Being an avid enthusiast of Westerns, Taylor Sheridan’s biggest influence involves Clint Eastwood’s most important contribution to the genre.
Western’s influence on Hollywood can’t be overstated, a genre that once comprised a quarter of studio output back during its heyday from the ’40s to the mid-60s. While they no longer possess the stranglehold on the medium they once did, Westerns are still alive and kicking, often disguising themselves by mixing with other genres. One of the most prominent additions to this genre in recent years has been Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, currently one of the biggest shows out there.
Being an avid enjoyer of the genre since his teenage days, which went on to shape his filmography, it’s unsurprising that one of his biggest inspirations involves Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed classic.
Clint Eastwood’s Most Notable Contribution to Westerns Heavily Influenced Taylor Sheridan
Speaking with Variety, the mastermind behind modern gems such as Sicario and Hell or High Water, opened up about his inspirations behind reinventing the Western on the small screen. While writers like Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, and Toni Morrison, whose works profusely involved the American Frontier, heavily influenced Costner, it was Unforgiven, which left a huge impact on him. Often considered Hollywood Icon Clint Eastwood‘s most important contribution to the genre, which set a gold standard for revisionist Westerns, it’s no surprise why Sheridan holds Unforgiven so high.
“I was very influenced by writers like Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, and Toni Morrison, who wrote about the time around the Civil War, which is obviously very similar themes. There’s a lot of Westerns about it. And in terms of the movies that influenced me, it was watching ‘Unforgiven’ when I was in my late teens or very early 20s”
But this isn’t the lone film that influenced the writer greatly, as he named another iconic Western, starring Yellowstone Star Kevin Costner, which too had a big influence on him.
Dances With Wolves Helped Taylor Sheridan to Look at the Genre With a New Lens
While Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner are set to part ways as Yellowstone approaches its final stretch next year, Sheridan still holds Costner the actor on a very high pedestal. And per the Sicario writer, it was Costner’s Dances With Wolves that helped him to see Westerns through a new lens, which wasn’t explored before. He said,
“The same with ‘Dances With Wolves,’ where you’re looking at the Western genre through a whole new lens that had never been explored before.”
Both Unforgiven and Dances With Wolves‘ contribution to Westerns can’t be overstated, more prominently Unforgiven‘s creator Clint Eastwood, whose works also inspired the great Martin Scorsese.