Jimmie Tramel
Tulsa World Scene Reporter
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Actor Beau Knapp is a newcomer to “Tulsa King,” but he’s no stranger to “real” Tulsa.
Knapp was in the cast of two gritty shot-in-Tulsa films — 2021’s “Ida Red” and 2023’s “Little Dixie.” Both were directed by Tulsa filmmaker John Swab, who said this about Knapp during a recent text exchange: “He’s the best.”
An interview with Knapp was arranged because he joined the “Tulsa King” cast for its third season. His character, Cole Dunmire, was introduced in a Sept. 21 season premiere on Paramount+.
At the end of the interview — and because Knapp has history in Tulsa — he was asked about his favorite Tulsa things.
“I love Tulsa,” he said. “I stay at the Mayo Hotel every time. It’s a beautiful spot — beautiful rooftop bar. I love the river. I love Danny Boy O’Connor’s ‘Outsiders’ museum. It’s an amazing spot. One of my favorite Whataburgers is in Tulsa. I swear they make burgers better than any other Whataburger. But, yeah, man, that’s my place. I love it there. And I love John Swab. He is my favorite director.”
“Tulsa King” stars Sylvester Stallone as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York mafia capo who, after a 25-year prison stay, starts anew in Tulsa. He assembles a team and stakes out Tulsa as his turf.
In the new season, Manfredi goes to war against the Dunmires, a powerful old-money family. The head of the family is Jeremiah Dunmire, a liquor industry kingpin played by Robert Patrick. Knapp has a prominent role as Jeremiah’s son.
The first season of “Tulsa King” was filmed in Oklahoma. Stallone’s character “lived” at the same hotel mentioned by Knapp. Filming moved to Georgia for the second and third seasons, but the series is still set in Tulsa.
Following are selected questions and responses from the interview session with Knapp:
You’ve experienced real Tulsa and “Tulsa King.” You’re excited to be in the “Tulsa King” world?
“Absolutely. It was such a privilege and a pleasure to be a part of this amazing ensemble.”
Your “Tulsa King” character appears to have some serious daddy issues?
“That’s why I think I connected with Cole really quickly is his daddy issues. But he comes from this very vulnerable position. He has a lot of his turmoil and trauma — from his father, from the losses in his life — as everyone does. For me, Cole, he’s got a good heart. He was raised by a good man that kind of turned cold-blooded, to the kind of dark side. And I think that’s why he adores him so much. He adores his father, and this memory of him, and that’s why he would do anything, whatever the cost is, to make him pleased, to make him happy, or live up to his expectation of him.”
Robert Patrick scares the heck out of me in “Tulsa King.”
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“Absolutely. Imagine sitting across from him when he’s doing that. He’s the sweetest man, too. He’s just lovely. But when it’s time to do business, it’s no joke. I think he brought a lot of great things to each scene between the two of us.”
I know it’s called acting for a reason, but when I see your character in “Little Dixie” and I see your character in “Tulsa King,” I wouldn’t have known the same guy is playing those parts unless I checked the credits.
“It’s kind of why I got into this business. I didn’t really like being myself too much. I like creating things just from the ground up. It drives my wife crazy. I have to lose 15 pounds or gain 30 pounds or do all these different things or learn Spanish or whatever it is. I always feel like I have to earn it. But I always like to just kind of take it to an extreme.”
You might be the nicest guy in the world. Who knows? But you’ve played a lot of bad guys.
“Absolutely. You can call it typecasting or call it whatever you want. But I feel like the bad guys have the best (situation). You get the best scenes and you don’t have to work all the time.”
Have you ever been a character in the vein of your “Tulsa King” character, who is kind of cowboy-ish?
“I did a couple kind of things like that. I did this series called ‘The Good Lord Bird,’ where Ethan Hawke played my father. He was John Brown, the abolitionist, and I played his son for Showtime. It was an amazing Western, but it was nothing like Cole. Cole is like a new age cowboy. I think some people will recognize it, too. I mean, he’s wearing — Cole is bringing crop tops back, man. He’s got this sense of style that he likes, but it was a lot of fun.”
It seems like you’re flirting with disaster when you encounter Stallone’s daughter, Scarlet, who plays the character Spencer in “Tulsa King.” Maybe this is going somewhere?
“Cole is a romantic, man. He sees these silver linings in things and he goes after it. It’s going to get him in trouble, but I think Spencer is like this light in his life that he’s been missing. I think she’s a big reason for a lot of the choices he makes.”
When you join a show in its third season, do you watch the seasons that came before?
“Absolutely. Me and my wife love doing that. We sit and watch and just get to know the characters. I had already watched season one, then we went back and watched season two just to get reestablished. … We all had dinner together before we started season three and it was just like a family. They are such beautiful actors, and they welcomed me with open arms. It was just such an amazing experience.”
Maybe it was like family and friends? Garrett Hedlund, who plays Manfredi’s wingman, Mitch, on the show, said you were his friend in a recent interview.
“We’ve been friends for 10 years. We shot a movie 10 years ago in Atlanta and what was funny is I didn’t tell him I got the job. So we did a cast dinner and he shows up and I walk in the room and he was so surprised. … The first day, when we were on set, it was that first scene when I walk up and start disturbing the peace. But it was so fun because we were kids back then, and now we’re both fathers and have just grown, but to kind of go head-to-head was just so fun.”
What would you want to say about “Tulsa King” and your role that you haven’t been asked about yet?
“I think the audience should expect to see a side of Tulsa they’ve never seen before. I think it’s really exciting. It’s almost biblical, this stuff, with just revenge and romance and betrayal and redemption. All of it. It’s just a powerful season. Cole has a choice to make this season — which lane, where his loyalty lies — so it’s interesting.”
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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Jimmie Tramel
Tulsa World Scene Reporter
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