She went from the Marines to the mob.
Tatiana Zappardino plays a Mafia princess in “Tulsa King,” but in real life, is a former Marine lieutenant.
The actress, who stars as Tina, the daughter of Sylvester Stallone’s character, Dwight, a New York Mafia capo exiled to Oklahoma, said her veteran status helped her land the role.
“I did the [audition] tapes and sent them in and literally within the next few hours, they said, ‘Sly wants to talk to you,’” Zappardino, 35, told The Post ahead of Veterans on Nov. 11 and the series’ Season 2 finale on Nov. 17.
Stallone had already seen her on screen — in the NewDay USA veteran home loan commercials she starred in — which were frequently on television in 2019 and 2020.
“Sly saw my commercials . . . and he loved them,” said Zappardino, who was a public affairs officer in the United States Marine Corps for four years.
“Apparently he’s like, ‘If she can make something that boring interesting, she must be a good actress.’”
Zappardino said Veterans Day is a time for “remembering those who’ve sacrificed for their country and celebrating their bravery.”
“I am proud to be a veteran and wish my fellow veterans health, happiness and the chance to spend the holidays with the ones they love,” she said.
The San Diego native joined the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while attending Jacksonville University, upon the suggestion of her stepfather, a Marine recruiter.
“I just wanted to go straight to Broadway,” she said. “And he’s like, ‘Why don’t you go to college through a Marine Corps scholarship, get a degree in theater, serve your time, and then go do theater.’”
Zappardino said military discipline helped prepare her for the acting world.
“You wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to work out, then you go to your classes,” she said. “During the summer, I did mountain warfare training . . . spent some time in a submarine, a destroyer.”
After earning a degree in theater and music, she became a second lieutenant, and applied to become a public affairs officer.
“I was like, ‘That’s kind of like acting.’ But there’s only ever three positions in the company of 800, so it’s really hard to get . . . and I got it,” she explained.
She said it wasn’t easy being an officer.
“I’m 22 and I’m telling a crusty old gunnie who’s been in for 20 years what to do,” said Zappardino, who was based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and deployed once to Catania, Italy.
“The Marines were really hard on me, I’m not gonna lie . . . But I’m not only proud of it, I’m grateful for it.”
“I was like, ‘That’s kind of like acting.’ But there’s only ever three positions in the company of 800, so it’s really hard to get . . . and I got it,” she explained Courtesy of Tatiana Zappardino
Zappardino is also grateful for the career advice her TV dad, Stallone, gives her.
“He treats me almost like his daughter off screen. He has so much wisdom, and he’s always dropping wisdom bombs on me,” she said. “And it’s always like, ‘Boom! Wow, I’ve never thought of that.’”
Stallone’s daughter, Scarlet, is also on the Paramount+ series, and Zappardino said it’s interesting to compare their real-life dynamic with her on-screen one.
“It’s very similar to Dwight and Tina’s relationship, where it’s just kind of like a lot of snark, but love underneath,” she said.
Zappardino brings the relationship she had with her own late father to the role of Tina, who reconnects with Dwight after he served 25 years in prison.
“I didn’t grow up with him when I was young, so I had a lot of abandonment problems that I think carried on into teenage-hood . . . At the end of our life together, I was always just wishing I cut him some slack and had more time,” she said.
Last year, she welcomed a daughter with her partner, Alexander, a US Army Green Beret. His team happens to be Stallone fans — and pay homage to his 1993 film “Cliffhanger” at their base HQ.
“The whole team is obsessed with Stallone,” she said.
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