Paramount+ - first two eps available from Mon 14 Nov
Sylvester Stallone stars as a mafia fixer forced to swap New York for Oklahoma...
When acclaimed writer, producer and actor Taylor Sheridan dreamt up a witty drama about a mafia ‘capo’ exiled to Oklahoma following 25 years in prison, he put together a top team to make the series.
Tulsa King is written by Terence Winter (The Wolf Of Wall Street, Boardwalk Empire). And who plays the fallen fixer, Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi? Only Sylvester Stallone.
While he made his name in Hollywood, ‘Sly’ says Dwight’s world is one he knows.
‘I grew up around a lot of these mugs,’ he explains. ‘In Philadelphia, you’re always bumping shoulders with them. I’ve got the tempo, the idea, the attitude. I understand the street life very well.’
The veteran star was immediately intrigued by Dwight’s predicament. ‘The character is put in a situation where he has to start over at a very late point in his life,’ he explains.
Unsurprisingly, much of the humour in the series – which also stars Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Garrett Hedlund and Jay Will – comes as the former mafia general gathers a motley bunch of new foot soldiers around him…
‘It’s not your stereotypical gangster show,’ he says. ‘My gang is made up of a group of complete misfits.’ The 76-year-old reckons it works precisely because this lot aren’t the Corleones or the Sopranos!
‘It’s a whole different interpretation of a so-called mob family. It’s a bunch of hybrids. Something unusual. It has heart, energy and humour.’ Audiences who only think of Stallone as Rocky or Rambo will see a different side to him, and he has loved immersing himself in the world of streamed series. ‘I’m glad I finally got an opportunity to jump on this train,’ he says.