“Landman” Season 2 Cast (Paramount+): Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Sam Elliott & Key Cast Insights

Created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman wraps its second season in the plentiful oil fields of West Texas. Billy Bob Thornton (Tommy Norris), Ali Larter (Angela Norris), Sam Elliott (T.L.), Demi Moore (Cami Miller), Michelle Randolph (Ainsely Norris), Jacob Lofland (Cooper Norris) and Paulina Chávez) discuss their characters on the show and the morally gray areas of the oil business.

The season ends on a tender note with a touching sunset scene between Tommy and Angela after staving off financial ruin. “It says so much about the history between these two people, how they really are with each other, and how they really feel. Who knows what challenges the oil business will bring in the future, but ‘Today we win,'” remarks Billy.

On Working With Taylor Sheridan

Billy: Taylor keeps it pretty close to the vest. He doesn’t really tell us what happents until the last minute. Some actors like that. Some actors don’t. I personally love it, because in real life, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t care if we have one episode written or if we have all ten.

Demi: In Season 1, I received all ten scripts together, but I wasn’t in it very much. In Season 2, I’m a grieving widow taking control of my deceased husband’s business and firing Tommy. I only knew the basic broad strokes of how I was going to be stepping in, where I was coming from. We didn’t have the luxury this season to have the scripts in front of us to know where we were going. So, it was a super surprise when it got to the episode where I fired Billy. We have no idea where it may go. Sometimes that’s what makes it exciting and equally challenging. But the thing about working and having Taylor’s writing is that it’s going to be smart, rich and heartfelt. And always with a surprise. He always leaves you with something unexpected and that’s a delight.

Ali: I’ve definitely called Taylor and askede, “What if this happens? Are you sure?” I have learned that I just had to trust Taylor. I’ve gotten to work with him for the last four years and I will never second guess him again. In the first season, I spent a ton of time with Taylor. He is a very clear vision of what he wants.

Michelle: I think that what is extraordinary about him as a writer. He is a visionary because when he is writing the scripts, he knows how he’s going to edit them. There’s a certain amount that we want to do as actors, to have it all be our story. The truth is that we’re telling a full story that we’re a piece of. I think he’s brilliant at it. I think that there’s space on set where I sometimes read something and we often are thinking about something different than what we’re saying.

There’s so many ways to add these feelings and moments to a character when you’re living in this kind of free environment that we feel as actors on our set. But no, I don’t get to change the lines. I do what I’m told.

Paulina: Ariana’s a very specific character and her storyline is very delicate in the circumstances. I wanted to make sure that Taylor’s vision was there. Also, I am Latina and I was able to bring in my two cents with it. But Taylor was always a phone call away. It’s just trusting yourself, trusting what’s written, and trusting the people around you. They’re there to help you succeed.

Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) and T.L. (Sam Elliott) Photo by Todd Williamson/ January Images for Paramount+

On The Final Scene of The Season Finale

Ali: It’s such a beautiful scene. I don’t get to do a lot of that stuff. When you see Tommy and Angela and everything that they’ve been through in their lives, when stuff is very serious, it’s very calm. It was interesting for us to be able to literally walk into that scene with that beautiful Texas sunset. The egg is dropping down. It was quick. We had a couple takes and it was like magic. You could kind of feel it in the air and the writing was just so beautiful.

Billy: Ali and I didn’t know each other before we started Landman. Unlike Sam, Andy Garcia (who plays Gallino), and Demi, we’ve known each other forever. We had a little cast dinner, she and I walked out onto the patio of the restaurant, we just started talking and we had that chemistry. People say, “How do you build that chemistry?” Well, I don’t think you can. One of the things in that particular scene you’re talking about, we had this very still and beautiful moment together. One of the things that we always do to keep grounded when we’re doing crazy scenes, is we always make eye contact at some point. And we keep that connection to each other. We don’t plan a lot of stuff. We just do what we feel at the moment.

On Playing T.L. 

Sam: After having an experience with Taylor Sheridan in 1883, getting to know him, and being part of ‘Taylorworld,’ it’s just a gift to be part of Landman. It’s an opportunity to come and work with somebody that I’ve known as long as I’ve known Billy Bob Thornton. We’ve worked together a couple of times, but I’ve watched his career forever. It’s what I’m heaven-high about. It’s just working with this caliber of actors, having that material to work with that Taylor Sheridan generates consistently. You can’t ask for anymore.

On Ainsley Norris’ Character 

Michelle: She could be just this spoiled brat, but there’s something very endearing about her as a cheerleader. She is the comic relief. She is kind of silly. She is kind of self-absorbed, but she’s also kind of likable.

On the page, sometimes I would look at it and I don’t know how I’m going to do this scene and not sound so annoying or really dumb. But what I found with Ainsley, and the trick for her, is just being so incredibly earnest. I play her really honestly, like she’s never in on the joke. She’s so sincere and everything that comes out of her mouth, you can’t be mad at it. It’s really sweet. I definitely think I’m excited for her to grow up and have her own independent life, go be with her peers and go to college.

On Angela and Ainsley Being The Comic Relief

Ali: When I first got to MIdland, Texas, I think we only had two or three scripts. I did not think that we were the comedic relief. And, I guess I was being very sincere as well. As we were shooting, I was like, “Hold on, are we in a different show?” The first day that I met Sam Elliott, we were shooting a scene where I had to go outside, sitting on the chair outside the kitchen in the M-Tex Oil house. I perched on the arm of the chair and we started talking about our family. He’s the most generous and beautiful actor. and beautiful human.

Michelle: We just ran in holding hands. I hope we’re doing something that people will like to watch because it is hard to be the comedic relief in a show that is this very serious drama. The other characters are all doing these scenes that make me cry. And then Ali and I are on the Stairmaster.

We went through the fire during the first season of everyone figuring out their place and what the chemistry was. And with the comic relief of it, you just don’t see that in shows like this. We now understand exactly where it fits in the show and how it’s needed and wanted for Taylor’s vision of how he sees Landman. I think that also one of the joys this season was with us and our antics.

Angela Norris (Ali Larter) and Cami Miller (Demi Moore) Photo by Todd Williamson/ January Images for Paramount+

[More: Behind The Scenes Of “Landman”: An In-Depth Interview with the Main Cast]

On Ariana’s Character

Paulina: The last few episodes were the opposite of comic relief for me. They are so rough for both the audience and the character. I also had no idea what was coming. I remember reading episode 209 and flipping through the pages. And I was really thinking to myself that this episode is straightforward. And then the ending came and I remember texting Jacob (Cooper) right away and I asked, “Did you read the script?” He hadn’t yet. I was losing my mind. As soon as I got the email, I was reading it. But then he got to the ending and we were like, “OK, we’re doing this.”

We didn’t really prepare for it emotionally because it’s it’s such a heavy scene and your body doesn’t differentiate between what’s real and what’s not. That was the trickiest part. I didn’t know how I was going to react. It’s a woman’s worst nightmare to go through that. I think it was done so respectfully.

My relationship with Cooper also changed. We’re so close and bonded. Ariana is hiding things, but the audience can still see how she really feels. We both talked to Taylor and we knew where he wanted these characters. And it’s such a delicate storyline. The whole time we were wide-eyed, wondering what are we doing, making sure that we were checking in with each other. We became good friends and trusted each other, trusted our characters and trusted Taylor and the creative team. I think the more we work together, the more comfortable we got on camera.

It’s fun to watch it back and see the growth that we made throughout the seasons. We didn’t put a whole lot of work into it. We just showed up and what happens, happens. And the more comfortable we got, the better it got. What really helped is that our relationship started off a little clumsy, it was a little awkward and trying to find our footing.

Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland) and Ariana (Paulina Chávez) by Todd Williamson/ January Images for Paramount+

On Cooper’s Character

Jacob: It’s a very internal thing, him finding this maturity and his place in the world. We’re still figuring that out. Me and Cooper, kind of growing, one and the same. It’s all in the writing and we bring it out of each other. The scenarios that we’re in, you live it.

The director Stephen Kay helped us tremendously in most of these scenes of growing these characters to where they were. Every day is a new day. You walk into it and just live the experience that’s on the page. And once you do that a couple of times, you’re in it as much as you can be.

On Director Stephen Kay

Michelle: Stephen is so free and open to anything we want to try. He never lets you have an inauthentic moment on camera. He’s a perfectionist, but not in the way where he’ll never move on from a scene unless he knows he has it.

He lets you play. I feel supported, comfortable, and encouraged to try something new in a scene. That’s when you really get something magic. And Stephen has this way of making our sets feel like we are just putting on a small play for our crew. It doesn’t feel like this is something that tons of people are going to watch. So I think that I’m always more willing to to let loose. Ali and I get a chance to do that a lot, where it never feels like work or a scene. As soon as the scene feels fluid, that’s when we know we’ve gotten it.

Ali: Stephen has extraordinary taste and he does elevate Taylor’s writing. That combination of Taylor and Stephen is what makes our show lift to the next level. A lot of times, I’ll come in to do a scene, either with Billy or someone else, we’re not doing exactly what’s on the page. We’re finding complexities within it, within past history, and all this stuff. And he just digs right in. He gives extraordinary notes. He makes every scene better.

Billy: He’s such a genuine human being. I think to be a good director, you have to have that. He’s not the kind of guy who comes in there as a taskmaster. He listens to everyone. If you have an idea, he’s open to it. And as Ali said, he has really good ideas. When he gives directions, it’s not so he can be the director. He actually wants it to be the best it can be.

by Staff Writer

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