There was a really good profile on him not too long ago where he was talking about that. He was asking for more money for Season 3 of SoA. BTW, I wouldn't call him a background character and he was a deputy, not the sheriff. He was a pretty major character the first couple of seasons and I remember him being featured prominently in the trailers with Charlie Hunnam when the show first premiered. Anyway, someone who he didn't identify said to him that actors like him were a dime a dozen and refused to give him a raise. He got killed off so he could get out of the show. I always wonder how that executive who told him that must feel today.