Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King easily counts as one of my favorite shows on television at the moment, and I’m thrilled to report that Season 2 of the colorful crime thriller picks up right where the last season left off in terms of attitude, humor, danger, and intrigue. Hailing from the powerhouse duo of creator Taylor Sheridan and writer Terence Winter, Tulsa King delivers expertly on its fish-out-of-water premise, casting Sylvester Stallone as a New York crime boss exiled to Oklahoma, where he begins to make more than a name for himself.
So far, Tulsa King has delivered some of the finest acting in Stallone’s career (no exaggeration). But the show flies because of the personality-driven oddballs that have been cast around Stallone’s character of Dwight, including a new character we meet in Season 2 called “Bigfoot.”
I already love the supporting cast in Tulsa King. They are divided up into factions, from the pot-farming Tulsa crew (led by Martin Starr) to the heavy-hitting Mafiosos in New York City. As we saw in the Season 2 premiere, the story picks up right where Season 1 left off, with Dwight in prison because ATF agent Stacy (Andrea Savage) sold him out for what looked like a bribe. He’s not there for long, thanks to his daughter Tina (Tatiana Zappardino) agreeing to post bond. Once back in the bar, Dwight realizes that he needs protection. Mitch (Garrett Hedlund) recommends his cousin, “BIgfoot.”
Ahead of the premiere, I got the chance to speak with Tulsa King regular Jay Will, who has an increased role in Season 2 thanks to Dwight leaning harder on Will’s driver, Tyson. And when I asked Will about “Bigfoot,” he immediately started laughing, and then told me that he and the actor who plays him, Mike “Cash Flo” Walden, work closely as the season progresses. Said Will:
He’s huge, man. (But) he’s one of the most loving people that I’ve met in my life. And I don’t even really give compliments like that. But he’s so kind, man. He’s such a cool guy. He was so willing to immerse himself into the world of the story. He got in there. I had a lot of scenes with him, between Bigfoot and Tyson, just in this crossover that Tyson is going through. This rite of passage, into darkness in a way, how it can be perceived. He was there – his character was there, aiding this new evolution (for Tyson).
Let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge how awesome it is that the name of the actor playing “Bigfoot” in Tulsa King is Mike “Cash Flo” Walden. As you might have assumed from his stature, Walden is a wrestler. And he made the most out of his time on Tulsa King, sharing this montage on Social media.
I do want to know more about this “passage into darkness” that Jay Will is discussing when it comes to Tyson, his character on the show. When I asked the actor what we can expect from Tyson as Tulsa King Season 2 advances, he explained to me:
Responsibility. I just think him assuming form, taking up the roles that he has inside of the family. Saying, ‘OK, cool.’ Seeing things that Sly has done in the midst of other families and going, ‘All right, cool. I can be there, too. I can see myself getting to a further level’ or ‘I can see myself getting to a similar level.’ So the hunger and the grit, the ambition, the youthfulness that Tyson has, I think it’s something that really carries him.
Tulsa King Season 2 is underway, and when we got to the end of the season premiere, we saw that Sylvester Stallone will have to deal with both Neal McDonough and Frank Grillo (who’s also a key factor in James Gunn’s DCU). Make sure that you have your Paramount+ subscription up to date, so you can see how the rest of this wild season plays out.