Yellowstone Creator Taylor Sheridan's Acting Debut Was On Walker, Texas Ranger

Over two decades before founding the "Yellowstone" TV universe and penning other popular shows like "Lioness" and "Landman," Taylor Sheridan fittingly got his start as an actor in a Western series.

His first professional role came in the Chuck Norris-led show "Walker, Texas Ranger," which aired nine seasons on CBS from 1993 to 2001 and prompted a reboot called "Walker" from 2021 to 2024. Sheridan landed a gig in the Season 3 episode "War Zone," in which Cordell Walker (Norris) and his squad of Texas Rangers investigate violent bank robberies committed by a group of men dressed as clowns. Sheridan appears at the beginning of the episode as Vernon, a local drag racer engaged in a car chase with Walker.

Although his screen time is brief, Sheridan conveys the daring attitude one would expect from a reckless speed racer on the run from the cops. Moreover, Sheridan got an early taste of the Western genre, which propelled his subsequent endeavors in Hollywood.

A widely recognized martial arts star-turned-TV actor, Chuck Norris died earlier in 2026 at age 86. In the wake of Norris' passing, Taylor Sheridan took the opportunity to describe what it meant to share the screen with him during his first Hollywood acting job. "I met Chuck on my first acting job. He remains one of the kindest and humblest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with," Sheridan told People in a statement.

The "Wind River" writer-director previously shared a story about Norris quarreling with someone much bigger than him on the set of "Walker, Texas Ranger," revealing that the star actually lived up to his reputation. "You know all the Chuck Norris jokes? He actually does just beat up people with his fists," Sheridan said in a 2019 interview with The New York Times. 

Sheridan went on to write acclaimed contemporary Western movies like 2015's "Sicario" and 2016's "Hell or High Water" before serving as the showrunner for staples of the genre on TV. Given that "Walker, Texas Ranger" was a memorable experience for Sheridan, it's easy to see why he had so much success with "Yellowstone" and other projects.