‘Landman’ star Kayla Wallace on what she thought of a ‘fun’ scene and filming in Fort Worth
Kayla Wallace fell in love with her role on “Landman.”
The 30-year-old Canadian actress stars on the Paramount+ series as Rebecca Falcone, a big city lawyer sent to aid in various legal activities in West Texas. Falcone’s primary role this season has been to defend the M-Tex oil company in several lawsuits.
While on the defensive in her first couple episodes this season, Wallace’s Falcone went on the offensive in episode four and delivered a big win for M-Tex. Her character is also continuing to explore the complicated nature of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris in the fourth episode that aired on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Ahead of her big episode, Wallace spoke with the Star-Telegram about Rebecca’s journey thus far and what to look forward to on this season of “Landman.” Wallace also discusses her time filming the show in Fort Worth and exploring Texas.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length and contains spoilers for “Landman” episode four — “The Sting of Second Chances.”
Star-Telegram: Kayla, thanks so much for the time today. We have a big interest in “Landman” since the show was filmed in Fort Worth and is set here. We’re here to talk about the fourth episode, but I first wanted to ask you about the show as a whole. This world and story are very Texan. Being Canadian, did you know much about this world before joining the show?
Kayla Wallace: I didn’t know much about it. Like, I knew that oil came out of the ground. I knew that America is big in the game of oil, but I didn’t know much else. So, I really had to dive in and learn a lot about the oil industry and how the stuff actually gets out of the ground. It was a surprise to me that Texas was so big in the world of oil. I had no idea.
ST: The show has an upstairs and downstairs approach to the industry, from oil billionaires to roughnecks. Then there’s the lawyer like your character, Rebecca Falcone. The first two episodes to feature Rebecca this season were episodes two and three. It felt like she was more on the defensive in those, but finally went on the offensive in episode four as she defended Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) in his deposition. How would you describe her journey thus far?
KW: Totally. I think when she first arrives, she has her judgments about the people that she’s going to be dealing with. I think she has some preconceived ideas of maybe the misogyny she might deal with. I think she deals with that on the daily. So, that’s not new. But she’s heading into a world of oil and gas, and I think that she has her guards up a little bit at the beginning and a lot of doubt. Can I trust these people?
Then, when she kind of learns how this crazy world is run and the relationships that these companies have with certain types of people, the rules are different there. I think she needs to adapt to her surroundings and ultimately, yeah, she ends up going to bat for Tommy. I don’t think that we would have guessed that from the first scene that we see Rebecca and Tommy, but she does. At the end of the day, her job is to win her cases. She’s going to adapt to her environment, and that’s what she does.
ST: Right; when Tommy and Rebecca meet, it’s a little testy. I think the scene we’re talking about in episode four mirrors the scene in episode three, where Tommy saves Rebecca from the rattlesnake. She’s not familiar with West Texas and Tommy comes in to save her. On the flip side, Tommy is not well versed in the law world, and Rebecca comes to his defense and eventually settles the lawsuit. Did that parallel cross your mind?
KW: Totally. I mean, Tommy is the kind of guy who just says it how it is and he kind of has no filter. I think that’s why we love him so much. But yeah, they really learn how they can help each other out. These two people who butt heads at the beginning of the season are slowly learning that they could work together. The job for both of them is to save M-Tex from being caught in a whole lot of spiderwebs and disasters. We see that in episode four that they come together, I think, unexpectedly. I don’t think that Rebecca would have thought that she would have gone to bat for this guy, and I don’t think that Tommy thought that she would have either.
I think it’s a surprise to both of them, but they spend some time together in episode three. He kind of shows her how things are in this crazy world, and maybe she learns a thing or two about how she thought things are in the world. In relating to how much oil is in everything and the wind turbines as well. She’s learning as well. It’s a learning curve for everybody, but at the end of the day, like I said, her job is to win her cases. She’s going to do whatever she needs to do.
ST: The learning goes past the law firm scene, as Tommy and Rebecca go out for a drink and run into his ex-wife and daughter. It’s an interesting scene where Angela (Ali Larter) is talking about the family’s troubled past and Tommy is trying to keep it all in. What was it like filming that scene?
KW: It was so much fun because I think, at this point, these characters are just total opposites. [Rebecca] is heading into this world where, like I said, it’s the Wild West. She could not be more opposite from these two women. I think they have more in common than they think or than they know. They’re strong women, all three of them, but just from total opposite ends of the world. When it comes to their experiences and how they came up and sort of what they focus their energy on.
ST: Going back a bit to the law firm scene. I feel like in any media, the lawyer character is always guaranteed one big impassioned speech. When you see what Taylor [Sheridan] has written for you, where Rebecca says things like, ‘I’m going to sue you for this and that and whatever else I can think of.’ Is reading that script like a kid in a candy shop feeling? Like, here’s my big scene where I can show my range as an actor.
KW: Totally, I remember the first time I read it. I was on a treadmill in a hotel in Toronto and I saw these like chunks of dialogue with a whole lot of words that I had no idea what the meaning was. My initial reaction was, ‘Buckle up, this is going to be a big one.’ It’s just so wonderful to be able to have dialogue like that. To find the twists and turns and what she’s saying. How at the end of the day, she gets the job done at the end of that scene. She gets a hold of these guys in, like I said, a way that I don’t think other people are expecting. Very satisfying as an actor to read all of that once you get over the initial fear of all of these words that you have no idea what they mean [laughs]. Taylor Sheridan is just such an incredible writer. I’ve said this before, but his writing is truly a gift, and that monologue was one of my favorite days on set.
ST: I mean, do you have to go through some kind of law school boot camp for all the legal jargon? Like how to pronounce all of it?
KW: Yeah, I had a year with this role to prep. The industry kind of shut down with the strikes, so I had some time to prep. I took advantage of watching live trials, like watching real trials on YouTube. When I got to Fort Worth, I went to the courtroom downtown and sat in on a case. But, all year I watched like YouTube trials that are available. Like full hours and hours and hours. My husband was exhausted by hearing all of this in the background all the time [laughs]. I really dove in.
ST: The law firm scene we keep mentioning was actually filmed at the American Association of Professional Landmen building in Fort Worth.
KW: Yes, that was crazy. We were all kind of joking around that we were like playing make believe right now. I mean, we’re honoring these people but they’re actually in the office next to us while we’re filming that scene, doing the work that is being landmen.
ST: It’s almost like a meta retelling of y’all doing a show about landmen in the landmen headquarters.
KW: It was a cool little Easter egg to have in there.
ST: Speaking of Fort Worth, “Landman” filmed in and around here. Was this your first time in Fort Worth? How was your experience here?
KW: My first time coming to Fort Worth was for my audition. I got picked up from the airport and went straight to the Stockyards. I was like, ‘Oh, this is Texas.’ I thought all of Texas was like that, which a lot of it. I’m from a small town in Canada. People don’t wear cowboy hats or cowboy boots here. So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m here. This is the real thing.’ That was my first experience. Then when I came down to film, I saw a lot more of your beautiful state. I really loved it. People are so kind there. People are so friendly in Texas. It was an awesome place to spend a lot of time in.
ST: Did you do anything cowboy-centric, like a rodeo or anything like that?
KW: No, we would go down to the Stockyards a lot, and we kind of just dove into the food scene. We would just try different restaurants. Oddly enough, the best sushi I’ve ever had is in Fort Worth, and I’m from a sushi city.
ST: Oh, really. Where at?
KW: It’s Hatsuyuki [Handroll Bar]. I thought it was the best I’ve ever had. It was great. We enjoyed exploring the food there. We got down to Austin and Waco and just kind of explored a little bit as much as we could.
ST: It’s funny that you mention Hatsuyuki. I was talking to Michael Kelly from “Lioness,” the other Taylor Sheridan show that was filmed in Fort Worth this year. I asked Michael about filming here and he also said that the best sushi he’s ever had was at Hatsuyuki.
KW: It was definitely recommended by people on set. So good, so delicious.
ST: Last question for you, Kayla. We’re four episodes into “Landman” thus far. What can you tease about the rest of the season and Rebecca’s journey?
KW: I think we’ve seen Rebecca adapt to her surroundings. She’s never the person to make quick decisions. She’ll gather all of her information. The audience is in for some twists and turns as she dives into this crazy world that she’s in. Twists and turns with Rebecca’s story, with the Norris family story, with Monty, with everybody. The rest of the season is truly a roller coaster.
“Landman” airs new episodes weekly on Sundays on Paramount+.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
