It's hard to imagine a different actor than Jon Bernthal telling us all something as Shane Walsh in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, but that's what almost happened. And if it did happen, the future of TV looks a whole lot differently.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, who had a successful career as an actor before becoming a writer, revealed that he was almost cast as Shane Walsh in The Walking Dead on a new episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
"I got pretty far down the road on The Walking Dead, but Bernthal beat me out on that,” Sheridan revealed to Simmons.
It's funny, too, because Sheridan and Bernthal already worked together on Wind River that Sheridan wrote and directed and Bernthal played a big part in. Bernthal also worked on Sicario, as well.
Bernthal is, of course, the right choice for the role. He was absolutely iconic in the role. Shane is one of the three or four big roles in the first and second seasons of The Walking Dead that needed to be cast perfectly. Rick Grimes is the first one, obviously, because Rick has to work for The Walking Dead to work. Andrew Lincoln was perfect.
Beyond that, you have to get Lori Grimes right, and they did with Sarah Wayne Callies. Then, for me, the next most important character is obviously Shane. He has to lose his mind in order for the whole love triangle to continue and fall apart.
It's so interesting to imagine how everything changes if Sheridan books The Walking Dead instead of Bernthal. Obviously, Bernthal would definitely become a big star anyway. He's that talented. Yes, Shane was his breakout role, but I feel like he would definitely have become something similar to what he is now. Something would have broken his way.
Sheridan, on the other hand, had bounced around Hollywood as an actor. He was part of some great shows, but he was never, like, the guy. If he had booked the Shane Walsh gig, that totally could have changed his career trajectory. He left acting, and he went on to become an incredibly successful creator.
If Sheridan plays Shane, does The Walking Dead take off in the same way? I think so, but it's also pretty likely that he starts getting more roles. Would he have time or energy to start writing Yellowstone? Would he have written Sicario or Hell or High Water?
Yellowstone became so popular, and it launched so many big spinoffs. We have Lioness, Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, and Tulsa King, among others. In part, they are all possible because Sheridan missed out on playing Shane.
It seems like everything played out how it should, but it's definitely intriguing to consider what could have been if Sheridan played Shane instead of Bernthal.
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