Tulsa KingThe hit Paramount Plus series from creators Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter returns for its second season on September 15. Sylvester Stallone stars as Dwight Manfredi, a New York mobster who is effectively put out to pasture in Tulsa, Oklahoma after serving a 25-year prison sentence. Over the course of season 1, Dwight establishes a foothold in Tulsa, assembles a ragtag mafia family of his own, takes on the local biker gang, and emancipates himself from his New York roots, all while trying to reconnect with his estranged family. in Tulsa King Season 2 will see him go up against his former New York allies, as well as the Kansas City Mafia, who don’t take too kindly to an East Coast interloper doing business on their turf.
Season 2 of Tulsa King See the return of the main cast in front of the camera, as well as the head writer behind the scenes. Winter is no stranger to gangster stories, having been instrumental in the success of such legendary series as The Sopranos And Boardwalk Empire. Tulsa King Fits snugly alongside the shows, offering a mix of humor, drama and tough-guy action, all anchored by the palpable charisma of Sylvester Stallone.
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In anticipation of the September 15 debut of Tulsa King second season, Screen Rant Interviewed showrunner Terence Winter about his work on the Taylor Sheridan series. He talks about some of the history behind the Manfredi family, including his relationship with his late brother, an off-screen character whose death brings Dwight back to NYC early in the first season. He also talks about the audience’s relationship with gangsters, and confronts the question everyone is asking: Where is Badface?
Terence Winter on the secret family of Tulsa King
“Dwight’s efforts to mend his broken family certainly continue through Season 2.”
Screen Rant: I watched season one in two days, and I was heartbroken that I only got the season two premiere, only the first episode. I was like, “I need more! I’m hooked!”
Terence Winter: I love to hear that.
Before we begin, I have a special connection to your work that I have to share. I live in Kelly McDonald’s house from Boardwalk Empire, in Far Rockaway.
Terence Winter: Oh, my God, no way! You live in that house in Far Rockaway? Wow. This is crazy. I remember the big production challenge of shooting that house. We had to make the street as if it was a dirt road. I don’t remember how we ended it. Maybe we did it in CGI or whatever. But wow, this is amazing. What a small world. I spent a lot of time there. I grew up in Brooklyn, so I spent a lot of time in the Rockaways. You make me miss you!
Yeah, you’re stuck in LA, I guess?
Terence Winter: Yes. We have been here for seven years, and probably for another couple of years. Once the kids are in college, we can go back to New York.
I have some questions about how about the new season, about the first season, about the teaching of the show. But the first one I want to ask is a little personal, about Joe, who we never see in the show, but he is Dwight’s late brother. They show an MTA sweater. Was he a bus driver?
Terence Winter: He was a token official. He worked in a sign booth. Yes. His nickname was Token Joe. In the New York subway, when people used to buy tokens, when that was a thing, that was his career.
Maybe you can’t tell, but we’ll get flashbacks to them, maybe have the dissonance between a Working Joe and a gangster?
Terence Winter: I can’t give any specifics in terms of that, but what I can say is, Dwight’s efforts to repair his broken family certainly continue through season two. Dwight is a guy who, you know, for 25 years, kind of abandoned his family. More like a way of, as he said, psychologically protecting them, but it was really more about it. And now he’s trying to make up for lost time. He tries to mend the broken relationship with his estranged sister, and of course his daughter and grandchildren. So, in the course of this, we will get more insight into what the early days of the family were like.
My father was a bus driver, that’s why I asked. When I saw that uniform, I was like, oh…
Terence Winter: He was Ralph Kramden!
Bro, you don’t even know. I mean, he was a really hefty guy and quick to rage-filled outbursts, but he was pretty big!
Terence Winter: The same guy! This is Ralph!
Almost literally. That was him, rest his soul.
Terence Winter on why Stallone is perfect in Tulsa King
“I think Dwight, in a different time and place, would have grown up to be a businessman.”
So, let’s talk about Stallone, who plays Dwight. He is the level of star where, no matter what he plays, there is the instinct to call him Stallone. But… you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t feel the vanity that one would expect from someone of his caliber, you know what I mean?
Terence Winter: Right.
But I also feel like the show is also, to an extent, shaped by his sensibility.
Terence Winter: Yes, you are absolutely right. I mean, the real person is incredibly warm. He is self-deprecating. He is really funny. He is really smart. He is incredibly well read. No different than Dwight. I think one of the best compliments I ever got from him was when he read my pilot. He said, “This fits me like a tailor-made suit. This is me if I were a mob boss. This is exactly how I talk. This is perfect. This is an opportunity for me to show the world who I am.” You know, Rocky is not the brightest guy in the world, he is very charming and sweet. But he’s not exactly a scientist. And Rambo basically said nothing. “I finally get a chance to speak and do monologues and show people that not only can I do that, but I think it’s going to be really surprising for people to see me in a different light,” Stollone said. I think, for him, it was a real breath of fresh air to finally get to stretch those muscles.
I feel like Dwight is not a Tony Soprano-level sociopath. Maybe it has to do with his relationship with his family, but he aims to legitimize himself and the choices he has made. Tony Soprano and Nucky Thompson and Dwight Manfredi are all tough dudes, but can you talk about what made Dwight not conform to the characters you’ve worked on before?
Terence Winter: I think Dwight, at heart, is a rational, reasonable guy. He is not a bully. I mean, a lot of mob guys in real life are bulls in china shops. I think Dwight, in general, will be respectful to people until he feels they don’t deserve it, and then the other shoe drops. He is thoughtful in the sense that he really thinks about the world. He had plenty of time in prison to reflect on his choices. And he is incredibly well read. He has a much broader base of knowledge about the world than most gangsters. As you say, Tony was more, you know, more rude, perhaps. I think Dwight, in a different time and place, would have grown up to be a businessman. Like many New Yorkers, he might still be a little rough around the edges, but not quite a thug.
I think that makes him different. He has a sense of humor. He’s basically a good guy. He really wants to go straight, but he has very limited conflict resolution skills and also very limited business skills. But he is trying. And sometimes, you know, he makes the wrong choices and then causes more problems for himself. And then it’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy that things are not going to go well.
Kinda building on his character, I have another lore question for you. The guy in the burning building, I don’t remember the character’s name, but the guy Dwight kills in an act of mercy, and goes to jail for killing him, was he the first guy Dwight ever killed or was he Only the one for which he was arrested?
Terence Winter: Well… you know, in the history of the show, he was the first guy that Dwight killed. Whether this is true or not, I don’t know. (laughs) The answer is kind of both. It is certainly the first that he has been arrested. And then he killed another guy in self-defense in prison. These are the only two things on his record. But has Dwight ever killed anyone else, you’d have to ask him. He won’t even tell me!
There are things that I do not understand about the world and about myself and our humanity. One is just the idea of ​​rooting for gangsters. Another one is just like, well, how is Donna Delaney getting more beautiful as she gets older? Like, I don’t know how that works. But it works.
Terence Winter: These are the two great questions in life! For the second you would have to ask Donna, but you are absolutely right. She is a beautiful woman. In terms of the gangster thing, I feel like, when you paint anybody in all their colors as a person, you’re going to find moments of relatability and empathy. Nobody is one thing. No one is bad or good. There are moments where you’re like, “Oh my God, this guy loves his dog, but he’s a bank robber.” Or you go, “He loves his kids,” you know, or “He’s funny,” or “He helped me out once.” And you go, well, shit, now I have to rethink how he’s not all bad.
I think this is also Dwight. You meet this guy and you’re like, yeah, he’s a, he’s a thug. But on the other hand, he also has a simplicity. So it gets complicated. I met a lot of these guys in real life. It’s the same thing where, objectively, they’re not good people, but again, there are moments of humanity where you go, “Okay, well, that’s it.” you know? So I think that makes it complicated for the audience sometimes. You’re like, wait, why am I rooting for this guy? But you see a bit of yourself in there. I think, too, with Dwight, with someone like that, when you put them in a situation…
You and I go to the DMV and it’s an incredibly frustrating experience. You watch a mob boss do it. He is not immune to the same nonsense that we have to go through! And you’re like, just look at how he has to deal with this now, the miserable nonsense you have to do. Or watch him try to order coffee at Starbucks or figure out the madness of the world. It’s funny! You go, “Oh wow, he feels the same way I do about things. He’s subjected to the same things and that makes him more relatable and more human.”
Having to get his learner’s permit.
Terence Winter: Exactly. Yes. All of that stuff.
Tulsa King’s incredible supporting cast deserves plenty of praise
“Across the board, we have this phenomenal roster, a very deep bench. There’s nothing these guys can’t do.”
Stallone, his name is on the show, but you have an incredible supporting cast. We’re reminded of Donna Delaney, who is, you know, hugely talented. Max Casella, I love him, and he gets to play a really unique character that I don’t know we’ve ever really seen before.
Terence Winter: I’ve always said Max is my secret weapon. I have worked with him many times and I hope to work with him many times in the future. He is phenomenal. Domenick Lombardozzi, Chris Caldovino, Vinny Piazza, Garrett Hedlund, Jay Will, Martin Starr. I mean, just across the board, we have this phenomenal roster, a very deep bench. There is nothing these people can’t do or won’t do. And that’s part of the fun of season 2 is.
Now that we got to know all the characters and we have set the table, now you know them more and they can expand. Now we can put them in situations that are filled with conflict and emotion. The other thing too is, sometimes it’s the alchemy where you put two characters together in combinations you’ve never really seen before and you go, “Oh my God, that’s great. We’ve got to see more of that!” You know, throw Max Casella and Jay Will together. You’re like, “Wow, these guys are hilarious together.” That’s something to look forward to in season two, which I’m really happy with and proud of.
I have to say, I love Dominic. He’s one of my favorite actors, going back to… I think Miami Vice was the first thing I saw him in, but the first few episodes I really didn’t recognize him because I’d never seen him. with Lord before. !
Terence Winter: He had that bad top, and I knew where that was going. Of course, at the end of the season is when you’ll see that he’s wearing a toupee and people in the audience are like, “Why? His hair looks terrible, that’s the wrong looking toupee!” I was like, “Just wait. It’s supposed to be, we know that.”
I have to have that Gene Hackman Lex Luthor moment where he finally rips it off.
Terence Winter: Yes, exactly. He is our Lex Luthor.
Last question. America needs to know. Where did Badface go? Where is Badface? Is he coming back?
Terence Winter: No, he’s in jail. I think we got caught…
You said he left.
Terence Winter: Yes, unfortunately he was arrested and he is in prison. He may or may not show up. You never know. People come out of prison. But I can’t say or promise anything. But in the meantime he is arrested. Not the actor! Just the character.
Okay. So there is no bad blood with the actor.
Terence Winter: No, not at all. Not even remotely, no, he was great!
I was like, oh, Badface would have had such a great time at the bar shooting everyone in the finale.
Terence Winter: Yes, absolutely!
More about Tulsa King Season 2
In season 2, Dwight (Stallone) and his crew continue to build and protect their growing empire in Tulsa, but just as they get their bearings, they realize they’re not the only ones who want to stake their claim. With looming threats from the Kansas City mob and a very powerful local businessman, Dwight struggles to keep his family and crew safe and keep track of all his affairs. Plus, he still has unfinished business back in New York.
Check out our previous Tulsa King Interview here:
Tulsa King Season 2 debuts September 15 on Paramount Plus.