Taylor Sheridan may now be one of the most successful people in TV thanks to his Yellowstone franchise, but he previously found himself homeless after struggling to land roles as an actor.

Sheridan, 56, is best known for creating Yellowstone and its multiple spin-offs for Paramount+, but he originally started out as an actor, taking on roles in Veronica Mars and *Sons of Anarchy. *

Being a full-time actor proved to be a struggle for Sheridan, who has admitted that when work dried up, he lived in his car for six months.

“I was homeless twice,” the actor, who also played Travis Wheatley in Yellowstone, told Town & Country. “I lived in my car. Sometimes I’d go to Ojai [in California], just somewhere where I could safely sleep. I did that for six months.

“I could have decided at any point, ‘I’m going to go get a full-time job and I’m going to give up this dream,’” he said. “And I chose to sleep in my car over that.”

He ultimately pivoted towards screenwriting, selling a screenplay for the 2016 western drama Hell or High Water and using the proceeds to buy a house in Wyoming. The film, which stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as Texas brothers who rob a series of banks to save their family ranch, received four Oscar nominations.

Sheridan is now one of the largest landowners in Texas, having bought Bosque Ranch – where he lives and works – as well as the famous Four Sixes Ranch. The historic backdrop made an appearance in Yellowstone’s later seasons, with Paramount announcing in 2021 that a spin-off about the ranch, titled 6666, was in development.

However, Sheridan clarified this week that the project had been scrapped, saying that there was “never going to be” a spin-off about the Four Sixes.

“I would never fictionalise that ranch,” he said. “People thought that that was going to be a thing, but I would never do that.”

He added that he didn’t want to be “making up lives” and “inventing a drama” at a ranch that is still active.

“So now I’m trivialising and fictionalising something where real people work, and they raise their families there, and I could never do that to them,” he continued. “I could never do that to the cowboys that dedicated themselves, and everybody that works on that ranch. I’m very protective of the Sixes, and it’s a big responsibility to be the person who has to protect that ranch, so I have to be very, very careful with it.”

Fans weren’t too happy with the decision, however, with many on Reddit finding Sheridan’s explanation to be hypocritical when he had previously signed on to be an executive producer of the show.

Paramount originally announced the spin-off in 2021, revealing that it would be set when Comanches ruled West Texas two centuries before the events of Yellowstone.

While 6666 may never make it our screens, there’s still plenty of Yellowstone to go around; the original show has spawned four spin-offs so far about the origins of Yellowstone National Park’s lasso-spinning Dutton family, including prequels 1883 and 1923, as well as sequels Marshals and Dutton Ranch.

Having found success with the franchise, Sheridan admitted that the shows are all just a means to pay for the horses on his ranches, telling Town & Country: “I had turned down multiple overall deals. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to work that hard.”

Sheridan lives in Texas with his wife, actor Nicole Muirbrook, and their son Gus, 15.