Tulsa King, the hit Paramount+ series from creator Taylor Sheridan and head writer Terence Winter, is currently in the midst of its second season. The ongoing saga of Dwight “The General” Manfredi sees the erstwhile New York gangster establishing his own criminal empire in Tulsa, Oklahoma, all while trying to reconnect with his daughter, Tina.
Sylvester Stallone stars as Manfredi, while his daughter is played by Tatiana Zappardino, a sketch comedy veteran and actress who has made appearances on TV shows such as This Is Us and NCIS: New Orleans. She first appeared in Tulsa King as a recurring figure in its debut season before getting promoted to a series regular in the current batch of episodes.
Screen Rant interviewed Zappardino about her role in Tulsa King and her larger career. She talks about working opposite Stallone and their unique chemistry together, and only half-jokingly laments her character’s lack of action sequences compared to most of her co-stars. Finally, she dishes on her days in a sketch comedy troupe and how, if she wanted a juicy role, she’d have to write it herself.
Tulsa King’s Tatiana Zappardino on Sharing the Screen with Sylvester Stallone
“I think I’m the only character who can get away with calling him out on his s–t.”
Screen Rant: I’ve talked to Terence Winter about this a little bit, the Stallone of it all. Maybe it’s just my fandom, but I sense that, on some level, he doesn’t have the same vanity that you would expect from the guy who made Rocky, you know?
Tatiana Zappardino Oh, 100%. I mean, of course, all men have a little bit of ego, right, but when I met, when I met Stallone, I noticed right away, he’s very good at making other people feel comfortable around him. You know, he doesn’t do the separation of, like, “I’m up here and you’re down here.” He was very open to me right away. He would just talk to me on a very comforting level and he was open to discussions about our relationship in the show. And, yeah, I think he’s great.
I don’t think he’s like anything I would have expected at that level. When you’re a superstar for 50 years, you’re the old school superstar. Back then, you could get away with everything. But he’s just not like that. That’s why his career has been so long, because he’s just a good person. And I think that’s what the longevity comes from. He’s just sincere and he’s himself 100% of the time. He doesn’t put on a face. You know, he doesn’t like act one way with you and another with them. He’s just authentically himself because I don’t think he has time for that. He’s also older. He’s like, I don’t care anymore. I’m just gonna be me. I don’t think he plays “the game,” which is great.
And he’s playing older, which is another part of that. There’s a lot of guys in their 60s and 70s who are still trying to play 40s and 50s. And that comes across in your character. You’re not a little girl. You’re not, you know, going to high school. You know, you’re an adult woman with your own kids, and you’re the only character, I think, who doesn’t have that spectrum of fear and respect that everyone has towards the boss. I feel like you cut through that entirely.
Tatiana Zappardino: I agree. I say it all the time, I think I’m the only character who can get away with calling him out on his s–t. If anyone else did it, they’d get a pole to the face. But when Tina does it, it’s like, oh, okay. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should look at that, you know? She’s kind of his Achilles’ heel in that sense, you know?
You have a lot of one-on-one scenes with Dwight where he doesn’t have his entourage around him. Tell me about, you know, getting to the vulnerable part of Dwight.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s funny because it’s both sides of the coin where I think it’s so cool that I get one-on-one scenes with him, right? Like you said, not everyone does, so it’s like, the majority of the time, I’m doing scenes with him. And I love it! However, I also feel like I’m disconnected from his other world, and I think that’s the bad side of the coin. I’m not part of the gang. They all get to go to parties. I’m not invited. Why? It’s like he wants to keep that separation and almost keep me to himself. And as Tina, I mean, I think right now she’s accepting it, but I don’t think she’s going to like it for too long. I think she’s a very strong, independent woman. She’s like, no, I need to be a part of something. I’m not living at the house all day.
But when I did do scenes with Sly, I will say he’s very receptive to, like, if I have an idea. If I have the thought of changing this for like a button here or something like that, and he would riff a lot. He loved riffing with me. Apparently, he didn’t do that with other people. I would ask them, like, “Hey, does he improv with you a lot?” And they’re like, no, he never does. But I love improv. He would throw something and I’d be like, blah, blah, blah, and give it back to him, and he’d be like, “Man, that was good. Yeah, yeah, do that. Keep that.” I’m like, yeah, cool, cool. So, I love doing scenes with him because when he’s not on set and I’m doing a scene with someone else, I mean, the director of the day is usually like, “Stick to the script!” And I’m like, sorry. Okay. I know.
We gotta, you know, give homage to Terence Winter, he’s a brilliant writer. But sometimes something just comes out, and you can’t hold it in. It comes out naturally. And it’s not like they have to use that take, you know. But with Sly, because he’s executive producer, writer, whatever, all this stuff, I have a little bit more freedom with him where he lets me be a little more flexible. And obviously, we still stick to the script, but we can throw in buttons here and there. And I love doing props. I’m always adding props in my scene and he’s like, great. That’s awesome. Love it.
It’s great working with him because he doesn’t try to control the situation. He lets actors bring alive the scene and add to it. You don’t get that everywhere. Some actors, like, big time actors are like, “What are you doing? You’re messing me up.” It’s about me, me, me. But for him, it’s like, oh, let’s all like kind of find a way to make this all work together. So it’s great.
This season, you’ve brought in backup in the form of Annabella Sciorra, she plays your aunt, she is fantastic. Tell me a little bit about the dynamic of not having your own ‘family,’ so to speak, but in bringing in someone else who can talk to Dwight in that kind of way.
Tatiana Zappardino: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Annabelle is amazing. She’s probably somebody I’m closest with on set. I think she’s a wonderful person, wonderful actress. But yeah, bringing her in, she and Dwight obviously have that brother-sister kinship where they can kind of talk s–t to each other. And she understands him more. I think Tina’s trying to understand him or wants him to be something that maybe he isn’t. But, you know, Aunt Joanne was there since they were kids. They grew up together. So she knows him.
I think that’s where the different dynamic is. She has to be the buffer between us sometimes, explaining to Tina what Dwight is doing or saying or his reasons for something, because Tina doesn’t always understand because of that separation, because she didn’t grow up with him. He’s almost a stranger to her. So I think, yeah, that’s kind of what her purpose is, bridging the gap between them.
Tatiana Zappardino on her Audition for Tulsa King and the Lore of Her Character
“Whether he was there or not, she grew up around gangsters”
So let’s go back in time. Was it like, oh, audition for this, it’s a spot on the show, but it’s kind of a pivotal character, so who knows, maybe you’ll get to be in more episodes? Or was it like, this is going to be a couple episodes in season one, but then after that, your name’s in the credits?
Tatiana Zappardino: You know what? I think I had an instinct from the beginning that I was going to be important because, after my audition, Sly personally FaceTimed me and told me how important this character was to the season and to the show, because I’m his heart. It makes the bad guy likable by having somebody he cares about, somebody he fights for. When he told me that, I was like, oh, and I’m your only child! Okay. So, right then and there, I mean, I’m a mother, so I get it.
The child is everything to you, no matter how many bad things you do in life, they’re your compass pointing north, right? So, I kind of knew from the beginning, I just started late in the season. They didn’t put me into the story until later, but I kind of had a feeling that I was going to be a pivotal character for however long the show runs for (crosses fingers). Yeah, I kind of knew. But, of course, you never really know, they could just be like, it’s too much money, or she sucked on screen, there’s no chemistry, and then they’ll just switch. They can always change stuff. You see shows all the time where like, you love a character and they kill them off and later on you learn, there were contract issues. So you can never really know… But I knew.
I imagine that’s prevalent on gangster shows or zombie shows where it’s like, hey, you know, just one wrong move and your guy will catch a bullet!
Tatiana Zappardino: Anyone can get shot in a show like this, for sure. But at the same time, even shows like Grey’s Anatomy, everyone dies all the time! (Laughs)
Yeah, there’s so many shootouts and bombs and plane crashes in that hospital… They need more security guards.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s a pretty dangerous hospital! I’m like, you guys, you have a track record of like 90% of your staff dying, something’s wrong. That’s not good.
I have like a lore and character question. I don’t know how much you can answer, how much might be explored later on in the season. But Tina’s first or second episode, you know, ends with the, depending on who you ask, fantastic murder of the guy who sexually assaulted you.
Tatiana Zappardino: We’re talking about season one, Nico, yeah.
After that, how fully aware is Tina of the lengths to which her father went? And is she horrified or grateful or some combination of like, oh, that’s my dad, he did that?
Tatiana Zappardino: I think that she took full responsibility for Nico’s death. Like, oh my God, he only died because I said something. So I think she’s not even thinking about him because she just, she should have known that that is Dwight’s behavior. You know what I mean? And she knew what he would do. Dwight can’t hide from her. Like, she did grow up in this family. Whether he was there or not, she grew up around gangsters.
She’s not naive, especially at this age. She’s not naive enough to think, oh, what did you do? Did you guys, you know, thumb wrestle? No, like, she knew he was dead, right? And then, she’s the person in the show with the conscience, so she’s like the bearer of guilt of, oh my gosh, his death is on me. Like, it’s not even Dwight’s fault. He is the scorpion on the turtle’s back. It’s Tina. I killed Nico. And I think that’s what was overwhelming for her.
Do you think maybe, it’s overwhelming, but is there a power that comes from that? Or is it just sheer regret, like, never again? Like I can’t communicate with my father in this way at all.
Tatiana Zappardino: You know, since that episode of like being open about what was going on, it seems like Tina hasn’t really opened up to him as much. It seems like she has kind of created this barrier around herself, you see in one of the more recent episodes, he wanted to talk to her and she’s like, “No, we’ll talk later. I have nothing to say to you. I don’t even want to discuss it.” I think it was episode one. Yeah, when he got out on bail. Right. He almost doesn’t want to bring stuff up anymore.
That’s interesting.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s interesting too, because originally there was a scene that was cut from episode one, where her and him have a big discussion, right? Like she’s upset about it. Like what the f*** is happening? And they cut it. So honestly, probably made a more stable character for her where she does create these barriers now, where she’s, like, I’m not going to talk to him on that level because he is a loose cannon. I can’t really rely on him right now, but he’s also my father and I want to be part of his life. So I think she’s kind of doing this right now.
She’s good at compartmentalizing.
Tatiana Zappardino: She’s compartmentalizing. She hasn’t told him anything since then. She’s been having struggles with her husband, but she won’t even talk to him about it.
Right, because who knows what he’ll do. Or rather, she does.
Tatiana Zappardino: Exactly. I’m not even going to mention my issues with you because I don’t think I can trust you with that information.
That’s really fascinating, just the way we communicate with people who we know. And it’s like, we love them, but we can’t talk to them about certain things because they’re just on a different level that’s just incompatible.
Tatiana Zappardino: Oh, yeah. I definitely have those family members, where’s no reason to tell somebody who can’t carry the weight of your frustrations. Just keep it to yourself.
Tatiana Zappardino On Her Sketch Comedy Past and Ambitions For The Future
“You told me to write something! I wrote it! And I can’t even be in it?!”
The dynamic between Tina and Dwight is so fantastic. I love the way you talk about it. For the next phase of your career, tell me about what are your ambitions? What are the kind of things that you want to do? Do you want to be a movie star? Do you want to have your own show? Do you want to write and direct? The world is your oyster, what do you want to do with it?
Tatiana Zappardino: You know, it’s funny. My goals changed throughout your life, right? Like my goal when I was young was SNL, 100%. But then as I grew older, I was like, you know what, I don’t want to be limited to SNL. I love SNL, but maybe I could just be a host one day, right? I’ve been on TV a bunch, but I’ve never done a movie, ever. And I want to be in a movie, but it’s so much harder to get a movie. So I’m really hoping this show is a step towards being in movie, that’s kind of one of my goals. But for my long-term goal, I love writing. I am actually working on two scripts right now: a feature film and a pilot for a miniseries. And I want to produce and film those. This is a tangent, but I was part of a comedy sketch group back in 2016, 2015 or so. And it was mainly men. And for some reason, my life hasn’t changed much, right? (Laughs)
Heh, I suppose not!
But it was mainly men and they would keep casting me in the role of the hot cheerleader, the sexy nurse, you know, like, all this kind of stuff was like, really crappy roles in the sketches. And I was like, No, I want to be the mad scientist. And they were like, no, that’s a guy. I’m like, where does it say in the script that he stands up to pee, right? Like, there’s no there’s no reason the mad scientist needs to be a man, I can play it. And they’re like, hey, if you want a funny role, write it. I was like, cool. So I wrote this awesome script is one of my first sketches, and it was Color Neutral Christmas. There’s a choir and we’re preparing for like a holiday musical. And we’re singing White Christmas. And every like, every time we try, there’s one person who stops the song and goes, “No, no, no, I’m sorry, but I just don’t know why it has to be white, right?”
Then we keep changing the song over and over. It’s like, “Whoa, if you’re hearing sleigh bells, that’s like really offensive to people who can’t hear.” So it keeps changing, and the song no longer makes sense by the end. And I was so excited about the script. Everyone loved it. And they’re like, we think that it should be a group of all male choir singers, because guys complaining about this stuff is a lot funnier than a woman complaining about it. That’s just normal.
That’s a horrible rationale!
Tatiana Zappardino: You told me to write something! I wrote it! And I can’t even be in it?! I was like, fine, but I’m the choir director. Fine! I let it go. But that’s gonna be my thing. People always say, write your own roles. Fine. The roles that I do get, sometimes, aren’t exactly artistically fulfilling. So I write scripts where there are really strong female leads, or women who go through difficult things. And I’m like, there ya go, I’m gonna play that. So that’s kind of my, my goal in the future is to produce and, and, and make films where I get to show my acting chops outside of things that I get cast in.
That’s perfect. I mean, that kind of reminds me a little bit of, you know, Stallone always getting cast as the heavy and then having to write Rocky so he could be the leading man, right?
Tatiana Zappardino: Totally. I feel like, when I met Sly, I literally thought he was like my dad. He’s very similar to him. My dad passed, but it’s just like, we connected right away. I was like, Oh my God, it feels like I’m talking to my dad, you know, like, I feel a kinship with him. And we’re very connected. And, you know, I feel I feel very similar to him. It’s so funny, when I did my audition, I had a bunch of posters all over my wall. And there was one poster, like, you know, it was a quote from Rocky Balboa, where it’s like, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows,” or whatever it is, a big ol’ quote. And I never thought about it. I was like, whatever, I just put it up there. And then when I did the audition, I looked over and thought, Oh my gosh, did I manifest working with him? And I started like putting posters of like, all my favorite actors, and I’m like, let’s go.
Well, whatever you do next. I hope to talk to you for that. And, you know, I hope we get to do this again for season three. And onward and onward until forever. Until you’re sick of the show!
Tatiana Zappardino: Oh my gosh.
Until you’re like, I’m sick of all these gangster guys!
Tatiana Zappardino: I will say one thing, if I don’t become a gangster soon, I will be sick of the show. I can’t be the stay-at-home mom anymore. That’s my real life. Like, I don’t need that.
What’s it going to take for her to get her hands dirty?
Tatiana Zappardino: That, I don’t know. (Laughs) I don’t know. Maybe if the audience demands it. If they say, “We need to see Tina shoot some faces off.” I think that’s what’s needed. Everyone needs to stand in front of the White House and demand Tina become a gangster. I think that’s the only way it’s going to happen.