Tatiana Zappardino is a beloved actress to her fans from her roles on “Tulsa King,” “The Consultant,” and “Superstition.”
She got her first big break on “Superstition” as Tilly, a medical examiner. Her next big career break was guest-starring on “This Is Us” and then onto a co-starring role in “The Consultant” with award-winning actor Christoph Waltz.
Zappardino then notched a role in the Taylor Sheridan-created and Sylvester Stallone-led hit show, “Tulsa King.” She plays Tina Manfriedi-Grieger, the daughter of Stallone’s character.
Zappardino appeared in 16 episodes over the first two seasons of the Paramount+ series. (“Tulsa King” completed its third season in 2025.) Before her success in Hollywood, Zappardino learned many lessons and endured challenging training in the United States Marine Corps. She served in the Corps as a public affairs officer (PAO).
Zappardino was born in San Diego and earned a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from Jacksonville University in Florida. She recently sat down to chat with We Are the Mighty.
Samurai Pulse Ep 22: Interview with Tatiana Zappardino, Actress and USMC veteran
1. What Inspired You to Join the Marine Corps?
“During high school, my stepfather was a USMC recruiter, and I spent a lot of time at the recruiter’s office. I was part of the poolee program and saw the honor behind being in the military. All the branches had offices right next to each other; there was a lot of smack talk about who was the best, but the Marine Corps is the best. I was taught the Marines were No. 1.
“I wanted to be an actress out of high school, and at the time, I was not emotionally ready. … My stepfather suggested I apply for the Marine Corps scholarship, because then you can get a degree in acting and do your time in service and then go act. Get the best of both worlds. You don’t have to rush to it. I applied and was awarded the scholarship.
“I went to college to become a Marine Corps officer, and it was a really challenging eight years. It was amazing and devastating at times. I grew up just like he said I should. I was finally ready for a film career.”
2. How Did Your Time in the Corps Change Your Life?
“Being a Marine takes a certain mindset. There is a certain mindset and caliber of person to be in for 25 years and have a big ribbon stack. It just fits them. It didn’t quite fit me….
“I was the Marine who smiled in her photos. I was told to ‘stop smiling.’ My response was, like, ‘I can’t.’ I asked why a lot. I would speak up when something I didn’t agree with was happening. You start to realize that’s not exactly what they want, but that is who I am. I learned to keep my bearing and push through, preparing me for the film industry. I take criticism [on set] and don’t have to take it to heart and cry. I’m like, ‘OK, moving on.’
“The tenacity and pushing through a lot of the barriers in the Marine Corps and a lot of adversity with challenges propelled me toward this career. Many people quit acting in a year if they don’t book something. You’ve gotta keep pushing. That’s the biggest thing I took away from the Marine Corps; no matter what, you can make it to the top of the hill. It sucks. It hurts. You’re carrying so much weight, and your hip just broke, and you’re still going.
“You can go a lot further than your mind tries to tell you that you can. I think that’s why I’ve been so successful in the film industry. I’m not saying I’m an A-lister…. What I’m saying is that with my mindset, I can go the distance.
“… I did the necessary growing up in the military that I needed. I put [public affairs officer] as my top choice…. PAO school was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. There is a lot more journalism than on-camera stuff. We do a lot of SME [subject-matter expert) preparation for camera work and staying on message when speaking to the public. Mainly, it’s journalism and I learned about writing articles and photography.
“It was awesome, and I do love writing. In fact, I’m writing some scripts for future projects. Those are the skills I took away the most.
“You are still a rifleman first, and you still are doing a lot of training at the pistol range and the rifle range. I became a range safety officer [RSO] at one point. You’re not just what your job is, and I still got to do a lot of exciting things. I deployed with a Reserve unit to Italy, and it was a great learning and growth experience. I got to do some of my skill training out there, and we had teams that we sent to Northern Africa to train their military. We sent out Marines to take photos and write articles. Marines did community service in Catania, Italy, and post those events. We went to the embassy to meet people, and it was all really cool.”
3. What Made You Want to Be an Actor?
“I was a very shy and quiet kid. I was bullied a lot. We were kind of a poor family, and I had to wear my brother’s hand-me-down clothes. Some of the kids made comments like, ‘Oh, she must be a boy.’ Stuff like that. It was rough. Then I was in a musical, and it was ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ I played the Jitterbug, and it was my first role. When I went on stage, I came out of my shell and my parents said, ‘You were so great. We’ve never seen this in you.’ I was like, ‘Oh, really,’ and it really sparked it.
“I got leads in high school and college productions. This was the first time I didn’t have to fight to be good at something. It’s something that’s in me. In the Marine Corps, I had to fight to be good at it. To do the three-mile run in the Corps, I was running every day. Just to do the obstacle course, I was running it every day just to learn how to get over the wall. It was not something that came naturally to me, like I was hopping over the wall.
“With acting, I would go into a room and read something. I understood the emotions in it. Already, having been through so much stuff at a young age, a lot of sad things, I had therapy through it. When I found it, I just didn’t want to let it go.”
4. What Was It Like Working on ‘Superstition,’ ‘Tulsa King,’ and ‘The Consultant’?
“They are all very different as they have different-sized roles, different casts, and different crews. My favorite by far is ‘Superstition.’ It was one of my first TV roles…. It was a smaller crew, and the cast was very intimate because we did scenes together all the time. So we were all just really close and I loved going to work.
“I knew every crew member’s name, and cast members would all sit down and have lunch together. It was a very collective group of people that just had a great time. ‘The Consultant’ was awesome. Christoph Waltz is just amazing to watch. He’s fascinating and nice. I was a smaller part in that project; when I went into the pilot, it was a recurring character.… I got to work and it was a payday…. I’m here and watching Christoph Waltz do his thing. Brittany O’Grady is great and sweet.
“I booked ‘Tulsa King’ right in the middle of ‘The Consultant.’ Season 1 [of ‘The Consultant’] was a great experience. I really like a lot of the people I worked with, and it was on a much bigger scale. The crew was thousands, and I couldn’t quite keep up with everyone’s names. I like knowing people’s names who I’m working with, but there were just too many people.… It was constantly changing.
“I was slightly more outside of the cast [in ‘Tulsa King’] in Seasons 1 and 2, because I only had scenes with Sly. … I didn’t get to bond as much as I would have liked to. It’s an honor to be part of the show, especially with how many people want to watch it. So many people come up and tell me they’ve seen ‘Tulsa King.’ I came into acting more than just to act. I love the creative experience of working together as a team and building these family-style bonds. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to feel like a 9-to-5 [job].”
5. What’s Next for You?
“My career is in the building phase, and I am on the show‘Tulsa King’ and am committed to it. I’m focused on my family right now as well. I love being able to stay home and raise my daughter. My partner is deployed at this time. I’m glad I have that time with my daughter while she is young. Right now, I’m surviving as she is just a toddler running around and causing chaos.
“I’m doing some writing and writing a feature over the past six years. I finally feel like it is ready to be produced, and I want to film it next year. It is my passion project to work on right now. I’ll handle auditions as they come in. I’m not gonna hold my breath and say, like, “I’m gonna be in ‘Gladiator III.” You can’t really do that and I’m likely not at the status for that one. My goal is to focus on my family and write.
“… No matter how long it’s been and how much I have overcome, I always feel at home when I run into a Marine. I just jumped right back into talking. They understand, and they get it. It’s great. I’m so honored to be part of that tiny circle.”
