‘Landman’ star Jacob Lofland on Cooper’s journey this season and why he loves Fort Worth
Jacob Lofland is enjoying his character rolling with the punches on “Landman.”
The 28-year-old Arkansas native stars on the Paramount+ series as Cooper Norris, a young oilfield worker and son to Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton). Lofland describes Cooper’s journey throughout the show’s first five episodes as “hectic.”
That sounds about right for Cooper, who has survived an explosion, got into a few fights and may have a budding romance, all throughout the halfway mark this season. Episode five in particular is a big one for Cooper as rising tensions come to pass.
Ahead of his big episode, Lofland spoke with the Star-Telegram about Cooper’s journey thus far and what to look forward to on this season of “Landman.” Lofland also discusses his time filming the show in Fort Worth and why he can’t wait to come back.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length and contains spoilers for “Landman” episode five— “Where Is Home.”
Star-Telegram: Jacob, thanks for the time today. I wanted to start with something about “Landman” as a whole. You’re from Arkansas, which isn’t as big of an oil producer as Texas, but it is produced there. How much did you know about this world of oil before joining the show?
Jacob Lofland: I was familiar with the world. My dad actually, when he was my age like, 28 to 30, worked in West Texas in the same place in Midland and Odessa. I’ve heard stories throughout my life of that boom-and-bust life. It was always intriguing to me. He didn’t do it when I was older and born. But I’ve had family throughout the years who have done it, so I had somewhat of a tie.
I did not know all the ins and outs of doing it. I’d only ever heard stories. It was really cool to be in person and get to come up firsthand, and be on a rig, and kind of get to experience what my dad learned how to do. That’s kind of my only connection to the oil world.
ST: Wow, that’s interesting that you’re dad did it for real and now you’re doing it on the show. Did you ask him for any tips on the rig or anything like that?
JL: Yeah, there was lots of conversation between me and him. Unfortunately, he passed this July, actually, so he won’t ever get to see the show. But that was an important thing for both of us, and it means a lot to me for that.
ST: Sorry to hear that. This show “Landman” adds to the huge scope of shows Taylor Sheridan is known for, such as “Yellowstone.” This show in particular has a big cast, including Billy Bob Thornton as the main star. Did you end up doing scenes with Billy Bob during your audition? And also, what was your reaction to joining this huge show?
JL: When I did sign on, Billy Bob was actually already attached. I’m pretty sure when I was going through my audition, he was the only name attached to the show. So that was a no-brainer, of course. Everyone wants to work with Billy Bob. I can say now, it’s not a mistake. He’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.
Whole cast was great. As you said, yes, very expensive, stacked cast. But at the end of the day, there’s some of the most down-to-earth, genuine people and humans. Just fun to be around and great to work with. It really was a blessed set. I mean, we had some of the greatest people. From our crew, to our cast, to everything, even catering. We had [Gabriel] Gator [Guilbeau], who’s one of the best caterers in the business.
ST: Nice, I actually spoke with Gator last year when he released his “Yellowstone” cookbook. Didn’t know that Sheridan moved all his “Yellowstone” staff around.
JL: The whole world, man. It’s crazy.
ST: We’re five episodes into “Landman” so far and I feel like the journey with Cooper this season has been little victories that eventually crash down. He has a good first day with Armando’s (Micheal Peña) crew until the explosion. He wins the fight against Manuel (J.R. Villarreal) and Antonio (Octavio Rodriguez), only for them to become his future crew mates. For you, how would you describe Cooper’s journey this far?
JL: Hectic. In one word, I think hectic. And I think it’s just going to get worse for him for a little bit, I really do. He has no idea and that’s one thing I love about the character, he’s learning with the audience. He’s kind of in the same situation. Even though he’s there, he really has no clue what he’s doing. Every time Cooper is on screen, you’re learning about the same thing he is. I really love that. The audience gets to grow with the character. That’s kind of cool.
ST: He’s definitely the audience surrogate and our stepping stone to this world. With that, did you do any type of oil-rig boot camp before filming?
JL: We went through a five-day training camp. I think it was the week before production, maybe two weeks before. But everyone who had to do with oil [was there]. James Jordan, me, J.R. [Villarreal], Octavio [Rodriguez], there were plenty of us that went out. I think Michael [Peña] and Emilio [Rivera] came out. Anyway, we went through a full week just to make sure that you have the skills to not get hurt. It’s a dangerous thing to work around, but as long as you know what you’re doing, everyone’s safe.
That was really just cool to make sure that no one got hurt doing something that we weren’t supposed to be doing. It did definitely help be comfortable on the day and on the rig when you’re moving heavy equipment, to have that practice and have that assurance. It’s a great thing that Taylor did. He makes it a point to make his actors comfortable and prepared.
ST: I think it makes it more authentic too. At the end of episode four, there’s a scene where your crew is changing pipe out and it feels real. Like someone just turned the camera on and filmed a real crew.
JL: That’s exactly how it feels when we’re filming it. It’s so cool when you surround yourself with the real stuff like that, it doesn’t take a lot to be in it.
ST: Part of that is Cooper being thrown into the fire in episode one. There’s a scene where the guys make him climb to the top of rig as a joke, where he then looses his footing and has to be helped down. I read online that you said you didn’t know that you didn’t like heights until this scene. Could you talk about that experience and how y’all filmed it?
JL: I mean, it was pretty straightforward with some extra safety added. You just climb up the side of it and let go and hope they can catch you. It’s real simple in your head and that seemed simple to me until I started climbing up. Then you go looking down, it’s like, “Hold on, wait a minute. You want me to fall off of this? That’s actually what I climbed up here for?”
It starts clicking, being that high. It got really hard to make yourself go, “Oh yeah, I’ll just let go.” Yeah, I’m still not fearfully scared of heights. But that was the first time I was like, “Oh no, my legs are a little weak. This is too high for comfort.” I think I probably would have been fine, if it hadn’t of been like, “Okay, now let go.” [Laughs]
ST: I think that feeling translates well into the scene. Episode five is a big one for Cooper. He first has a lengthy meeting with Ariana (Paulina Chávez), then goes to the Norris family dinner, which I want to ask you about. Was this episode one of your favorite ones to shoot?
JL: I believe so. It kind of all runs together. I have to say, once we got to five or so, we were shooting a couple of episodes at a time. So I don’t remember exactly, in a whole what five was, but through the time, I do know five is a great episode on paper. It’s been long enough now, and I’ve thought about it so many times, they’re kind of all running together. Taylor’s shows are really 10-hour movies. For us, we read it as a movie. I mean, you read it like a novel, instead of like the episodes, basically. It’s kind of hard, after a certain period, to go, “Yeah, that’s five or six.” Because it kind of all runs together, but yeah, five is definitely a good turning point for Cooper. It sets the stage for the rest of the season in the direction it’s going to go.
ST: The Norris family starts apart this season and slowly comes together over the first five episodes, leading to this family dinner scene. It’s a funny scene because clearly no one wants to be there and they’re all there to appease Angela (Ali Larter). Was that scene as awkward to film as it seems in the show?
JL: There wasn’t a whole lot of awkwardness between any of this cast. That’s one thing we were kind of worried, “Is there going to be awkwardness that plays on camera?” Because we all get along so well anyways. That’s where the work comes in. Surprisingly, at the end of the day, it just worked perfectly and the decisions that were made coincide. That day was so much fun. That was the first day that as a family, we’d all actually been together on set anyway. The first time we were actually getting the camaraderie, all day long it was nothing but laughs, man.
I think it took us a little over half a day to shoot that scene. I was hurt from laughing so hard. I mean, we all did not need to go to the gym because we got our ab workout just from laughing the entire day. That’s probably the hardest one to shoot, just to keep from breaking. I think everyone broke at least two times. There was a bug in the salad at one point, it was just hilarious. One of our favorite scenes to shoot, for sure.
ST: I really enjoy Dale (James Jordan) in that scene. There’s a shot of him chugging a beer so he doesn’t have to answer Angela’s question.
JL: He probably chugged a 12 pack of those non-alcoholic beers. He had to. I mean, it was insane. He can put away food, man. He’s good at it, so talented. Great dude.
ST: At the end of episode five, Cooper goes back to his pod and is attacked by Manuel’s crew. I assume you’re in the rest of the show and that Cooper’s okay. Could you tease how this attack will shape Cooper’s journey the rest of the season?
JL: It‘s definitely going to change Cooper. It’s going to change the path on which he’s on, but you have to watch and see how much better he gets. Yeah, we’re not leaving. Still going to be there, but it’s definitely going to change the course that Cooper’s headed.
ST: Most of the show was filmed in Fort Worth, along with West Texas. This wasn’t your first foray into filming in Fort Worth, after having shot “12 Mighty Orphans” here. What was it like being back in town?
JL: Dude, I love Fort Worth. I’ll have a place in Fort Worth as soon as it’s financially feasible, it’s happening. I love Fort Worth, man. I love the vibe, I love the people, love the food. There’s nothing about Fort Worth that I can find to criticize about it, I really can’t. Even the traffic, the traffic is not near as bad. If you want to complain, go to Dallas [laughs]. Fort Worth is actually a huge part of why this was such a great time, because we enjoyed being there so much. Can’t wait to go back soon, hopefully.
ST: Did you and the cast do anything fun while in town? Stockyards, rodeo, that kind of thing?
JL: Constantly. Any free time we have, you’ll see this cast out together 90% of the time. If we’re not working, we’ll be out at the Stockyards, [West] Seventh, somewhere just hanging out having a good time. We love shooting pool and just hanging out and talking about our days. That’s one of the reasons Fort Worth was so fun. No matter when we got off, there was always something to do or some music playing or something that you can just go relax and enjoy. Really love Fort Worth. Can’t say enough nice things about Fort Worth.
ST: I think Taylor loves it as well. I counted that four of his shows filmed in Fort Worth this year alone. He uses actors again in other projects, like James Jordan in “Yellowstone” and “Lioness.” Maybe if he uses you again, you’ll come back to Fort Worth.
JL: Man, I would love to be reused by Taylor so many times [laughs].
ST: There you go [laughs]. Last question for you, Jacob. We’re five episodes into “Landman,” with five more to go. What can you tease about the rest of the season?
JL: To look forward to the stakes getting higher. There starts to be a lot more confusion in this family, just between the dynamic. There’s way more problems to deal with. We have not seen all the problems yet. It definitely gets just as entertaining, if not more, throughout and pretty suspenseful. I’m hoping, I don’t hope, I know, it’s a well-rounded show that I think will keep people entertained the entire time. Now, is definitely not the time to slack off. After five, it ramps back up and it gets pretty exciting. No one’s going to be disappointed, I really don’t think.
“Landman” airs new episodes weekly on Sundays on Paramount+.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
