Tulsa KingThe hit Paramount+ series from creator Taylor Sheridan and head writer Terence Winter, is currently in the midst of its second season. The ongoing saga of Dwight “The General” Manfredi sees the former New York gangster establish his own criminal empire in Tulsa, Oklahoma, all while trying to reconnect with his daughter, Tina.
Sylvester Stallone stars as Manfredi, while his daughter is played by Tatiana Zappardino, a sketch comedy veteran and actress who has made appearances on TV shows such as This is us And NCIS: New Orleans. She first appeared in Tulsa King As a recurring figure in his debut season before being promoted to a series regular in the current batch of episodes.
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Screen Rant interviewed Zappardino about her role in Tulsa King And her larger career. She talks about working opposite Stallone and their unique chemistry together, and only half-jokingly laments her character’s lack of action sequences compared to most of her co-stars. After all, she shines in her days in a sketch comedy troupe, and how, if she wanted to have a juicy role, she would have to write it herself.
Tatiana Zappardino of Tulsa King on sharing the screen with Sylvester Stallone
“I think I’m the only character who can get away with calling him out on his s–t.”
Screen Rant: I talked to Terence Winter about this a little bit, the Stallone of it all. Maybe it’s just my fandom, but I feel like on some level he doesn’t have the same vanity that you would expect from the guy who made Rocky, you know?
Tatiana Zappardino Oh, 100%. I mean, of course, all men have a bit of an ego, right, but when I met, when I met Stallone, I immediately noticed that he is very good at making other people feel comfortable around him. You know, he doesn’t do the separation of, like, “I’m here and you’re down here.” He was immediately very open to me. He would just talk to me on a very comforting level and he was open to discussions about our relationship on the show. And yes, I think he’s great.
I don’t think he’s like anything I would have expected at that level. When you’ve been a superstar for 50 years, you’re the old school superstar. Back then, you could get away with anything. But he is not like that. That’s why his career was so long, because he’s just a good person. And I think that’s where the longevity comes from. He is just sincere and he is himself 100% of the time. He doesn’t make a face. You know, he doesn’t like to play one way with you and another with them. He’s just authentic himself because I don’t think he has time for that. He is also older. He’s like, we don’t care anymore. I’ll just be me. I don’t think he plays “the game,” which is great.
And he’s playing older, which is another part of it. There are a lot of guys in their 60s and 70s who are still trying to play 40s and 50s. And that comes across in your character. You are not a little girl. You don’t, you know, go to the gymnasium. You know, you’re a grown woman with your own children, and you’re the only character, I think, who doesn’t have the spectrum of fear and respect that everyone has for the boss. I feel like you cut through this completely.
Tatiana Zappardino: I agree. I say this all the time, I think I’m the only character who can get away with calling him out on his s-t. If someone else did it, they would get a pole to the face. But when Tina does it, it’s like, oh, okay. Maybe you are right. Maybe I should look into that, you know? She’s kind of his Achilles’ heel in that sense, you know?
You have a lot of one-on-one scenes with Dwight where he doesn’t have his entourage around him. Tell me about, you know, getting to the sensitive part of Dwight.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s funny because it’s both sides of the coin where I think it’s so cool that I get one-on-one scenes with him, right? Like you said, not everyone does, so it’s like, most of the time, I do scenes with him. And I love it! But I also feel like I’m disconnected from his other world, and I think that’s the bad side of the coin. I am not part of the gang. They all get to go to parties. I am not invited. Why? It’s like he wants to keep that separation and almost keep me to himself. And like Tina, I mean, I think right now she’s accepting it, but I don’t think she’ll like it for too long. I think she is a very strong, independent woman. She’s like, no, I need to be a part of something. I don’t live at home all day.
But when I do scenes with Sly, I will say that he is very responsive to, like, if I have an idea. If I have the idea of ​​changing this for like a button here or something like that, and he would riff a lot. He loved riffing with me. Apparently he didn’t do that with other people. I would ask them, like, “Hey, does he improve with you a lot?” And they’re like, no, he never does. But I love improv. He’d throw something and I’d be like, blah, blah, blah, and give it back to him, and he’d be like, “Man, that was good. Yeah, yeah, do that. Stop that.” I’m like, yeah, cool, cool. So, I love doing scenes with him because when he’s not on set and I’m doing a scene with somebody else, I mean, the director of the day is usually like, “Stick to the script!” And I’m like, sorry. Okay. I know.
We have to, you know, give credit to Terence Winter, he’s a brilliant writer. But sometimes something just comes out, and you can’t contain it, it comes out naturally. And it’s not like they have to use that name, you know. But with Sly, because he’s executive producer, writer, whatever, all that stuff, I have a little more freedom with him where he lets me be a little more flexible. And of course we still stick to the script, but you can add buttons here and there. And I love to do props. I am always adding props in my scene and he is as great. That’s awesome. love it
It’s great to work with him because he doesn’t try to control the situation. He lets the actors bring up the scene and add to it. You don’t get that everywhere. Some actors, like, big time actors are like, “What are you doing? You’re messing with me.” It’s about me, me, me. But for him, it’s like, oh, let’s all find a way to make this all work together. So it’s great.
This season you brought backup in the form of Annabella Sciorra, she plays your aunt, she’s fantastic. Tell me a little bit about the dynamics of not having your own ‘family’, so to speak, but bringing in someone else who can talk to Dwight in that kind of way.
Tatiana Zapardino: Yes. Yes. I mean, Annabelle is amazing. She’s probably someone I’m close with on set. I think she is a wonderful person, wonderful actress. But yeah, bring her in, she and Dwight obviously have that brother-sister relationship where they can kind of talk to each other. And she understands him more. I think Tina’s trying to understand him or does he want to be something that maybe he’s not. But, you know, Aunt Joan has been there since they were kids. They grew up together. That’s how she knows him.
I think that’s where the different dynamic is. Sometimes she has to be the buffer between us, explaining to Tina what Dwight does or says, or his reasons for something, because Tina doesn’t always understand because of the separation, because she didn’t grow up with him. He is almost a stranger to her. So I think, yes, that’s exactly what her goal is, bridging the gap between them.
Tatiana Zappardino on her audition for Tulsa King and the lore of her character
“Whether he was there or not, she grew up around gangsters”
So let’s go back in time. Is it like, oh, audition for that, there’s a spot on the show, but it’s kind of a pivotal character, so who knows, maybe you’ll get to be in more episodes? Or is it like, it’s going to be a couple episodes in the first season, but then your name is in the credits?
Tatiana Zappardino: You know what? I think I had an instinct from the beginning that I was going to be important because after my audition, Sly personally FaceTimed me and told me how important the character was to the season and to the show, because I’m his heart. It makes the bad guy likable by having someone he cares about, someone he fights for. When he told me that, I was like, oh, and I’m your only child! Okay. So, right then and there, I mean, I’m a mother, so I get it.
The child is everything to you, no matter how many bad things you do in life, they are your compass pointing north, right? So, I kind of knew from the beginning, I just started late in the season. They didn’t put me in the story until later, but I have a feeling I’ll be a pivotal character for as long as the show runs (fingers crossed). Yes, I knew. But, of course, you never really know, they may just be like, there is too much money, or she sucks on screen, there is no chemistry, and then they will just switch. They can always change stuff. You see shows all the time where like, you love a character and they kill them off and later on you learn, there were contract issues. So you can never really know…but I knew.
I imagine this is prevalent in gangster shows or zombie shows where it’s like, hey, you know, just one wrong move and your guy will take a bullet!
Tatiana Zappardino: Anyone can be shot in a show like this, for sure. But at the same time, even shows like Grey’s Anatomy, everyone dies all the time! (laughs)
Yes, there are so many shootouts and bombs and plane crashes in that hospital… They need more security guards.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s a pretty dangerous hospital! I’m like, you guys have a track record of like 90% of your staff dying, something’s wrong. This is not good.
I have like a lore and character question. I don’t know how much you can answer, how much can be explored later in the season. But Tina’s first or second episode, you know, ends with the, depending on who you ask, fantastic killing of the guy who sexually assaulted her.
Tatiana Zappardino: We’re talking about the first season, Nico, yes.
After all, how fully aware is Tina of the lengths to which her father went? And is she horrified or grateful or some combination of like, oh, this is my dad, he did this?
Tatiana Zappardino: I think that she took full responsibility for Nico’s death. Like, god, he just died because I said something. So I think she wasn’t even thinking about it because she just, she should have known that was Dwight’s nature. You know what I mean? And she knew what he would do. Dwight can’t hide from her. Like, she grew up in this family. Whether he was there or not, she grew up around gangsters.
She is not naive, especially at this age. She’s not naive enough to think, oh, what have you done? Do you have, you know, thumb trouble? No, like, she knew he was dead, right? And then, she’s the person on the show with the conscience, so she’s like the bearer of guilt of, oh my god, his death is on me. Like, it’s not even Dwight’s fault. He is the scorpion on the turtle’s back. It’s Tina. I killed Nico. And I think that’s what was overwhelming for you.
Do you think maybe, it’s overwhelming, but is there a power that comes from that? Or is it just a regret, like never again? Just like I can’t deal with my father like that at all.
Tatiana Zappardino: You know, since the episode of how to be open about what was going on, it seems like Tina hasn’t really opened up to him as much. It seems like she created Solomon around her, you see in one of the last episodes, he wanted to talk to her and she says, “No, we’ll talk later, I have nothing to say to you. I want it Not even discussing”. I think it was episode one. Yes, when he was out on bail. Right. He almost doesn’t want to bring things up anymore.
That’s interesting.
Tatiana Zappardino: It’s also interesting because originally there was a scene that was cut from episode one where you and him had a big discussion, right? As she is upset about it. How the f*** is going on? And they cut it. So honestly, probably made a more stable character for her where she’s really creating the barriers now, where she’s, like, I’m not going to talk to him on that level because he’s a loose cannon. I can’t really rely on him now, but he is also my father and I want to be a part of his life. So I think she’s kind of doing this right now.
She is good at compartmentalizing.
Tatiana Zappardino: She’s compartmentalizing. Since then she has not told him anything. She had a talk with her husband, but she won’t even talk to him about it.
Right, because who knows what he’ll do. Or rather, she does.
Tatiana Zappardino: Exactly. I won’t even mention my issues with you because I don’t think I can trust you with that information.
It’s really fascinating, just the way we communicate with people we know. And it’s like we love them, but we can’t talk to them about certain things because they’re just on a different level that’s just incompatible.
Tatiana Zappardino: Yes, yes. I definitely have the family members, where there is no reason to tell someone who can not carry the weight of your frustrations. Just keep it to yourself.
Tatiana Zappardino on her sketch comedy past and ambitions for the future
“You told me to write something! I wrote it! And I can’t even be in it?!”
The dynamic between Tina and Dwight is so fantastic. I love the way you talk about it. For the next phase of your career, tell me about what are your ambitions? What are the kinds of things you want to do? Do you want to be a movie star? Do you want to have your own show? Do you want to write and direct? The world is your oyster, what do you want to do with it?
Tatiana Zappardino: You know, it’s funny. My goals changed throughout your life, right? Like my goal when I was young was SNL, 100%. But as I got older, I was like, you know what, I don’t want to limit myself to SNL. I love SNL, but maybe I can just be a host one day, right? I’ve been on TV a bunch, but I’ve never done a movie, ever. And I want to be in a movie, but it’s so much harder to get a movie. So I really hope this show is a stepping stone to being in a movie, that’s one of my goals. But for my long-term goal, I love writing. I’m actually working on two scripts right now: a feature film and a pilot for a miniseries. And I want to produce and film those. This is a tangent, but I was part of a comedy sketch group back in 2016, 2015 or so. And it was mainly people. And for some reason, my life hasn’t changed much, right? (laughs)
Hey, I don’t think so!
But it was mainly people and they would keep casting me in the role of ​​the hot cheerleader, the sexy nurse, you know, like, all that kind of stuff was like, really crazy roles in the sketches . And I was like, no, I want to be the mad scientist. And they were like, no, that’s a guy. I mean, where does it say in the script that he stands on Finn, no? Like, there’s no reason the mad scientist has to be human, I can play it. And they’re like, hey, if you want a funny role, write it. I was like, cool. So I wrote this awesome script is one of my first sketches, and it was color neutral Christmas. It’s a choir and we’re getting ready for a holiday musical. And we sing White Christmas. And every time, every time we try, there’s one person who stops the song and says, “No, no, no, I’m sorry, but I just don’t know why it has to be white, right?”
Then we keep changing the song over and over. It’s like, “Whoa, if you hear sleigh bells, that’s really offensive to people who can’t hear.” So it keeps changing, and the song no longer makes sense until the end. And I was so excited about the script. Everyone loved it. And they’re like, we think it should be a group of all male choir singers, because guys complaining about this stuff is a lot weirder than a woman complaining about it. That’s just normal.
This is a terrible reason!
Tatiana Zappardino: You told me to write something! I wrote it! And I can’t even be in it?! I was like, fine, but I’m the choir director. Fine! I let it go. But that will be my thing. People always say, write your own roles. Fine. The roles that I get, sometimes, are not exactly artistically fulfilling. So I write scripts where there are really strong female leads, or women who are going through difficult things. And I’m like, there ya go, I’ll play that. So that’s mine, my goal in the future is to produce and, and, and make films where I get to show my acting chops outside of things that I get cast in.
That’s perfect. I mean, that kind of reminds me a little bit of, you know, Stallone always getting cast as the heavy and then having to write Rocky so he could be the leading man, right?
Tatiana Zappardino: Totally. I feel like, when I met Sly, I literally thought he was like my dad. He is very similar to him. My dad passed, but it’s just like we connected right away. I was like, oh my god, it feels like I’m talking to my dad, you know, like I feel a kinship with him. And we are very connected. And, you know, I feel I feel very similar to him. It’s so funny, when I did my audition, I had a bunch of posters all over my wall. And there was one poster, like, you know, there was a quote from Rocky Balboa, where it’s like, “The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows,” or whatever it is, a great old quote. And I never thought about it. I was like, whatever, I just put it up there. And when I did the audition, I looked over and thought, oh my God, have I set up working with him? And I started like putting up posters of like, all my favorite actors, and I’m like, let’s go.
Well, whatever you do next. I hope to speak to you for this. And, you know, I hope we get to do that again for season three. And on and on until forever. Until you are sick of the show!
Tatiana Zappardino: Oh my God.
Until you’re like, I’m sick of all these gangster guys!
Tatiana Zappardino: I will say one thing, if I don’t become a gangster soon, I will be sick of the show. I can no longer be the mother at home. This is my real life. Like, I don’t need that.
What will it take for you to get your hands dirty?
Tatiana Zappardino: That, I don’t know. (laughs) I don’t know. Maybe if the audience demands it. If they say, “We need to see Tina turn some faces away.” I think this is needed. Everyone needs to stand in front of the White House and demand Tina become a gangster. I think this is the only way it will happen.
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 others Tulsa King Interview here:
Source: Screen Rant Plus