In season three of Tulsa King, Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone)’s struggle for control and survival is more important than ever as he faces mounting pressure from rival gangs and federal agents, intent on unraveling his growing empire. Jeremiah (Robert Patrick) and Cole Dunmire (Beau Knapp) threaten to upset the fragile balance he’s built as they continue the fight to retake control of the Fifty and Quiet Ray (James Russo) mistakes their attack in this week’s episode as a move against him from Manfredi. The venture is more than just a business opportunity for Dwight, it’s a battleground, where Bigfoot (Mike “Cash Flo” Walden, Goodie (Chris Caldovino), Grace (McKenna Quigley Harrington), and the rest of the team come together to keep their group steady during moments of uncertainty this season.

Walden, Caldovino, and Harrington recently spoke with SciFi Vision about working on season three of the series, what it was like meeting Stallone, and more.

The newest episode is available to steram now on Paramount+. Watch the interview and read the transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   So, to start off, I wanted to know if you each would talk about sort of your character's loyalty to Dwight and how important that is to them. Because sometimes he does things that may not, I don't know, I'm starting to wonder if it may put everybody in danger. So, yeah, just talk about that.

MIKE WALDEN:   My character's loyalty is, I mean, he's super loyal. You know, if you look back on how this character was introduced, Dwight gave him an opportunity, gave Bigfoot an opportunity, where he didn't have anything. He had to move out to Tulsa, you know, via his cousin Mitch or whatever. He had nothing. He was broke. He had nothing, and for Dwight to open his arms and let him in this crew means the world to this character, Bigfoot. So, Bigfoot meant, what he means is what he says, and when he said he will do whatever it takes to make sure that this family feeds, that's exactly what he's going to do.

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   Well, my character has a unique background with Dwight. Goody was around Dwight back in the days in New York before Dwight went away. So, Goody came up, I guess, as a gangster around Dwight and always felt a loyalty to him. And then when he was asked to join him in Tulsa, that was a major, a major turning point for my career. So, I owe Dwight everything to get me out of that dysfunctional New York crime family and bring me into his Oklahoma crime family. So, I feel I'm extremely loyal to Dwight. He put me back in play as he did with all of us. And I think that shows with that, with the cast, everybody, all that, everyone that satellites around him has their own, you know, undying loyalty to him, but he has it back to us. He might put us in a bad position now and then, but if he didn't, the show wouldn't be as interesting.

McKENNA HARRINGTON:   I've similarly, I think, when Dwight shows up season one, episode one to the weed shop that I'm working at, in my mind, I'd dropped out of school, and I know very little about my family from the writing, but I do know that my father had committed suicide a few years earlier. So, I think I really needed a father figure in some ways and someone to give me a sense of worth. And I think the character has become more confident and become more loyal in that. I think at the beginning, she was the one that was the most like, “What is this? Like, what do you mean? We're like, just following what this guy says now.” But I think she felt the love from Dwight. So, it became easy for her to defend him also, because he's really good at figuring out what people are good at and then employing them to do it, which I think is really key.

SCIFI VISION:   This is going to go up after six. What can you tease about the back half of the season? Because now we have not just Dunmire, but it seems like Quiet Ray probably thinks that Dwight has declared war on him, which is not a good thing. So, is there anything at all you're allowed to tease, obviously, without giving too much away?

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   Oh, I'm not touching that one.

MIKE WALDEN:   Yeah, I'm not going to give out any teasers. I'm going to do exactly what I should do here and that's say, “You're going to have to wait and see; the fans are going to have to wait and see.” And I promise, I promise they will not be disappointed.

SCIFI VISION:   All right. Fair enough. Let me ask you guys this. McKenna, you said about how your character gained confidence. How have you guys each changed or what have you, I guess, learned from this experience over these…couple of seasons, just as people, as actors, just for your own personal lives.

McKENNA HARRINGTON:   I've learned a ton about the art of acting on film and TV.

I did some theater after going to theater college, but that was like it. So, my education has been through my fellow actors who I'm just so lucky are all pros and amazing at what they do. So, I think I hopefully have become a better actor the last few years, and like, I have a rhythm on set now. I know how to be on set without dying of nerves, which I think is half the battle too.

SCIFI VISION:   What about you guys? How has your lives changed?

MIKE WALDEN:   How, go ahead, Chris.

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   How has my life changed? I have a really great job. So, it always makes things better. You mean like as an actor or am I an actor?

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, it doesn't have to be. Just something you've learned from the experience, whether it's acting or just, like I said, you know, life stuff.

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   Learn to appreciate what you have and give it your all, because you might not have this opportunity again.

SCIFI VISION:   All right. What about you, Mike?

MIKE WALDEN:   You know, I've learned that, even though the world on set is crazy - especially with me, everything else that I'm into is always crazy - it's really important to stay grounded into who you are, because you can easily get lost, you know, in a mess. And it's like Chris said, it's wonderful to have a really great job and to appreciate everything that it is that you have, so you don't take it for granted. And that can allow you some inner peace when you're in the midst of all this chaos, which is what I've noticed that filming TV is.

SCIFI VISION:   Fair enough. Is there anything that you guys have difficulty connecting with your characters still, even though you've been doing it for a bit now? Is there anything you kind of have trouble getting into for any of you?

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   No, not really. Not at all. The writing is so good that, you know, it slips you right in. I mean, with bad writing, I would imagine that could happen. But we're lucky enough to have very good writing. So, that helps.

SCIFI VISION:   We have about a minute left. So, really quick, talk about the first time you guys met Sly and started working with him, because that I would think would be kind of daunting a little bit.

MIKE WALDEN:   Mine was the first scene of the first step. My first day on the show was the day that I met him. I was lucky enough to get a phone call, and it was my introduction scene, and it was daunting to get through, but, you know, I was lucky enough to have somebody like Sly there.

SCIFI VISION:   So, what was both of your experiences like?

McKENNA HARRINGTON:   Mine was when he walks into the weed shop in the first episode of season one. He walked in the same way, like just to say hi before we shot the scene. We were all frozen. I think it was very method, because we were like, “Oh, wait, this is the energy we should have when Dwight walks in is when Sly's walking in.” But he was so sweet. He immediately was going up to everyone and looking you in the eye. He knew all our names. I mean, it was he was incredible from the beginning and really put everyone at ease.

CHRIS CALDOVINO:   My first scene with him, I was lucky. I was lucky enough not to have that much in that scene when he comes into the meeting, and we tell him he has to go to Tulsa, but it was all inspired by when he walks into the room. It's like, “Oh, man, there he is,” and I just had a couple of lines in that scene, so I got away easy. But then a few couple episodes later, I had my first intense one on one scene with him when I [came] to Tulsa, and that was really intense. I mean, it was great. After I finished that, I was like, “Man, this is what this job is supposed to feel like.” It was great. It really was. It was it was, you know, it was pretty intense, but it was really great, and it worked out well.