‘Landman’ Star Billy Bob Thornton Says Real Landmen Come Up To Him & Praise The Show: “They All Love It”

Billy Bob Thornton and Taylor Sheridan have the biggest stamp of approval they could ever want. While Sheridan has just brought his hit show Yellowstone to a close, he’s just getting started with another drama titled Landman. The ten-part series that tackles the ins-and-outs of the various components making up the oil industry boasts an impressive cast, with the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Hamm and Demi Moore all playing major roles. Think of it as Yellowstone: "Big Oil" edition. For some viewers, it's pulling back the curtain on the oil industry for the very first time. That was part of the motivation for the show, which just set a streaming record for Paramount+. More than 14.9 million people have tuned in during the show's first four weeks to watch the drama surrounding Texas' oil boom. When Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Tommy Norris, sat down with Texas Standard recently, he revealed he's more than happy to be a part of the series that has shined a light on an industry that not many people know about. Not only that, the actor says that much of the show highlights just how important and prevalent the resource is. Which naturally makes the business surrounding it a little dangerous, as Thornton pointed out: "I don’t think people understand the danger of it and, like I said, the gamble. I mean, you can be a billionaire one day and not the next. It’s an interesting world. And, you know, the good thing is, is that Taylor (Sheridan) didn’t approach it from a partisan point of view. Even though there are speeches about, 'look, here’s where this stuff comes from' and 'everything that you use every day is made out of this.' He basically just says, 'here’s how it works.' You’re, like I said, looking behind the curtain at this business. And I don’t think we realize every day of our lives what we’re using that is made from oil or needs oil to keep it going or whatever it is." Yeah, there have been some incredibly memorable moments from the show that makes that very idea an unmistakable and unavoidable focal point. Though shining a light on that kind of stuff is great, Billy Bob Thornton's favorite part of his role as an Big Oil fixer is that real life landmen have been giving him props and kudos for his on-screen portrayal of their real lives. When asked if he had interacted with any actual landmen, Thornton excitedly replied with this: "Absolutely. And the ones I’ve heard from or run into just in public or whatever, that come up to me - so far, so good. They all love it. So I think it’s a great thing that they’re being represented. You don’t see a lot of movies or shows about the inside of the oil and gas business, you know? I think it’s an interesting world to take a peek behind the curtain on." It certainly is - and the show obviously dramatizes a lot of the situations. That being said, there's a lot of real industry inspiration, and when you throw in the crazy family that Billy Bob Thornton's Tommy Norris has to deal with, it makes for quite the exciting and complicated spectacle. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, you might as well fire up this trailer to see if the new Taylor Sheridan show is up your alley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zxh49-bsIk