The arrival of Tulsa King Season 2 means that viewers can learn more about Tyson Mitchell, the energetic former taxi driver played by Jay Will. Tyson was an attention-grabbing character from the moment he ran into Dwight Manfredi at the airport, and audiences have watched him turn into Dwight’s loyal right-hand man. But how much further into organized crime will Tyson venture as the Paramount+ show returns?
CBR spoke with Jay Will ahead of the Tulsa King Season 2 premiere to discuss his excitement about diving further into Tyson’s character. He revealed the one aspect of Tyson’s story arc that he’s particularly thrilled about in the new episodes. Plus, he reflected on working with Michael Beach and Sylvester Stallone — and the one actor he’d like to have more scenes with.
When you found out that there was going to be a Tulsa King Season 2, what was one thing about Tyson or around him that you wanted to explore further?
Jay Will: I was really interested in developing the relationship between Tyson and his father — exploring that dynamic of this father and son relationship from this different community, and it being integrated in this whole different mob lifestyle. The dilemma of going back and forth, this push and pull. I wanted to go further with the arc of that story… Once I got the script and I saw that things get spicy between Tyson and his father, I was pretty excited to explore [the] possibilities for that.
Tyson has had a pretty fast-paced character arc. He went from being a taxi driver in the first episode, to now firmly entrenched in the Manfredi crew. Has your perception of the character expanded as he’s changed so much?
It’s like when somebody reveals to you they’re angry after you commit to them in a relationship. You’re like oh, wait, this has always been you the whole time. You just weren’t in the right situations to reveal that layer of yourself. [It’s the] same thing with Tyson. Once he got in those high, tense rooms of seeing people getting shot, seeing people negotiate [with] a lot of money, seeing all of this gangster lifestyle, it wasn’t hard for him to be consumed in that. To decide that’s what he wants to do.
I think it was more of a subconscious consequence, based off of the desires that he had pertaining to the evolution of himself. He wanted to be this big shot, big baller, and he met up with this baller out in the Midwest. He saw that as a reflection of his [desires] and took that direction… I really felt the excitement of just the spontaneity of the character shift. You never know if it’s going to go this way or that way, but overall, I think it’s all in him. I don’t think that Dwight would have chosen Tyson to be so close in proximity to the muck if he didn’t believe that he had it in him to possibly take over the whole family one day.
Terence Winter told CBR that there’s a lot more to do with Tyson in Season 2. What can audiences look forward to for your character in the new episodes?
The cause is in the first three episodes; the effect is in the last seven episodes. I’ll even say the cause is in Season 1; everything prior to it is [an] accumulation of the present consequences. I’m excited to see the reaction — the twists and turns, the effects of the decisions that were made [in] wanting to survive, wanting to go higher in rank. It’s all a power game. But again, the dynamic between Tyson and his father, I think that’s something that every viewer should examine… and expect a surprise in that part of it.
I’m really interested to see how people perceive the dynamic of Tyson and his father. I really want to know by the end of the season: is Tyson a bad guy? The course that Tyson takes, and the twists and turns of that, I’m interested to know if people will perceive that as bad or good. I put a lot of work in and try to humanize each character that I play, to make it reasonable and make it so everybody can be like, “That is kind of crazy, but they did do that one thing, and I can respond a certain way. I get that response.” If I can get that out of everybody, I think we all can be connected somehow.
Tyson’s father is played by Michael Beach, whom Taylor Sheridan fans know from playing Kareem Moore until he was killed off in the Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 finale. What has it been like working with him and the experience he brings to the table?
It was cool to work with him, because of his eagerness jump in and try new stuff. He always came in so prepared. He had these super-long monologues, which is kind of rare for film. He would come in word-perfect for it — ready and willing to immerse himself into the scene. He was just a good scene partner. It felt real. It felt fatherly. I felt this father figure energy from him a lot. So I’m grateful to have him as a scene partner.
So many of your scenes are naturally with him or with Sylvester Stallone as Dwight; is there anyone in the cast that you’d like to work with more often? Any other character dynamics you want to explore?
I checked off all my marks. [Laughs.] The fact that I’m working with the big man… I’m glad that I’m working with him. He taught me a lot when it comes to devoting yourself to the situation in the scene… Immerse yourself into the stakes of the story.
I would watch Denzel [Washington] a lot, as like my highlight reel, just to see the nuances. And I was in there trying to be cool, saying all these things with the wit, and all these actor things. [Stallone] goes, just give me your eyes. Stare at me. Look at me with your eyes and say exactly what you mean, right here, right now. I did that for just one take; he just sat there. He was like, there it is. I’m able to evolve myself as an actor, as an artist, just working with one of the greatest.
Martin Starr — I’ve got a lot of scenes with his character Bodhi. Garrett [Hedlund], I didn’t have many scenes with him that were one-on-one; I do in this upcoming season, in Tyson’s contemplation about revenge. Mitch comes to greet Tyson. So I get a nice piece of perspective from each character.