Why Billy Bob Thornton Found Playing His Landman Character So Easy

“Landman” has quickly become one of the crown jewels of Taylor Sheridan’s vast media empire. The creator of “Yellowstone” brought the show about the oilfields of West Texas to Paramount+ in 2024, and it pretty instantly became another big success. Series star Billy Bob Thornton was shocked that “Landman” became so popular, but for Thornton, it’s become a pretty impressive feather in his cap relatively late in his career. It also hasn’t exactly been the biggest acting challenge for him.

In a January 2026 interview with Men’s Journal, Thornton discussed his role as Tommy Norris in the show. Sheridan convinced Thornton to star in “Landman,” which is good because he wrote the part specifically for the “Fargo” and “Sling Blade” actor. But that’s also a big reason why the character was pretty easy for Thornton to get a grip on. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“Taylor [Sheridan] wrote the show specifically for me. He wrote it in my voice to start with. And that makes it easy to go out there and put the hat on. I never want to look at characters as something separate from yourself anyway. I think you’ve got to put yourself in every character because then it’ll be your best work. It’s a pretty natural fit for me.”

“But that’s not the popular thing to say for actors,” Thornton concluded. “You’re supposed to tell people how hard it was and how many lessons you took, how many accents you practiced, and all that kind of stuff, because that impresses critics. But I don’t care.”

Indeed, what Billy Bob Thornton is saying isn’t exactly the popular thing for an actor to say. Plenty of actors have had to do terrible things in horror movies, sci-fi movies, etc. It’s not to say that the job is always easy, but in this case, it was tailor-made for the actor in question. Thornton doesn’t have to run around screaming, get covered in blood, or do anything overly physically demanding. He’s just acting, which he’s been doing at a high level for decades now.

Thornton previously had to address rumors that he’s leaving “Landman.” In light of this role not being an enormously difficult thing for him, and in light of how popular the show is, it always seemed silly to believe that he would actually leave the series at a high point. That’s not to say he’s going to stick around forever, but he’s in no danger of going anywhere for now.

Speaking of “Landman” Season 3, it recently got a positive update from director Stephen Kay. While we still don’t know when exactly it’s coming or what it’s going to be about, things are trending in the right direction. In the Men’s Journal interview, Thornton touched on what he expects to happen in the forthcoming season, broadly speaking:

“I have a feeling a lot of things are really going to ramp up [in Season 3]. Because the first season was so full of action stuff and danger. The second season was full of the family and business relationships. It’s just a guess, but I’d imagine things will come to a head.”

“Landman” is streaming now on Paramount+.