Billy Bob Thornton talks filming ‘Landman’ in Fort Worth and why he loves Texas
Billy Bob Thornton has been a force in Hollywood for over three decades.
The 69-year-old Arkansas native got his start in movies such as as “One False Move,” “Tombstone” and “On Deadly Ground.” But it wasn’t until 1996’s “Sling Blade” that Thornton found critical and commercial success.
“Sling Blade” garnered two Academy Award nominations, with Thornton winning an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
Over the next couple of decades, Thornton would continue his silver screen dominance in films including “Armageddon,” “A Simple Plan,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Bad Santa,” “The Alamo” and “Friday Night Lights.”
In the 2010s, Thornton turned to television and starred in shows such as “Fargo” and “Goliath.” On Nov. 17, Thornton will return to the small screen in the explosive Paramount+ series “Landman.”
“Landman” is the latest series from North Texas native and “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan. It is described as a “modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs.”
The Star-Telegram visited the Fort Worth “Landman” set in May and spoke with Thornton about the new series.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Star-Telegram: Billy Bob, thanks so much for the time. When I heard this interview was happening, I thought about one of your films to revisit. I threw on “A Simple Plan” and that is just a tremendous movie.
Billy Bob Thornton: It’s one of my favorite ones, it really is.
ST: The movie of course stars yourself and Bill Paxton, who is from Fort Worth.
BBT: Bill was my first actor buddy in LA, who you would know who he is. I mean, I had some other actor buddies but you wouldn’t know who they are. Bill is the first guy that you would recognize. Bill and I in the ‘80s, oh, we tore LA up. We had a fun time. Bill’s from Fort Worth. T. Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, all those guys are from Fort Worth. I knew a lot of people from here.
ST: We’re here on the set of “Landman” and this show is set in the world of the West Texas oil boom. This is a big thing here in Texas. How much did you know about this world beforehand? And what drew you to the role?
BBT: Well, I had done “1883” with Taylor [Sheridan] and just went did a cameo for him. He had told me even before that, he said, “I’m writing a series for you.” I was like, “Cool.” He told me a little bit about it. In other words, it was just like here’s the world it’s in. Didn’t tell me much else about it. Then when I started getting the scripts, I was like, “OK, I get it. He actually is writing this for me.” The character (Tommy Norris) is a mix of me and him, frankly. The scripts were brilliant and it wasn’t like I had to make a decision. I read it and I’m like, “Absolutely.”
ST: That episode of “1883” you played Marshal Jim Courtright of Fort Worth. A line that always stuck with me from that is, “There’s only one killer in Fort Worth and it’s me.” What’s it been like working with Taylor on a whole season, compared to just an episode?
BBT: Oh, it’s been great. I mean, Taylor and I didn’t know each other that well to begin with. I mean, I knew him but not well. Over the course of [”Landman”], I’ve gotten to know him really well. We have a good time talking to each other, talking about everything from everyday life to what we’re doing in the show. Then just art in general, we talk a lot about that. The sort of human behavior, we have a lot of discussions about that.
ST: Taylor has assembled quite a cast for the show. Ali Larter, Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, Andy Garcia. What’s it like working with this cast?
BBT: Well, it’s been great. I mean, the thing about it is you want every part to count. In other words, you could take an actor who doesn’t care who the other people are, because it’s all about them. But the better the people around you are, the better you are. I mean, that’s just a fact of life. I’ve been very fortunate having these people around me. Jacob Lofland plays my son, Michelle Randolph plays my daughter, Ali plays my ex-wife; James Jordan, Colm Feore, Jon and Demi.
Demi and I go way back. I mean, we’ve known each other for years and years. You want people like that around you. Andy [Garcia] and I have known each other for a long time. It’s the first time we’ll have worked together. That’s really interesting to me, but there have been so many great people in this. Mustafa [Speaks] who plays “Boss,” he’s awesome. I never knew him before, just a really good actor. The people that just come in with a few lines have been awesome. I mean, if there’s a guy or girl in a scene that says, ”Hey, you forgot your hat.” You want them to be good at it, because it makes the whole show better. I mean, to me, the best idea wins. I don’t want to be the smartest guy in the room. I want people to know what they’re doing. I think we’ve had that on this.
ST: “Landman” began filming in February; how much filming do y’all have left? (Editor’s note: This interview took place in mid-May.)
BBT: We’re here till the middle of June. We’re getting out just in time before the summer. Like I said, I grew up down here and I know how hot it gets. We’re gonna get some heat here for the last, we have 25 days left, including weekends. That’s probably about 20, 21 shooting days, so we’re gonna get some of the heat, but then we’ll end it just when it’s going to get steamy.
ST: Out before July, before 100 degrees rolls in.
BBT: I did “The Alamo” in Austin. “The Alamo” took place in February, so we had to wear clothes that you wear in February, and yet it was 100 degrees some days. You had to pretend it was cold. On this show, we started Feb. 5 and it’s supposed to be a summer thing, so we had to pretend we were hot. Seems like I always get those movies.
ST: Speaking of “The Alamo,” that’s a Texas story, as is “Friday Night Lights.” “Landman” is also set in Texas. Are these Texas roles something you’re fond of?
BBT: Absolutely. I’ve never been offered a movie in Texas that I didn’t want to do. Obviously, what an honor to play Davy Crockett. That’s a great thing. What an honor to play Gary Gaines at Permian. I also did “Parkland” down here, which was about the Kennedy assassination and the aftermath of that, with Paul Giamatti. That was an amazing experience also, except for the fact that I had the flu while we were shooting. They gave me a couple of days off, but I still had it when we were shooting. I was supposed to play a guy much older than me, he was the head of Secret Service in Dallas. I needed to look older than I was and I did, because I had the flu [laughs], so I just looked like hell every minute. It was almost like God saying, “I’m gonna do you a favor right here.”
ST: As far as Fort Worth goes, is this the most time you’ve spent here working on the show?
BBT: Yes, it is absolutely the longest I’ve been in Fort Worth. I’ve been coming here since I was a teenager because my family lives in Plano, Richardson, Garland, around there. Then I grew up in Arkansas and then after high school moved to Houston, or to Tomball more specifically. I went to California from Tomball. But I’ve been playing music down here for so many years. I was playing Antone’s and The Continental Club and stuff like that when I was a kid. Fort Worth, obviously, Billy Bob’s [Texas] is legendary and I’ve played there many times. Robert Gallagher is a friend of ours, he runs that place. It’s a familiar place to be, I know a lot of people here, but it’s the longest time I ever spent in a row here. Five months down here, that’s a long time to be in one place.
If you’re gonna be in one place, Fort Worth’s a great place to be. I mean, people who come from California or New York, they’re always worried about Texas. It’s like, “Oh, I’m going to Texas. Everybody’s like Wyatt Earp and they’re all carrying a gun in the streets.” [Fort Worth] has world-class restaurants, they have historical stuff, wonderful botanical gardens, the zoo. I have to say, it’s eye- opening for people who aren’t familiar with it to see exactly how, I’ll say, cowboy cosmopolitan it is. That would be probably the way to put it. I told my daughter who was worried about coming down here, because she [was] raised her whole life in California. She was nervous about it, because she sees the news in California and hears all these other things. She got down here and loved it. We took her to all those places at the botanical gardens and the zoo. She’s into science and nature and went to the Perot Museum. It’s kind of like California with more cowboy hats. [Laughs]
ST: Cowboy cosmopolitan, I like that. You mentioned world-class restaurants, I know you’re a Joe T. Garcia’s fan.
BBT: Yeah, I love Joe T.’s because its traditional. I mean, people say, “Oh, no, there’s another Mexican restaurant over here that’s the real thing.” I always tell them, “Well, if you really want to get the most authentic Mexican food.” Because I lived in Tecate, Mexico, for a while and got to know Mexican food pretty well. That’s my favorite. Mexican and Cuban food are my two favorite foods in the world. Zurella [Lancarte], who runs it, it’s been in her family forever. I just love that tradition and the setting is beautiful. Anytime I have somebody come from out of town, I always take them to Joe T.’s. Tim Love has a great Mexican restaurant named Paloma Suerte. There’s a great one out in Weatherford called Oaxaca.
The first three weeks we’re here we stayed at the Hotel Drover, before we got our house on the ranch. The Drover is a great place, you run into all kinds of people and the restaurant is awesome there. Fort Worth is not a town that makes you want to stay home every night. It makes you want to go out every night [laughs]. Also, you have the White Elephant Saloon there in the Stockyards. When you go in there it just looks like a cowboy bar, but if you look at the history of the White Elephant, gunfights went on right there. You think about that history and it’s pretty awesome. Good place, Fort Worth. I’m not fancy enough for Dallas. Dallas is like a city like Los Angeles or Chicago or New York. metropolitan area. I love Dallas, but Fort Worth is actually probably more suited for the type of people I like to hang out with. Even the rich people here seem like poor people [laughs]. I’ve met billionaires here that are as regular as can be, which makes me happy.
ST: Fort Worth’s slogan is the “Unexpected City.”
BBT: It’s like they call Reno “The Biggest Little City in the World,” but everybody talks about Las Vegas. When I go to Reno, I run into people that I know that I’ve met before. Fort Worth has a certain charm that not everywhere has. Like I said, I spent my time living in Texas in the Houston area. Its got its own vibe. That’s the great thing about Texas, you can go to any city, which leads me to finishing a thought I started because I’m like ADD. Every city in Texas has a different vibe. I mean, if you go to El Paso, completely different from Fort Worth. Fort Worth is completely different than Dallas, Houston is different than either one. Austin is different. San Antonio is different. That’s what I was leading up to, if you want really authentic Mexican food in Texas, it’s San Antonio. That’s where you get the real stuff, because you’ll see things on the menu that you don’t see everywhere else. Things that involve intestines and all kinds of stuff [laughs]. You want the real stuff? Go to San Antonio.
ST: Last thing for you. What are you hoping fans take away from “Landman”?
BBT: It’s a show full of human emotion, personal relationships with families, a lot of education about the oil business and danger. The reasons why people are willing to take these risks to make the money they can. Because most of the people that work in the oil fields, some of them have an eighth-grade education or no education. They would never get a job that pays them $180,000 a year. But they’re willing to risk that for their families. That’s an interesting thing about the show to me. People might look at it and go, “Why do you do this dangerous job?” Because they have families to feed and could never live this lifestyle if they didn’t do this. Because there are very few jobs where you can find that kind of money for the job.
Also it doesn’t talk bad about the oil business all the time. It doesn’t talk good about the oil business all the time. It gives you both sides of it. I think people will learn more about the inner workings of the oil business then they would with anything they’ve ever seen. Remember the movie “Giant” with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Dennis Hopper? We’re kind of making “Giant” only with more knowledge about the oil business.
“Landman” premieres Nov. 17 on Paramount+.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 6:25 PM.
