- - ‘Landman’ Returns: Season 2 Cast on the Show’s ‘Dangerous Relationships,’ That NSFW Daddy-Daughter Scene and the Show’s Future

William EarlNovember 16, 2025 at 12:00 AM

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Hold onto your oil rigs: “Landman” is back for a second season!

The first season of the Taylor Sheridan drama, which he created with “Boomtown” host Christian Wallace, introduced the world to Tommy Norris, the titular landman played by Billy Bob Thornton. Tommy works for oil company M-Tex, keeping drilling operations moving along — despite constant danger in the oil fields, trouble from the cartels and legal woes. Along the way, we get to know his family — ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter), son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) — and the economics of the oil biz, from the treacherous West Texas fields to the cutthroat boardrooms. Family matters will take center stage in this second season, as we finally meet Tommy’s father T.L., played by Sam Elliott.

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Variety spoke with several members of the cast before the Nov. 16 Season 2 premiere on Paramount+ to answer burning questions about the show’s biggest changes, relationship shifts and that viral moment from Season 1 that shocked the internet.

What challenges will Tommy face in Season 2?

“You’re going to see who he really is at the end of the day,” Thornton says. “He’s so busy in Season 1 that there wasn’t much time to take a breath. There are some very human moments in the first season, but this has more. You’re going to see how he deals with family, business, his own mortality, just everything: All the thoughts that go through all humans, and things that you have to go through. First season, Taylor had to set the show up and explain the oil business to the audience. He had to introduce all the characters. Now, you can settle back and really get to know everybody, the family relationships as well as business relationships and the dangerous relationships, all of it.”

What will Angela’s journey look like this season?

“The first season of our show set up oil and the danger and cost to all the families,” Larter says. “The second season, Taylor wrote it about the family. What you realize is that we’re the heartbeat of the show and everything goes around that. With Angela, you go from these dinner scenes, which is how she shows her love and she puts pressure on it. She does it the best she can because she wants everyone to feel it so hard. Then there’s the antics: Tommy is always is going to do something that sets her off. But where we’re going is that we sit on the floor together and the question is, ‘Who are we if we don’t do this? Do we have a real chance at this working?’ Taylor also wrote some really beautiful scenes of connection between Tommy and Angela.”

How will Ainsley’s role change this season?

“We meet her when she’s 17 and we are seeing her in her most formative years,” Randolph says. “We are watching her figure out who she is. She has come to the realization that her parents aren’t always perfect. They don’t always know everything. We get to see Ainsley figure out her own identity, her independence, navigate attention, figure out how she wants to be seen in the world. I find that extremely fulfilling as an actress, because I get to grow with her, and I’m not playing a fully-formed person yet. So I get to throw in these little hints of realizations in these scenes. I look through the scripts to try to find those moments as much as possible, so that I can foreshadow her growing up.”

Is the cast already talking about next season, even though it hasn’t even been confirmed yet?

“I’m looking past Season 2 already,” Elliott says. “We’re here talking about Season 2, but it’s all been done. I’m thinking about what’s to come, and I’m excited about what’s to come. The audience is excited about what’s to come right now. I’m excited about what’s to come next season that we haven’t even done yet. Just having the opportunity to work with all of these cast members, it’s that and the fact that we’ve got this incredible crew — a lot of them are people I worked with before on ‘1883.’ I love going back to Texas and working. There are just so many positive elements to this thing, and it makes it a joy to go to work.”

What’s Billy Bob Thornton’s all-time favorite Tommy moment?

“There are so many of them, it’s hard to remember,” Thornton says. “But I think one of my favorite moments is when Ainsley, we’re at the football game and she’s got the boyfriend there. I’m, of course, a father to a 21-year-old daughter in college right now. So when I hear her say some of these things to me, you don’t have to act much. You just react to it. [Editor’s note: This scene is from the pilot, when Ainsley tells her father about her sex life with her boyfriend, noting that, “As long as he never comes in me, he can come anywhere on me.” Needless to say, this moment went viral.] Plus, Michelle’s as sweet as pie. When we hear that come out of her mouth sometimes… But one way or the other, she’s telling me what she will or will not let the boyfriend do, which I don’t want to hear anything about any of it. And I think maybe my best quote was a stare, and all I can think of to say is, ‘I’m going to go get a Dr. Pepper — you want anything?’ Because I can’t even let myself think right then, you know?”

How did Michelle Randolph survive shooting that now-viral scene?

“We filmed so out of order because we had all 10 episodes, so that was midway through the season,” Randolph says. “That day was freezing cold. There was a whole storm. We had 10 minutes to get that shot, and there was a whole group of people behind us in the bleachers. All I could think is these people are hearing this dialogue, and none of them know what this show is about. So I was just honestly kind of mortified as myself, saying these lines out loud to these people. Billy had it easy because all he had to do was walk away, I’d say.”

Does Sam Elliott do anything to take care of his signature voice?

No! “It’s all natural,” he says.

Watch the “Landman” Season 2 trailer below.

“Landman” airs on Sundays on Paramount+. This interview has been edited and condensed.

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