The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub sits down with
Landman
stars Mark Collie, James Jordan, and Jacob Lofland.

Landman
is inspired by the popular podcast,
Boomtown
, the series explores the class disparities in the world of West Texas oil rigs.
During this interview, the cast members express excitement for the show, highlighting the humor in the script, and the scale of the oil industry.

The cast of Taylor Sheridan’s latest Paramount+ epic Landman is beyond exceptional. While the show is led by some of Hollywood’s most well-known faces, the cast is rounded out by a corps of unique character actors. Now, the award-winning storyteller has gathered a country music star, a Justified alum, and a face very well known to fans of Sheridan’s other shows to bring Landman to life.

Helmed by Sheridan and inspired by the popular podcast Boomtown by series co-creator Christian Wallace, Landman takes place in the West Texas world of oil rigs. The show highlights class disparities between the hard-working roughnecks and the billionaires fueling a boom so large it’s changing the world as we know it. Singer-songwriter Mark Collie plays Sheriff Joeberg, Jacob Lofland (Justified) plays Copper Norris, son of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, and James Jordan (Yellowstone) plays Dale, a petroleum engineer and one of Tommy’s closest friends. Landman also stars Ali Larter, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm.

During this interview, Lofland, Jordan, and Collie sit down with Collider’s own Steve Weintraub to discuss Landman. The trio talk about how Landman is the funniest thing Sheridan has ever written, how their characters leapt off the script page, and whether or not Jordan’s characters within the Sheridan-verse will be revealed to be clones in the years to come.

James Jordan Is Taylor Sheridan’s Go-To
“He’s a fan, I’m a fan, and we like working together.”
Image via Paramount+

COLLIDER: First of all, congratulations on the show. I’ve seen five of the episodes, and if I had more, I’d continue watching. James, I originally thought maybe there’s a chance that all of the Taylor shows are set in the same universe, and then you’re in everything. Then I was like, “I s Taylor doing a secret sci-fi thing and you’re a clone?”

JAMES JORDAN: I don’t think sci-fi is Taylor’s genre. I met Taylor on Wind River. That’s the first thing he hired me for. I said this earlier: I think it’s every actor’s dream to find a creator, a writer, a creator of worlds whose aesthetic you just match. I think I just match his aesthetic, and we enjoy working together. He’s very much a loyal man. He hires a lot of the same people, crew, and actors and recycles a lot of us. I think that loyalty ensures that you’re gonna work your hardest, the hardest you can for him on any project. So there’s no sci-fi edge — that would be really interesting. I like where your mind is, but I think it’s just he’s a fan, I’m a fan, and we like working together.

Oh, totally. I’m obviously joking around, but it would be amazing if a decade from now, he comes out, “Oh, by the way, you’ve been in a sci-fi thing.”

JORDAN: Wizard of Oz, pull the levers.

Every Episode of ‘Landman’ Excites the Cast

The first season is 10 episodes. For each of you, which is your favorite episode and why? Spoiler free.

JORDAN: Spoiler free. Is the dinner scene in Episode 5?

JACOB LOFLAND: I think so.

JORDAN: Oh my gosh, this is probably the funniest thing Taylor’s ever written. There are some really hilarious scenes when we get a bunch of characters together, and it goes a little haywire. Those episodes, middle of the run, are a lot of fun for me. But the finale is — Hoo! Talk about leaving wanting more, right?

LOFLAND: I thought it was [Episode] 2. I honestly thought it was two, and then I’ve got to see [Episodes] 3 and 4 and now, I don’t know. I mean, I honestly can’t.

Image via Paramount+

JORDAN: All of them.

LOFLAND: They’re all great. I guess character-wise, maybe [Episode] 2 just for some of the things that Cooper goes through. But yeah, all of them, man. I can’t pick one. Watch them. Everyone does such a great job.

MARK COLLIE: I like that, too, but sort of toward the end. I don’t know if it’s [Episode] 6, 7, or 8. Somewhere in there, that whole sequence.

JORDAN: That thing. [Laughs]

COLLIE: Yeah, that whole sequence. It’s so many different energies, and good versus evil, and everybody in the middle coming together. It was impactful to me. I didn’t realize how much it would be and how real it would feel, but it felt everything in here feels very real. Every conversation is real.

The Immense Scale of the Oil Industry
Image via Paramount+

I thought I knew about the oil industry. I know a little bit, but I feel like I learned a lot watching these episodes, how dangerous it is, and the behind-the-scenes of what goes on. For each of you, was there anything that you were surprised to learn about the industry that came out while making this show?

JORDAN: Just how much hard work it takes to do this job. You drive down the highway in Texas, you look over, and you see a rig and a derrick, and you think, “Oh, they’re just standing around, running a machine.” But my goodness, there are so many moving parts, Steve, to how these operations work. From that point to the excavation, to the refinement, to the production, to get it to the consumer, getting it to the gas pump, it’s so much work involved. So many moving pieces. A lot of hard-working folks, both from the analytical side to the roughneck side, I didn’t know anything about. So, getting that fly-on-the-wall insider’s look was really a blessing.

COLLIE: I learn something about the characters every day when I’m watching it in real time. I knew a lot about the oil business — I thought I did, but I really knew very little. But I’ve learned it. I think Christian’s writing is so insightful, then Taylor bringing it to life. I love going to work every day and reading every new page. It’s not just about the old business, it’s about the life that is the old business.

Image via Paramount+

JORDAN: What do they do off the clock? I see that side of that, too. What do they do when they leave the patch and go out for a beer or a bite?

LOFLAND: The first thing was probably the scale of it. The scale of how big it actually was. I always had somewhat of an understanding, but going into it and seeing that it actually does run everything, and the danger that these guys, men and women both, are putting in to do this job. That dedication, I wasn’t aware of that until we were really in it. Those are probably the two things that caught me most off guard.

There’s a bunch of people who share a house on the show, and you’re one of them. Does it come out why all of you are sharing a house? Because it leads to a lot of comedic things, all of you being in the house together.

JORDAN: Yes, absolutely. There’s some exposition there you’ll find out in later episodes. You’ve seen how many?

I’ve seen up to through Episode 5.

JORDAN: Great. Yeah, there’s some explanation, exposition later on that kind of explains a little bit the absurdity, this farcical nature of the situation. But it’s also because Dale and Tommy — and Nathan, played by the great Colm Feore — we’re tied together because we are the dearest of friends. We’re coworkers, and the life of what these folks do professionally and then privately, they’re really interconnected, and we explore that as well. So, there’s some explanation in there later on.

The ‘Landman’ Cast Are Forever Loyal to Taylor Sheridan
“I don’t even ask what the character is or what the story is.”
Image via Paramount+

When you sign on to something like this, how much are Christian and Taylor telling you an arc of where this might all go, and how much are you like, “Oh, Taylor’s doing this? Yeah, I trust Taylor.”

JORDAN: Well, he just calls me and says, “Hey buddy, I need you here.” And I say, “When and where?” I’m not kidding you, I don’t even ask what the character is or what the story is. He calls me up and says, “James, I got a part for you. I need you in Texas on February 1st.” I say, “Yes, sir, blocking it off right now. You got it.” Again, it goes back to that loyalty issue. I know he’s gonna take care of me. I know the story is gonna be original and authentic. It’s gonna be unlike anything else being produced out there today, just like this show is unlike anything you’re gonna see out there on any streamer, in any cinema, on any stage, on any platform.

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I agree with that. I have not seen anything like this on anything you just mentioned.

JORDAN: Good.

For the two of you, did he tell you anything?

LOFLAND: The scripts pretty much did the talking. I’m sure there were some conversations, but there never was really a sit-down like, “Oh, this is the character.” The writing was on the page, and it came through so well that there wasn’t a whole lot of conversation that needed to be had.

COLLIE: I met Taylor about 30 seconds after I walked on the set. He said, “I understand you can drive.” I said, “Well, they say so.” He said, “There’s the truck.” And I got in it. I love him. He’s amazing. He’s the real deal.

Landman is available to stream on Paramount+.

A modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of West Texas oil rigs.Where To Watch Paramount+

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