Sylvester Stallone sets the record straight on how Samuel L. Jackson entered the world of… tulsa king, and it turns out Stallone had nothing to do with bringing him in.
Stallone said exclusively ahead of the show’s Season 3 premiere that Jackson was the one who pushed for the role.
“He was the aggressor. He wanted to do it so bad,” Stallone said, explaining that Jackson went straight to the producer, who then approached him about it.
Stallone described Jackson’s presence on set with obvious admiration, saying the actor “walks onto set with complete confidence” and carries a “certain swagger.”
He added that working together felt like a showdown in the best way, joking, “I feel like, here it comes, in the middle of the day. It’s going to be a shootout between the two of us. He’s bringing out the best.”
For Stallone, that kind of energy is what makes acting exciting. He said there may be “a little intimidation” at first, but once things get moving, “after the first blow is thrown, you’re in it.”
Jackson appeared as Russell Lee Washington Jr. in the penultimate episode of season 3, Dead weightwhich premiered on November 16 and essentially set up its own spin-off, Nola King.
The episode revealed Russell as a top-level assassin hired to take out Stallone’s character, Dwight Manfredi. But when Russell arrives in Tulsa, it becomes clear that he is giving Dwight a professional courtesy warning, as the two men go way back.
Dwight quickly catches on to Russell’s improbable itinerary, calling it a “messed up road map,” and their conversation reveals that Russell isn’t fully committed to the task.
As the episode unfolds, the two team up to take on other hitmen in Tulsa. But the real threat ultimately is Vince, who arrives from New York and sends the story straight to the season finale.
Jackson’s journey through the Sheridan universe doesn’t end in Tulsa. In June it was announced that he will take charge Nola Kinga spin-off in which Russell returns to New Orleans after more than forty years.
According to the show’s official logline, Russell returns home inspired by what Dwight built in Tulsa and ready to regain control of the city he left behind, but this brings him into conflict with powerful enemies in both New York and New Orleans.
Jackson said earlier this year that he’s excited to be part of Taylor Sheridan’s growing TV world and said he’s seen many of Sheridan’s shows himself. “I looked Tulsa Kingand I liked it even before that idea came up,” he said.
The Tulsa King The season 3 finale will be released on November 23 on Paramount+.
