One recent gem that’s practically become synonymous with Sylvester Stallone is Tulsa King, the Paramount+ crime dramedy that proves age and grit are a match made in heaven. Stepping into the shoes of Dwight Manfredi, a mafia capo fresh out of prison and exiled to Oklahoma, Stallone delivers a believable performance that’s as charming as it is menacing. Some would say that it’s like watching Rocky trade boxing gloves for brass knuckles.
What really sells Tulsa King isn’t just the unbridled tough-guy energy; rather, it’s Stallone’s surprising comedic side combined with the bravado of a crime boss that takes things across the finish line. While the show marks his first major TV role, it landed like a knockout thanks to a balanced blend of dark humor and mob drama. Thanks to creator Taylor Sheridan, Tulsa King doesn’t just depend on Stallone’s previous reputation; it shows audiences a whole new side of him. Turns out, he’s just as compelling on the small screen, maybe even more so.
Sylvester Stallone’s Role in ‘Tulsa King’ Is a Defining Moment in His Career
After decades of playing underdog heroes and muscle-bound leading men in action movies, Stallone finally landed a role that allows him to flex something just as powerful — his range. In Tulsa King, Stallone isn’t clad in boxing gloves or wearing a grenade belt. He wears a well-tailored suit and relies mostly on his street smarts to channel Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a mafia capo exiled to the wild west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The twist here is that he’s been waiting over 50 years for a shot at such a role after being rejected as an extra in the iconic The Godfather. It goes without saying that Tulsa King isn’t just another gangster gig for the actor; it’s actually his first shot at a TV series and unarguably one of the smartest career moves he’s ever made. To enrich the role and the show overall, Stallone infuses the character with depth, dry wit, and a surprising level of vulnerability, splitting it between Tony Soprano and a cowboy philosopher.
Showrunner Taylor Sheridan drops this mobster into cornfields and cowboy bars, ultimately creating this fish-out-of-water story with a criminal twist. Overall, the blend of genres works so well with Stallone’s charm, and the show has critical acclaim, strong ratings, and a third season on the way to prove it. It’s safe to say that Tulsa King has become a late-career reinvention piece for the actor. In many ways, Manfredi is the culmination of Stallone’s cinematic journey, playing this weathered, complex antihero who’s still on a learning path.
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Crime Was Always Missing from Stallone’s Resume
You think of royalty in the crime genre, and names like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Danny Trejo pop up immediately. It’s apt, considering that these actors built legacies playing mobsters, enforcers, and morally grey anti-heroes. Sylvester Stallone, on the other hand, was throwing punches and grenades, carving his name in action-movie history. Needless to say, the organized crime genre hardly caught a glimpse of his expertise. And that’s the surprising part, because watching him as Dwight Manfredi makes you wonder why it took so long for him to make the switch.
In Tulsa King, Stallone embodies the gangster role so effortlessly that it feels like something he’s been doing for eons. There’s a cold precision in his delivery, a simmering charm beneath his weathered persona, and an aged wisdom that give his character depth often lacking in action-heavy characters. For all the explosive franchises and hero arcs he’s known for, Stallone shows in Tulsa King that he could’ve thrived in the world of crime cinema all this time. Sure, he’s flirted with darker characters before (most notably in Get Carter), Tulsa King feels like a proper homecoming to a genre that had been missing from his résumé. At the end of the day, Stallone didn’t need to go out of his way to reinvent himself for his career’s sake; he simply had to reveal another side to himself, and now that he has, it’s hard not to wish he’d done it sooner.
Want to see Stallone flex his range? Stream Tulsa King on Paramount Plus
