Billy Bob Thornton on ‘Landman's' overnight ‘international hit' status and how he's ‘afraid' to read reviews
In an interview with Gold Derby prior to an FYC screening at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood on Sunday, Thornton, who plays Texas oil landman Tommy Norris, talked about the show's overnight success.
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'It was pretty quick,' he said. We thought it was going to be big, but like, in Middle America. We didn't know it was going to be an international hit. We had no idea. So that's always a nice surprise,' he said of Paramount+ drama series, written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, the highly revered Hollywood heavyweight behind the Yellowstone franchise, known for his exceptional writing and roster of complex characters.
After Landman premiered in November, Thornton's team would keep him informed of how well it was performing, but Thornton said he would also hear 'a lot from my wife,' Connie Angland, whom he has been married to for a little over ten years.
'I'm afraid to [look],' he admitted. 'She'll look at it, and say, 'There's this article out,' I say, 'Please don't read it to me.' She'll go, 'It's all good.' I say, 'I still don't want to hear it.''
Thornton added, 'A lot of times, it's something that might sound good to somebody else, but you read between the lines and you go, 'I'm not sure. That might have been a kind of left-handed compliment.''
Variety
Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, and Andy Garcia, Thronton's costar on the streaming series, joined him for the panel (Jon Hamm and Michelle Randolph also headlined the first season). Discussing the star-studded cast, Thornton said that Sheridan 'was pretty good about letting me know who he was looking at for certain parts.'
Though Thornton said he didn't contribute to any of those casting decisions ('Taylor knew who he wanted'), he did help recruit his friend Mark Collie to play Sheriff Walt Joeberg.
And working with fellow 'veteran' actors Moore and Garcia only enhanced the experience. 'What a pleasure,' he said. 'We've known each other for years.'
Thornton said he's known Garcia 'socially' for decades, but this is their first time working together, and he and Moore shared some scenes together over 35 years ago (in Indecent Proposal), later joking during the Q&A that 'she didn't remember me.'
'It was a big scene in the casino,' Moore recalled, describing the set. 'Rolling dice, pool tables, drinking beer … just the things we're still doing,' she joked.
Back on the carpet, Garcia (who plays cartel boss Galino) told Gold Derby of Thornton's set feeling like family, 'Actors are like a gypsy troupe,' he explained. And Lofland, who plays Thornton's on-screen son, Cooper Norris, said that the Tennessee native sets a 'calm' tone down in Texas, which 'takes all the nerves out.'
Lofland added that the cast hangs out 'just as much off-screen as we do on.'
'We'll always get together and have a drink at the end, talk about the day, talk about what's coming up. So we really are like a family.'
Now around two months into filming the second season, with the addition of yet another big name, Sam Elliott, Thornton announced that Season 2 of Landman will be out in November, prompting cheers from the crowd at the 600-seat theatre.
'Looks like it's going to be a Scorpio!' he quipped.
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