Long before Taylor Sheridan built the “Yellowstone” television universe and wrote shows including “Lioness” and “Landman,” his professional career began with a small acting role in “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
Sheridan made his first professional appearance in “War Zone,” a Season 3 episode of the Chuck Norris-led Western series. He played Vernon, a local drag racer who is seen at the start of the episode being pursued by Norris’ Cordell Walker.
The guest role gave Sheridan limited screen time, but Vernon’s reckless confidence comes through during the car chase. It also placed the future Western writer and showrunner inside the genre more than two decades before his work on “Yellowstone.”
Sheridan’s first encounter with Chuck Norris
“Walker, Texas Ranger” ran for nine seasons on CBS between 1993 and 2001. In “War Zone,” Walker and his fellow Texas Rangers investigate a string of violent bank robberies carried out by men wearing clown disguises.
Sheridan’s character is introduced separately from that central investigation, with Walker chasing Vernon over his illegal racing. Although it was a brief part, Sheridan later remembered the job because it marked both his professional acting debut and his first experience working with Norris.
Following Norris’ death earlier in 2026 at age 86, Sheridan reflected on their time together.
“I met Chuck on my first acting job. He remains one of the kindest and humblest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with,” Sheridan said in a statement.
Norris was widely recognized as a martial arts star who became a television actor through the long-running CBS series. “Walker, Texas Ranger” later prompted the reboot “Walker,” which ran from 2021 until 2024.
A memorable moment from the set
Sheridan has also recalled seeing another side of Norris while making the series. During a 2019 interview, the “Wind River” writer-director told a story about Norris getting into a quarrel with someone considerably larger than him on the “Walker, Texas Ranger” set.
For Sheridan, the confrontation showed that Norris’ formidable public image was not simply an invention.
“You know all the Chuck Norris jokes? He actually does just beat up people with his fists,” Sheridan said.
The recollection offered a very different detail from Sheridan’s later description of Norris as kind and humble, while underlining how strongly the experience stayed with him after his short appearance on the show.
From guest actor to Western storyteller
Sheridan subsequently moved into writing contemporary Western films. His credits included 2015’s “Sicario” and 2016’s “Hell or High Water,” both of which preceded his work as a television showrunner on projects rooted in the genre.
He also wrote and directed “Wind River” before becoming associated with “Yellowstone” and other series. Viewed against that later work, his debut on “Walker, Texas Ranger” stands as an early and fitting connection to the kind of storytelling that would become central to his career.
What began with a brief appearance as a speed racer fleeing Cordell Walker ultimately became a notable piece of Sheridan’s professional history. The part may have been small, but it introduced him to television through one of the Western shows of the period and gave him the opportunity to work directly with Norris on his first Hollywood acting job.