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Taylor Sheridan came out of the wardrobe trailer with a fitting for a new role.
Fort Worth native and Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan — one of the most influential storytellers of his generation — was honored with an honorary Doctor of Letters during TCU’s spring commencement.
The ceremony, TCU’s first-ever graduate-only event, took place on Friday. It celebrated more than 2,900 graduates from eight colleges and schools.
According to the university, Sheridan’s honor recognized both his influence on the next generation of creative talent — particularly within TCU’s Film, Television, and Digital Media program — and his example of dogged persistence.
“Storytelling is about knowing where you come from and daring to imagine where you can go,” Sheridan said. “TCU students already have the drive, discipline and vision it takes to lead — all they need is the opportunity to step into their own story and own it.”
Sheridan and TCU first began collaborating with the first season of “Landman,” which used the campus as a filming site. The university said dozens of FTDM students, track & field student-athletes, and theater students worked alongside professionals in departments, including camera, sound, locations, and set decoration. More than 600 TCU students, staff, and alumni also participated as extras, further highlighting Sheridan’s dedication to championing the local community.
Sheridan has become a regular on the circuit since the success of “Yellowstone” and its multiple prequel series, including “1923” and the upcoming “1944.” Before all that, he wrote “Hell or High Water.”
In November, Sheridan was inducted in the Texas Business Hall of Fame in Dallas.
It’s a delight listening to him goad those who doubted him. It’s more a demonstration of his unfiltered storytelling style.
In November, he said: “Success came in the movie business by applying something that is completely nonexistent in Los Angeles, and that is logic. I wish it was more complicated than that, but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Yay, me. And I achieved all of this with a paycheck from a bunch of Hollywood vegans.”
Love it.
He used the opportunity at TCU’s commencement to do some more of that while giving, no doubt, some valuable advice to new graduates.
“Prove them wrong, and never look back for their reaction to your success,” Sheridan said during his acceptance speech. “They belong where they are — squarely in your shadow.”
Said TCU President and Chancellor-designate Daniel Pullin: “Taylor Sheridan’s investment in TCU’s students is building a new pipeline of creative talent, giving Horned Frogs real-world experience at the highest levels of the entertainment industry while reminding them that great stories can start right here in Fort Worth.”