Thornton plays an oil company crisis manager in the new Taylor Sheridan series premiering Nov. 17 on Paramount+.
Early in the first episode of Landman, the new Taylor Sheridan-produced series premiering Sunday, Nov. 17 in Paramount +, Tommy Norris, the seen-it-all, done-almost-everything oil-company crisis manager played by Billy Bob Thornton, explains the reasons and the risks of his occupation.
“The oil and gas industry makes $3 billion a day in pure profit,” he says. “And it’s only getting bigger. But before any of that money is made, you’ve got to secure the land and manage the people. That’s my job. First part’s pretty simple. It’s the second part that can get you killed.”
No kidding. Indeed, the premiere episode begins with Norris in a high-stakes negotiation – for his very life – with leaders of a Mexican drug cartel who demand more compensation for the mineral rights on their land. Fortunately, he seals the deal and survives. All in a day’s work – but there are even bigger challenges ahead.
Landman was co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, and based on Boomtown, the well-received 11-part Texas Monthly podcast that was written and hosted by Wallace. According to Paramount, the series “is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and is a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs. The series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires that are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”
And yes, occasionally, there are other booms that are even bigger and deadlier. And not just in the Permian Basin of West Texas.
Joining Thornton in the ensemble cast: Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Fargo) as Monty Miller, a Texas oil industry titan with a long personal and professional relationship with Tommy; Demi Moore (G.I. Jane, A Few Good Men) as Cami Miller, Monty’s wife and Tommy’s friend; Ari Larter (Heroes, The Rookie) as Angela, Tommy’s mercurial ex-wife; and Jacob Lofland (12 Mighty Orphans, Joker: Folie à Deux) as Copper Norris, Tommy’s strong-willed son.
But wait, there’s more: Michelle Randolph (1923), Mustafa Speaks (Joe Pickett), Kayla Wallace (When Calls the Heart), James Jordan (Yellowstone), Mark Collie (Nashville), Andy Garcia (The Godfather Part III, Ocean’s Eleven) and Michael Peña (End of Watch, Ant-Man).
Billy Bob Thornton visited the C&I Studio this week to talk with us about Landman.
