Robert Patrick Talks ‘Tulsa King’s Sizzling Death, the Scenes We Didn’t See & a Surprising ‘Sopranos’ Connection

Jeremiah Dunmire (Robert Patrick) was arguably the toughest nemesis Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) has had to face yet, but even he, his multitude of faithful minions, and his trusty axe weren’t enough to take down the General.

In Season 3’s fiery Tulsa King finale, Dunmire was blindsided when, after kidnapping Joanne (Annabella Sciorra) to lure Dwight to his militia-filled manor, Dwight’s crew got the jump on him thanks to an inside tip from his own son Cole (Beau Knapp).

As a bit of symmetry to what happened when we first met him — that is, Jeremiah burning down his lifelong friend’s home to spite him for dealing with Dwight — Dunmire spent his last breaths screaming in agony as he was engulfed in flames.

To talk about that poetic finish, TV Insider caught up with Robert Patrick!

Last time I talked to you, you told me that we’re going to see a vulnerable side of Jeremiah later in the season. Boy, you were right about that.

Robert Patrick: Yeah, he’s crumbling inside, and I think maybe he subconsciously realizes he’s losing his grip. I don’t know if I want to say made bad choices, but his empire is crumbling. So he’s got a lot of doubt. A lot of the bluster and confidence that he had is starting to just crumble, and his relationship with his son. He’s rethinking things and maybe the way he did things. … I don’t think Jeremiah actually knew that he was betrayed by his son. I think he goes out, not knowing that it was his son that betrayed him, which is heavy.

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'Tulsa King' Season 3 Finale: Dwight Manfredi Kills Jeremiah Dunmire in Fiery Fashion

I should tell you, we shot a scene, with Beau Knapp, and I did for one of the earlier ending, like maybe Episode 7 or 8, where there’s a punishment that I put on him, where I make him carry these rocks and this yoke, these rocks, like his weight and his brother’s weight, and he has to carry both weight, and I whip him with a stick. I’m whipping him, and he’s got to keep going up this hillside. And we shot it, and I really felt like it was needed to just display what a monster I was, and it would justify even more so the way in which I was brutally murdered. And I thought they would need it. But evidently, they didn’t think [so], But yeah, I mean, my guy goes not knowing that it was his son that was the one that gave him up.

Well, digging into that relationship a little bit, do you think that if he did find that out — say he won this war — that he would ever forgive him?

I think I’m so disappointed in my son, and it’s the other son that gave his life for the country. I think my character really respected his son that had died for his country, this son that I’m left with is such a disappointment. If I would have survived and known that my son [did that], that would have been an interesting thing that they could’ve maybe gone on with, I don’t know, but you’re right. I mean, there’s the whole scene where I’m destroying the family still that’s been in the family for so long, and it’s all going away, and I think I hold the axe to my boy’s head, and I realize that I’m kind of losing my mind, and hopefully, that carries through with the scenes with Annabella. … That was what was interesting to me was those scenes with Annabella, where he kind of admits to the fact that, “My wife would have been so disappointed in me.” … It was interesting that the writers did that for me. Yeah, but it just shows that this guy’s just lost his mind.

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Well, you mentioned the scene with Annabella as Joanne. There’s a moment where she says, “Do you have regrets,” or something like that, and he slams the axe on the table. So I’m wondering if that was like him saying, “I regret not using that on Cole.”

Maybe. That’s a good way to look at it. I like that. I wasn’t thinking about that. It’s interesting, having watched that episode, what the axe represents, I guess. And I can see how you would think that. I mean, that whole scene is set up with, “I’ve never hit a woman. I had lived a line.” There was a couple adlibs I did where I said, “I’ve never hit a woman, but my daddy did,” and they cut that adlib. I liked it, but I’m not the showrunner. And what that represented to me was that there was abuse in my family, and I had witnessed it, and I don’t know, maybe that just was just too much, but I was like, I’m admitting, “I don’t… I’m not comfortable. I would never hurt you.” Which is revealing. But then, “Yet, I’m trying to threaten you, and don’t push me.” I think there’s this scene where I’m trying to be have dinner with her, and she says something, I think I throw the plates, and I just sort of stand there, confused, like, “Well, what do I do now? I mean, I can’t strike her. I can’t force her…. How do I get her to sign over the distillery? How do I threaten her?” And I guess, taking the axe, slamming it into the table is saying, “This ain’t no joke,” right?

In a world where maybe she had signed, would that have ended it? Because it seems to me like there’s no way that would have even ended it.

I think that if she had signed it over, I still would have been gunning for Manfredi. I still would have been going after him, and he still would have had to deal with me somehow. I mean, that would have raised the stakes in a different way, where, if he lost this… Because he’s trying to legitimize himself by making Joanne the owner of this distillery and get himself in a legitimate business. He’s trying to figure out a way to use this mafia life to get him into a legitimate business so maybe he can leave the mafia life behind somehow, and he’s still got that crazy Ray guy to deal with — with James Russo, which is a great character — there’s so many great actors on this. There’s so many storylines on this show.

Moving on to his death, Jeremiah was pretty into metaphors. So do you think he can somehow appreciate the irony of his ending and how it kind of bookends what he did to Montague in the beginning?

Absolutely…. Sly and I were doing a scene earlier on where we’re at the bar, I think, where I tell him, “You’ve made it so I have to destroy everything you love and what you’ve built now. I mean, you’ve pushed me to that point, and I will,” and Sly, while we’re doing that, he said, “You know, I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to kill you.” And I was trying to think of, “Yeah, well, I wonder what he’s going to do.” Maybe something with the still, like, I’m going to be in a vat or something, and, I don’t know, I drowned in the whiskey… There is a lot of ways to go. And I really didn’t think about fire, but I loved how it worked out, and I loved his monologue. And it is a good way to go, actually, because he says at the funeral, “You burn your finger, and you know how bad that hurts. Imagine what it must feel like when your whole body burns.” And you’re burned alive, like I did to my best buddy, Montague, who was my dear friend. So, yeah, it’s a good way to go. It’s brutal.

Brian Douglas / Paramount+

You mentioned earlier, Quiet Ray is still after Dwight. That’s where the open end of the season is. Is that what you’re looking forward to seeing? The show has been renewed for Season 4, and I’m just curious what all you’re looking forward to seeing for as a fan of the show as well?

Oh yeah. Well, I mean, I just love the show and all the characters and what they’ve got going on, and I’m really excited for them that they cast Gretchen Mol, who’s coming in, because she’s such a great actress, and she’ll bring a whole new, fresh level, and she’s tremendous. I don’t know what her role is, but she’s going to be a great addition. And they’ve got so many ways they can go with it and what they’re doing, and it’s endless, the possibilities. Frank Grillo is still out there somewhere, and he’s going to come back, I’m sure. And crazy Ray and, boy, I really enjoyed — I had done a movie, briefly, I had a very small part in a film with Sam Jackson that I did, and I had a scene with Sam, and I loved that, and then to see him come in and be a part of it and be a part of taking over Dunmire, I thought that was a great use of him, and that’ll be exciting, too. I wonder if there’ll be any crossover stuff, like maybe maybe Sly goes to New Orleans or something.

That’d be fun. Did you know coming into this season that it was going to be that your character was going to die by the end?

Yeah, but I kept hoping, quietly, secretly, because I was having such a good time with the character that I thought, “Well, maybe they’ll stretch this out to another season.” At first, they hired me, they said it would be eight episodes. And then I happily found out that actually, they use you for all 10. And so that was great. And then secretly, I thought, “Well, maybe they’ll stretch it out, and it’ll be two seasons of Dunmire. Maybe this can go on for a while. They can keep butting heads and doing things to each other the whole way.” But it became evident that no, something was going to have to happen. And of course, something does have to happen. You have to when you’ve got a guy like Dunmire to deal with. You’re gonna have to eventually deal with him and take him out.

He’s not going to change his ways.

No. But from his point of view, as I told you, I think the last time we talked, from his point of view, no, he’s being invaded. He’s the one that’s being invaded. His territory is being cut into. So he’s doing the right thing. Anybody would stand and fight for their family legacy and all that. So I agree with the way he handled it. Boy, what a way to go.

Yeah, no kidding, it was most memorable so far, I think.

Well, they brutally killed the guy they got in Season 2. Oh, my God, that was a rough one, too.

I wanted to ask one The Sopranos question … What’s your reaction to those fan theories that it was Davey who returned in the finale and finished Tony off?

I think that was interesting. Did that really get a lot of traction?

Big time. A lot of people are really stuck on that. 

Yeah, that’s interesting. David Chase is the only one that knows. I was never contacted about it. I don’t know. Was there a guy that might have looked like me, or people thought that it was me? … It’s interesting. Yeah, I wonder. I don’t know. I feel blessed that people would really still be thinking about my character at the end. But boy, what a great experience. And the crossover from Sopranos to Tulsa King, the fans are there. That’s a throughline there for sure. Yeah, that’s why I threw out that line, “How’s your balls, Manfredi?” That came from Jimmy Gandolfini. That’s what Jimmy came in and said to me right before we shot that scene where he beats me up in my office to collect. Jimmy came in to me and said to me, as Jimmy to Robert Patrick, “How’s your balls?” So I threw that out there to Stallone, he loved it: “How’s your balls, Manfredi?”

Tulsa King, Paramount+