After Tulsa King’s Final Scene In Ep 302 Stressed Me Out, I Talked To Sylvester Stallone, And He Gave Me His A+ Take On Working With Robert Patrick

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Okay, so let’s talk about the newest episode of Tulsa King, specifically Season 3’s “The Fifty.” But a big warning: I’m about to dive into some major spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet on Paramount+. Seriously, if you’re not caught up, you’ve been warned! I’ll be breaking down everything that happened, so proceed with caution if you want to go in fresh.

Tulsa King’s third season is off to a great start, facing challenges from not one, but two powerful enemies who could derail Dwight’s plans for the 2025 TV season. First, there’s James Russo as the mob boss Quiet Ray Renzetti, who was unhappy with Dwight going off on his own. Then there’s Robert Patrick as Jeremiah Dunmire, who appears unwilling to tolerate anything Dwight and his team get involved in. For example, episode 302 was incredibly tense whenever Patrick and Stallone were on screen together.

More Tulsa King Exclusives

– Annabella Sciorra acted alongside James Gandolfini in The Sopranos and Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King. What was it like performing with both of them while they played mobster roles?
– Sylvester Stallone is famous for his love of action-packed scenes like those in Rambo, but he explained to me why Tulsa King represents ‘the best of both worlds’ for him.

These two actors worked together in Cop Land back in 1997, but they’ve never been direct rivals in a story until now, with Tulsa King. And it was definitely worth the wait! From their first intense encounter at Theodore Montague’s wake-with the memorable line, “This business requires sound judgment, not the foul hand of a bottom-feeder.”-to their final confrontation, every moment these two share is captivating. It’s yet another reason why Tulsa King stands out as one of the best shows on Paramount+.

Before Season 3 premiered, I had a conversation with Sylvester Stallone. I inquired about his experience collaborating with the legendary Terminator 2 co-star, and Sly offered what you could call the highest praise, stating:

You know, when I think about someone like Robert Patrick, I really believe acting is something you’re just born with. I’m not saying acting classes are useless – go for it if you want to, and I wouldn’t stop anyone – but ultimately, I think you either have that natural talent or you don’t. It’s a gift, really.

Stallone strongly suggested he thinks Patrick has always had natural charisma, and has been displaying it in his roles for many years. Interestingly, this isn’t the only action-drama currently streaming with Frank Grillo where the actor plays a rugged, rural villain. He’s also currently playing a villain on Peacemaker, but no one there presents as strong of a challenge to him as Stallone does.

The Expendables star went on to explain that Robert Patrick added his own unique style to the character of Jeremiah Dunmire:

When Robert walked in wearing that outfit – the hat and everything – it honestly felt like stepping back in time. I immediately thought, ‘This feels like something out of 150 years ago!’ It was such a striking contrast between modern style and classic looks. Seeing us together like that was a brilliant idea. That’s just his style. I never asked him to dress that way; he came up with the whole look all on his own.

While we’ve seen Dwight Manfredi confront various mobsters who all seemed like classic Italian-American criminals, the Dunmires offer a distinctly southern twist to the villains in Tulsa King. (Neal McDonough’s Thresher is still a threat, naturally, but he doesn’t pose the same kind of challenge.)

Sylvester Stallone Talks Getting Into The Right Headspace For Intense Scenes

The conversation between Dwight and Jeremiah at the end really frustrated me, and Mitch being unexpectedly attacked just made things worse. So, I asked the Rocky star if he had a way to prepare himself mentally for scenes with so much tension and threats. He said he did, but then explained why it’s actually more difficult than you’d think to get into that kind of stressed-out headspace, saying:

Yes, I do. I really do. I often find myself thinking back over what we’ve already filmed. That’s the most difficult part that many people don’t understand: we’re constantly switching between scenes. Things aren’t filmed in order. We’ll shoot the ending first, then go back to the beginning, and sometimes rearrange things. Pffsh. It’s genuinely challenging.

For instance, if Robert Patrick only filmed his scenes over two weeks, and they had to shoot everything back-to-back, it would be really confusing for the actors. They’d have to constantly remember what was happening in the story and how their characters were feeling. This might be manageable for smaller roles, but it would be very challenging for someone who appears in 80% of each episode.

Okay, so the situation I described earlier wasn’t *exactly* what was going on behind the scenes, but that doesn’t mean they filmed everything chronologically. You’ve got to remember, things like location availability, the time of day needed for a shot, and a whole bunch of other logistical factors mean productions rarely shoot in order. And honestly, even a seasoned veteran like Sylvester Stallone still needs to stay focused on set to keep everything straight. It’s a testament to the complexity of filmmaking, really. It’s fascinating to watch, even when you know it’s not happening in real-time. Keeping track of continuity must be a real challenge!

Tulsa King releases new episodes each Sunday on Paramount+, and there are eight more episodes packed with tension coming soon.

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2025-10-01 21:40