone mirrors SAMCRO’s grip on Charming. John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, exerts the same calculated authority and ruthlessness that Ron Perlman’s Clay Morrow once used to guide the motorcycle club. Both men lead with a blend of strategic pragmatism and unyielding devotion to their own code.
The resonance continues with characters like Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), who demonstrates the unnerving, protective instincts that Katey Sagal’s Gemma Teller embodied in Sons of Anarchy. Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) is another parallel, akin to Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst), a fiercely loyal figure shaped—sometimes twisted—by trauma and unbreakable duty.
Sheridan’s time as David Hale, where he had limited agency, is reflected in his written characters’ fierce need for control over their destinies. The same dramatic struggles—the cost of wielding power, the fragility of family bonds, and the toll of violence—are woven through both shows, demonstrating the profound influence Sons of Anarchy had on Sheridan’s evolution as a creator.
The Enduring Impact: Sheridan’s Western Saga and Its Roots in Biker Drama
Today, shows like Yellowstone and its spin-offs thrive not just on cowboy hats and dusty landscapes, but on the kind of emotional complexity and high-stakes conflict that made Sons of Anarchy a touchstone of early 21st-century drama. Rather than simply trading motorcycles for horses, Sheridan constructed a new American mythos, but one that owes vital debt to the themes, tone, and lessons of his earlier experience with outlaw bikers and the trials of Deputy Chief Hale.
This ongoing influence points to a bigger trend in modern television: how the lessons learned in one genre or setting can echo far beyond their modest beginnings. For Sheridan, the frustrations and disappointments of playing a supporting cop in a world dominated by bigger personalities fueled his ascent to creative prominence—a place where he crafts his own stories, packed with the intensity, moral ambiguity, and conflicted loyalties that first captured viewers in Sons of Anarchy.
As Yellowstone continues to command attention and Sheridan expands his legacy with each new project, the surprising connection between biker outlaws and ranching dynasties remains a testament to the unpredictable and transformative paths that shape Hollywood’s most successful storytellers.
