The prolific writer-producer will deliver the keynote address at The University of Texas at Austin’s 142nd Commencement Ceremony.
Taylor Sheridan, the prolific Yellowstone writer-producer often credited with creating his very own TV universe, will deliver the keynote address at The University of Texas at Austin’s 142nd Commencement Ceremony on May 10. The ceremony, which UT Austin officials expect to draw more than 50,000 attendees, will be held at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on the university campus.
“As a native Texan and a visionary storyteller,” said UT Austin interim President Jim Davis, “Taylor Sheridan has redefined the modern western genre while remaining deeply connected to the spirit and resilience of our great state.
“His journey to the top of the entertainment field is a testament to the power of hard work, creativity and staying true to one’s roots — values that resonate deeply with Longhorn Nation. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Forty Acres as this year’s ceremony speaker.”
“It’s a tremendous honor to be invited to speak at the UT Austin commencement,” Sheridan said in a prepared statement. “This university has long been known to champion excellence, integrity and bold ideas, and I’m excited to celebrate the Class of 2025 as they step into the next chapter of their lives.”
Sheridan, a former actor best known for his continuing role in the TV series Sons of Anarchy, made his debut as a writer/director with Wind River. The C&I Movie Award-winning drama earned Sheridan Best Director honors in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
He previously wrote Sicario (2015), the acclaimed action crime thriller starring Emily Blunt, Benicio De Toro and Josh Brolin, and Hell or High Water (2016), which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
“I think the thing that really changed my perspective on my career,” Sheridan told C&I in a January 2021 cover story profile, “was getting married and having a child. And then, really thinking about how I am going to raise that child. And if that child is going to look up to me, what is he looking up to me for? It made me reflect on my career very deeply.
“Also, I wanted to tell stories that mattered to me, and not tell other people’s stories. I wanted to tell stories about my life and the lifestyle that I grew up in, and the world that I came from. So people could understand where I come from, and understand the value of the upbringing that I had. That’s why I quit acting. That’s when I started telling those stories that I felt mattered to me.”
It proved to be a highly successful transition.
“Yeah, I’d been banging my head against the wall as an actor for 15 years,” Sheridan told C&I, “but I didn’t have to bang my head very much as a writer. There were challenges, of course. But the business of Hollywood is such that they were very ready for the stories that I was telling. I don’t think you could have gotten Sicario made five years before or five year after. But I happened to write that at a time when there was an appetite for it. The same goes for Hell or High Water. Once I sold that story, it didn’t stress me much that I wouldn’t be able to tell whatever I wanted.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Sheridan added. “Everything I’ve ever made, we’ve shot the first draft of it. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve been noted to death by a network or a studio. And so, that freedom to sit down and just dream it up is a habit. And it’s a habit that I embrace, and try to feed as much as I can.”
In 2018, Sheridan turned back to television — this time as a writer-producer — with Yellowstone, the phenomenally popular serialized drama that he co-created with John Linn. He followed that up with two well-regarded Yellowstone prequels: 1883 (2021-22), which earned a Screen Actors Guild award for star Sam Elliott, and 1923, which is set to conclude its two-season run with a supersized season finale episode April 6.
Other highly rated series bearing the Taylor Sheridan brand: Landman (which recently began production on Season 2 in Texas), Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, and Lioness. Sheridan’s latest series, The Madison starring Michelle Pfeiffer, is slated to premiere later this year on Paramount+.
Another Yellowstone spinoff, not yet titled, reportedly is in the works, with Yellowstone alumni Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly reprising their roles from the original series. Another Yellowstone vet, Luke Grimes, may be returning next season as Kayce Dutton in a “procedural series” being considered by CBS.
