LANDMAN DOESN’T ENTERTAIN — IT WEARS YOU DOWN. There’s no welcome here. No beauty shot to soften the blow. Just West Texas grinding people into dust, and a man at the center who looks like he’s already paid every price life can charge. Billy Bob Thornton doesn’t perform this role — he carries it, heavy and bruising, until every look feels like a confession. What Taylor Sheridan builds isn’t myth or nostalgia. It’s exhaustion. Power that smells like oil. Survival that isn’t heroic, just necessary. Episode by episode, the show tightens its grip, not because it’s fun — but because it refuses to let you escape the damage. This isn’t a binge you enjoy. It’s one you endure. This wasn’t just entertainment anymore.
Landman star James Jordan has become one of show creator Taylor Sheridan’s favorite go-to actors over the years, and in a new interview, he shares why he still finds it “constantly challenging” to collaborate with the high-powered writer and director.
Jordan first worked with Sheridan on his critically-lauded film Wind River, which dropped in 2017, one year prior to his breakthrough with Yellowstone. The film served as a precursor to many of the main themes of Yellowstone, and it also featured may of the same actors, including Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Hugh Dillon, Ian Bohen, Martin Sensmeier and Jordan.
He’s gone on to work on Yellowstone, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, Lioness and Landman with Sheridan, and Jordan tells Taste of Country that every new project offers new growth opportunities.
“I think a great writer, a deep writer like Taylor is — like any writer that has depth to them — wants to find an ensemble of actors that he recycles,” he reflects.
“I’m not the only one; he uses a handful of us over and over again. I think he likes to challenge us, to see how far he can push us, and to see what we bring to the table in regard to his storytelling,” he adds.
“And also, I think he enjoys seeing us swing for the fences, trying to hit those home runs with his material. And when you have someone that poetic and that brilliant, who thoughtfully designs his stories so well, that’s what attracts you as an actor. It’s constantly challenging to play these people that he writes and bring them to life in such an interesting way.”
Landman stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, who works for a major West Texas oil company, procuring land rights and managing the people involved in various drilling projects — oftentimes through means that are neither entirely ethical nor strictly legal.
Jordan plays the role of Dale Bradley, a petroleum engineer who works for the same company and is one of Tommy’s best friends, as well as his roommate. His character provides a degree of comic relief from some of the more serious themes of the show, but he also has some heavier scenes as part of the mix.
Jordan says his work with Sheridan is probably not done.
“I admire the man, and look at him as a mentor and a friend, and look forward to more,” he states.
Landman was a huge success for Paramount’s streaming service, Paramount+, setting new ratings records for the service in its first season, which wrapped on Sunday (Jan. 12).
Paramount has yet to announce a second season, but according to series star Demi Moore, filming for Landman Season 2 will commence in the early part of 2025. She let that news slip during an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2024, Deadline reports, but there’s been no official confirmation.
