Taylor Sheridan has managed to enlist some of Hollywood’s top stars for his shows.
Over the years, these have included Kevin Costner (“Yellowstone”), Billy Bob Thornton (“Landman”), Michelle Pfeiffer (“The Madison), Sylvester Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren (“1923”), among others.
However, there are still a few who have yet to join Sheridan’s ever-expanding television universe — a list that includes Chris Rock.
A ‘Yellowstone’ Pitch
In a new interview with Variety, the comedy icon reveals that he’s anxiously awaiting on offer from Sheridan.
“Hey, if Taylor Sheridan’s got a job for me, I will take that job,” Rock quipped. “I could be the Black guy on ‘Yellowstone,’ no problem.”
He continued in that vein by adding, “I could just be the Black guy that owns some land and has like, white slaves — Taylor Sheridan, let’s do the white slavery show! I’m the guy!”
Of course, Rock was joking — although he confirmed he was dead serious about his admiration for Sheridan, particularly his 2016 crime western “Hell or High Water.”
“I love Taylor Sheridan, he makes the best [expletive],” Rock declared.
“Nothing’s better than ‘Hell or High Water,’” he insisted. “Nothing is better.”
‘Hell or High Water’
“Hell or High Water” represents a pivotal moment in Sheridan’s career. At the time, he’d recently made the decision to step away from what had been a middling career as an actor to focus on screenwriting, but had yet to make a mark. “Hell or High Water” proved to be his breakthrough, a critical success that paved the way for “Yellowstone” and the mammoth success that followed.
As Sheridan recalled during an interview coinciding with the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, writing the movie felt like a make-or-break situation for him,
“Me and a baby and a wife had crammed ourselves into this 700-foot apartment off of Sunset Boulevard,” he recalled.
“I’d already written ‘Sicario’ but nobody would touch it with a 10-foot pole,” he continued.
“I didn’t have any money so I’m sitting there trying to write my way out of the situation,” Sheridan added. “With Toby in ‘Hell of High Water,’ you’re talking about a man who feels his poor actions have limited the future of his children, and here I am in this one-bedroom apartment trying to write myself out of it and dealing with those same feelings of failure.”
More ‘Madagascar’
During that same interview, Rock also zeroed in on a screen project that did feature him: the animated 2005 hit “Madagascar” and its sequels.
“I played Marty the zebra in ‘Madagascar,’” he said, confirming it was “probably the biggest movie I’ve ever been in.”
While the film spawned two successful sequels, Rock said that he’s all in for another one.
“We did three of them. I pray to God we do one more in a world where they’re rebooting everything,” he quipped, before offering a hilarious reason why. “Do you understand I got divorced? I don’t have ‘Madagascar’ money anymore,” he joked.
As Rock pointed out, it’s not like there haven’t already been hit animated movies with multiple sequels. “Wasn’t there like a ‘Toy Story 4’ or 5?” Rock asked. “Why can’t we figure this out?”
