First Taylor Sheridan Invaded My Neighborhood. Now They Cast My Dog!

When director-producer Taylor Sheridan went looking for places to film “Lioness,” starring Nicole Kidman, he chose several Near Southside locations in Fort Worth, including my own Ryan Place. I thought that was as close a brush with filmdom as I was likely to get. Well, apparently not.

While in New York last weekend, my dog sitter was flagged down by a casting wrangler asking whether my Borzoi named Yuri was available for casting. Now I am aware that every dog owner is silly about their beloved pooches, but one look at Yuri is enough to recognize true star power.

Jason Owen of This or That Livestock Company explained he needed my dog (formerly known as the Russian Wolfhound) for Sheridan’s newest production starring Samuel L. Jackson, “Frisco King,” a spinoff of the successful “Tulsa King” with Sylvester Stallone. Originally titled Nola King, the series underwent a creative overhaul with Sheridan taking over writing and production was moved to North Texas.

Our call was for 8 a.m. I went to the vast 450,000-square-foot CGS campus near Alliance Airport and was redirected to the shoot location in Haslet, about 20 minutes north of Downtown Fort Worth.

If you haven’t heard of Haslet, you’re not alone. The Tarrant County community of 6,000 is just now appearing on people’s real estate radars as it’s grown 12% in the last year. With a median household income of over $169K, the burgeoning burb is a perfect stand-in for Frisco.

Our Haslet neighborhood was immaculately manicured with identically planted lawns. Shade on the warm June day was in short supply as the newly planted trees would need about 25 more years of growth to shade much of anything.

Yuri and I hung out in a rented garage with the other extras. Anyone with film work experience knows that it’s mostly waiting — and we did. I was supposed to walk Yuri for a scene in the morning, but our shooting schedule altered that, and we weren’t called till 4 p.m.

Most shots seem to be done several times. This isn’t owing to error. It’s a matter of inventorying multiple takes, different angles, and camera set-ups, allowing for choices during editing.

“We’re going again!” is the rule rather than the exception.

Waits between shots can be up to 30 minutes, and my screen time will probably be less than 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, I spent downtime in the rented house where the director had her command and control station. The walls of the house were covered in corrugated cardboard with overlapping floor mats to protect from damage.

There’s something I noticed about this well-functioning set. You can tell when a work environment is friendly, and that emanates from the very top with Sheridan, who has a reputation for nurturing and keeping loyal talent. Everyone I met — from the Emmy-nominated director Christina Alexandra Voros, to the indefatigable production assistants — was the perfect picture of courteous professionalism.

Now, the question you have probably been asking from the beginning. Did I meet Sam Jackson? Unfortunately not. The closest I got was hanging with his charming stand-in, and I also spotted an identically dressed stunt double in a golf cart. It seems Samuel Jackson was on the set, but he was mostly concealed, staying cool in a car.

“Frisco King” will debut sometime in 2027 exclusively on Paramount +. You’ll have to wait until then to see Yuri’s big break.