‘Tulsa King’: Garrett Hedlund on Mitch’s Real Feelings About Dwight & That Jelly Roll Cameo

[Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for Tulsa King Season 2 Episode 2, “Kansas City Blues.”]

Tulsa King‘s second episode saw the crew take a big swing at another scheme at what could’ve been a very inopportune time, but it paid off.

Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) is in the middle of a court battle for his freedom after the bribery charges, but that doesn’t stop his posse from executing a very risky boost of catalytic converters at a local car dealership. Spearheading the effort was Garrett Hedlund‘s Mitch, who is really coming into his own as one of the more valuable members of the team.

After the boost, and a deal to return some of the parts to the rightful owner, Mitch hatches another idea for a business for the group to invest in, which means he’s potentially about to double his importance to the Manfredi crime family.

Overall, the episode was really light-hearted, featuring musical performances by Hedlund and cameo-r Jelly Roll.

TV Insider caught up with Garrett Hedlund to talk about where his character’s head is at, at this point in the story, and how his music is increasingly becoming a staple of this show.

Before this, you didn’t do a lot of television. What was it about Tulsa King that really drew you into that world for the first time?

Garrett Hedlund: For me, it was Taylor Sheridan. It was Terence Winter and Sly. I’d known Taylor for quite some time, but I’d known Sly ever since I was 18. And so I just really thought, not only was it a creative dream team, but I thought we’d really mesh, and so that was hook line and sinker for me.

Sylvester Stallone wasn’t a TV guy either. What’s it been like to go through that transition from like the typical movie set that’s very limited to this more extended experience with him?

You know what? What I really enjoyed — and specifically with Season 1 — was really exploring the story and the characters, creative possibilities. I feel like both of us were pretty excited about the potentials of where the story could go — all of us kind of building this empire as a group, where each individual character could sort of branch off and sort of explore just to up the stakes a little bit. That was really exciting for me. I feel like we sat around like kids in a candy shop for those aspects. 

Other than that, the difference between this and a film set or what we’re accustomed to is the pace, it moves fast, it shoots fast. But that’s also, it’s a beautiful thing at the same time because it leaves little room for questioning for second-guessing yourself, and you just sort of fly. So it’s wonderful for instincts and intuition to ride on that saddle.

This show differs from both Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter’s past works in that it has a comedic element. Can you talk about finding those humorous moments amid all of this dark kind of drama? 

I was a little late to the game, I feel, at finding humorous moments — when I was coming in,  I was given this back story on this character that was quite conflicted, and maybe it’s for the better that I was late to the game on creative discoveries. I come in sort of so strongly feeling this was so serious and gripping and this and that, and then when I’d watched it, the first season, the humorous moments were such a relief in a show like this.

The humorous moments were such a relief. So that’s the wonderful part about this season; we really knew what was working, what we enjoyed about it. We really got to push in those directions and push the bounds in those directions. And so I think it makes it fun.

Brian Douglas/Paramount+

In this episode, Mitch tries to make Dwight eat something healthy, and it’s funny but it also brings out a kind of father-son dynamic. Is that going to kind of continue to develop between them? 

Well, I think with their relationship, where it started off, especially in the first season, they had a kinship solely because they’ve been through similar experiences in life. They’d had trust, and my character certainly has a loyalty and appreciation for Dwight for sort of giving him an opportunity that takes him out of this rut in life or this kind of plateau of a seemingly mundane rhythm within his life. Yeah, he loves Dwight. Dwight, he’s looking out for him. And there’s — I feel what the sweetest part about this dynamic is, I think they both get a few opportunities to, to learn from each other to, to get advice from each other to get to just be reassured from each other.

Mitch also has a moment when he wants to pitch maybe buying a car dealership. Is he trying to grow his portion of this empire? And I mean, if so why? Because he already has the casino. He’s already an MVP. 

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Well, yeah, it was a possibility to explore for the group consensus. Initially, it was about the collective and what we could sort of audition or exercise within the environment, the terrain to extend our reach. It just so happens to be Dwight’s idea that maybe that is a direction I explore. So, we’ll see what happens with it. You just gotta wait and see.

This season is very musically oriented. You play quite a few times and then we see Jay Will getting a chance to rap even a little bit. And then obviously the cameo from Jelly Roll. Can you talk about the influence of music on this season and what it’s like for you to get to play with that so much? 

How the music pertains in this one is really, look, even though it’s so mob affiliated, it’s also so cowboy — the Oklahoma landscape lends itself to that. It’s refreshing. It’s home to them. Also Dwight’s got to kind of be out of place a little bit and a fish out of water, and that certainly comes with him being surrounded by country music. It’s wonderful for us to get to explore that within this. That was introduced to me in the first season… Actually, Sly is the one who proposed it somewhere around when we were shooting Episode 5 or 6 and said, “Hey, why don’t you play a few songs in this…” I didn’t really know about doing that and this and then it sort of got to a point where I just said, “Oh, sure, f*** it.”  

Terence Winter certainly has some fun song choices that he has for me… I feel like sometimes I’m just sort of Terry’s personal karaoke man. Just singing softly in his ear. It’s fun. I’m excited to see what Jay does. And, look, Jelly Roll coming down, he was so fun. It was a big day for him on and off set. And he’s the sweetest man, and it was so great to have him.

Brian Douglas/Paramount+

How dark is the rest of the season going to get?

I think it gets dark enough to keep everybody hanging on the edge of their seat.

Before this, you also did Sheridan’s show Lawmen: Bass Reeves. As the Yellowstone universe continues to expand, is there any chance you’re vying for a spot in one of those shows, too? 

No, I wouldn’t say I’m vying for anything. I will say. I truly, absolutely respect Taylor Sheridan immensely. I respect his talent immensely — what he’s done in the world that he’s built it’s an incredible feat. He’s a living breathing outlaw. I respect all the producers on board. They’re doing unbelievable work. So yeah, I just really appreciate what I’m working on, and the future has never been written on anything.