Robert Patrick doesn’t just play a villain — he builds one from the inside out.
On Tulsa King Season 3, he steps into the boots of Jeremiah Dunmire, a man equal parts preacher and predator, guarding a moonshine empire with Old-Testament fury.
From the moment he appeared on screen — trudging through the woods with jugs of liquor before sitting down to dinner in an opulent mansion — it was clear Tulsa King had found Dwight Manfredi’s most formidable foe yet.
“It’s so juicy,” Patrick said with a grin. “I’ve never had a character where they’ve introduced me the way they have. You go back… there’s this montage of a guy making moonshine — what year could we be in? Who knows? It could be a hundred years ago.
“We follow this guy, and he walks through the woods, and he goes to this mansion. He hands off these jugs of moonshine. He bathes himself. And the next thing you know, he’s sitting down at this opulent table… It’s beautiful storytelling.”
That storytelling helps make Jeremiah a man of contradictions — a man who demands loyalty, reveres legacy, and punishes betrayal without hesitation.
“I think he wants control,” Patrick said. “I think he wants to live up to what the expectations are of his father and his grandfather and all those who came before him.
“He takes his responsibility very, very serious… He’s very serious about protecting the legacy of the family at all costs, even if he has to sacrifice some of his own loved ones.”
That unwavering belief in family and control defines Jeremiah’s relationship with Dwight.
“From the first episode on, he sees that I was willing to burn down the house with my friend in it,” Patrick said.
“He says something to the effect of, you know, how many times have I said I’ll burn you and your house down — but I’ve threatened that, I’ve never followed through. So right there, he’s admitting, like, this guy is different.”
And Patrick relishes that difference.
“I’m getting so much help from the cinematographer and the show, the way they’re building my character and making it more formidable… I’m so grateful they gave it to me because I had so much fun.”
Still, beneath Jeremiah’s brutality lies a man who believes he’s on divine assignment.
“He is a God-fearing man, and everyone should fear God more than they should fear the devil,” Patrick said. “Biblically, you see how fierce and how… God puts you to the test, and God has asked many people to sacrifice their son… Jeremiah feels like he’s being tested.
“He’s gonna live up to those expectations that he gets when he reads the Bible and from his religion. I think he’s a devout guy — and that empowers him even more so.”
That mix of faith and fury has shaped Jeremiah’s dynamic with his son Cole, played by Beau Knapp. Knapp believes Jeremiah was once a good man — a good father — and that Cole is trying to find that man again.
Patrick chuckled when he heard it. “That’s great that he sees it that way. I don’t know if I see it that way,” he said.
Their tense father-son energy was, in part, by design.
“I didn’t really get close with Beau,” Patrick admitted. “I didn’t socialize with Beau on the set. I didn’t talk to him much. We only talked to each other as characters on camera, to be honest with you. I let him know early on that I didn’t want to be your buddy.”
He laughed again, realizing how it sounded. “That kind of breaks my heart,” he said. “But that’s kind of what you need to do sometimes. And Beau’s a great guy — don’t get me wrong. I love the kid.
“He’s got a beautiful wife, he’s got wonderful children… but sometimes a dynamic, you want to kind of, you know, I don’t want to use that — I hate that word ‘method acting’ — but I have to do what I have to do to protect me and do what I gotta do in my job. And I think it helped.
“We became friends after we wrapped, and now I’ve got his number and we shoot the shit.”
That approach, he said, was rooted in respect. “It’s the antagonist’s job to make the protagonist look good,” Patrick explained.
“I’ve got so much help from so many people trying to build up this guy to be an adversary that’s worthy of Sylvester Stallone — of Manfredi. They really did it.”
As for whether Jeremiah could ever find common ground with Dwight, Patrick didn’t leave much room for optimism. “I think that he’s met a formidable adversary,” he said. “And he’s gonna have a tough time with this guy.”
It’s exactly the kind of fight Patrick enjoys — a battle between faith and fire, loyalty and legacy. And if Jeremiah Dunmire ends up burning down the house in the process, Robert Patrick will be right there in the flames, grinning.
Be sure to read all of our Tulsa King content and be here each Sunday for a full review of new episodes. Tulsa King Season 3 is a wild ride, and you don’t want to miss a bit of it!
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The post Robert Patrick on Playing Tulsa King’s God-Fearing Moonshine King Who’d Burn His Own House Down appeared first on TV Fanatic.