Thornton tells EW that the upcoming second season of the Taylor Sheridanpenned West Texas oil drama is a "slow burn" that builds to a massive payoff. Billy Bob

Thornton tells EW that the upcoming second season of the Taylor Sheridan-penned West Texas oil drama is a "slow burn" that builds to a massive payoff.

Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore tease their explosive partnership in Landman season 2 (exclusive)

Thornton tells EW that the upcoming second season of the Taylor Sheridan-penned West Texas oil drama is a "slow burn" that builds to a massive payoff.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at*  *with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News, *Teen Vogue*, Bustle, BuzzFeed, *Paper Magazine*, Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

September 3, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

With decades of friendship and multiple shared acting credits under their belts, it's safe to say that Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore know how to work together. The pair's *Landman* characters, however, will find themselves having to get on the same page if they hope to last as the newest leaders of M*Tex Oil in the upcoming second season.

After the shocking death of founder Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) in the season 1 finale, Thornton's no-nonsense oil fixer Tommy Norris was appointed M*Tex president and quickly tapped Moore's Cami Miller, the company's majority stakeholder and Monty's grieving widow, to serve alongside him. Now, their newfound partnership is set to take center stage in season 2 of Taylor Sheridan's record-smashing West Texas oil drama, which premieres Nov. 16 on Paramount+, as they prepare to roll the dice on one last big oil boom — or lose everything trying.

Spoiler alert: It's not exactly a smooth transition for either of them. "I think, at the beginning, [Tommy] really is her guide and anchor," Moore tells **. "In the opening, you really see that I'm kind of a lamb being thrown into the lion's den [and] really having to have a real show of strength. And I think Cami is having to operate a little bit out of the fake it till you make it [mentality]."

That initial bond will be tested along the way. "The dynamic is certainly very interesting because he's essentially telling her, 'Look, you've got to listen to me because you've never done this before,'" Thornton adds*.* "And her outlook on that is, 'How am I going to learn if you do everything?' That's really how the dynamic starts." **

Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

From the patch to the office

After years of doggedly protecting the patch, Tommy isn't exactly thrilled to be trading his familiar oil fields for air-conditioned board rooms.

"It's definitely a challenge to step up into this other world, because Monty had always been the guy that was dealing with all of that — the suits, the jets, the Fort Worth aspect — and [Tommy] was holding down the fort in the Permian Basin," *Landman* co-creator Christian Wallace elaborates. "There's overlap between those two worlds, but they're also very, very different. And so now Tommy is having to go even further between those two polarities. It would be challenging for anyone."

Successfully managing both sides of the business isn't easy even for a veteran fixer. "Tommy's kind of a reluctant executive and still acting in his old role too, because he's the kind of guy who can't really give up what he knows and where he feels the most comfortable," Thornton says. "But since Cami has been left with this company she's never run before, he's got to be there to show her the works."

Just don't expect him to put on a suit. "He's a very uncomfortable guy in a suit. As a matter of fact, so uncomfortable that he doesn't wear one," Thornton teases. "I did have to put my sports jacket on a little more often this season. That was about it."

As a result of Tommy's new title, the 70-year-old Oscar-winning actor notes that he had much more stage work this season which, thankfully, helped offset some of the time he spent filming in the 100-plus-degree Texas heat across their five-month-long shoot. "The way they scheduled it, we weren't out in the middle of nowhere on the oil fields or wherever for several days in a row," he says. "It was a very civilized schedule. We were inside a lot. We were on stages a lot. We were in houses and office buildings and things like that."**

Demi Moore as Cami Miller in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Fake it till you make it

After living in a lavish bubble for most of the first season, Cami finds herself being unexpectedly thrown headfirst into the cutthroat world of oil and gas in the wake of Monty's death. "Now that Monty is gone, she's had to step up into that role," Wallace explains. "She's also facing all these challenges playing in what is largely a man's world. And now she is having to figure it out while the sharks are kind of circling, you could say. It's not an easy thing to step into."

Especially since, Moore notes, Cami has mostly lived in the periphery of her husband's job and is now undergoing a "crash course in trying to understand the business and how it works" while still remaining true to her husband's vision. "I think a big part of it is her drive of really protecting her husband's legacy and what that means, and how that looks," the Golden Globe-winning actress says. "So there's a learning curve of the business, and then privately dealing and grappling with the loss of the love of her life."

Still, Cami is prepared to make the uncomfortable decisions if needed. "It's also making choices that she feels Monty would make. And how can I embody that?" Moore presses. "And how can Cami embody that to make these big decisions for the company that may not be popular?"

***Sign up for **'s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.***

All the while, she is simultaneously mourning the loss of her college sweetheart husband and the world that she once knew. "Cami is obviously dealing with a lot of grief for this beautiful relationship," Moore points out, "and then just the unfolding and discovery of what her life looks like, what it means, who she is, [and] all the plans she had that now are no longer what she imagined."

Thankfully, Cami's got a few friends aiding her on her healing journey, including Tommy's spitfire wife Angela (Ali Larter). "There are some great moments that are really trying to, in Angela's way, push Cami back out and have some moments that aren't just in the grief," Moore says. "And then I, equally, have some of those really deep alone moments of just straight grieving."

Ali Larter as Angela Norris in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Home is where the heart is

While Cami and Tommy enter their executive eras, Larter notes that life is still every bit as "complicated and messy and raw" over at Chez M*Tex. "What you see a lot in season 2 is it really digs deeper into the family, and you really feel the purity of the love between Tommy and Angela," she explains. "And then you understand, specifically with Angela, how much her worth is [tied to] how much she means to this family."

The whirlwind housewife and party-planning extraordinaire will see her self-worth tested this season as her and Tommy's daughter, Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), heads to college, with EW's exclusive imagery featuring the inseparable mom-and-daughter duo seemingly visiting Texas Christian University's Fort Worth campus.

"You watch Angela go through this crisis where her whole life has been about raising her children, and then when it's time for them to go on to the next stage of their life, what is she left with?" Larter questions. "What is her meaning in life? We really dig into that this season, too."

Michelle Randolph and Ali Larter as Aynsley and Angela Norris in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Meanwhile, the couple's son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), is also blazing his own trail by launching his own oil business, which raises some serious red flags for Tommy. "He knows the good and the bad of it — the pitfalls of success and failure that come with the oil and gas industry, the boom and the bust, and the kind of lottery aspect of you might get lucky for a bit, and then you might not," Wallace says. "And so he's obviously going to be wary for Cooper to strike out on his own, because it can go either way."

The focus on the family relationships is why Larter has dubbed *Landman* season 2 the "heart season." She adds, "There's definitely moments of danger and excitement, but then you also have these moments where [Angela and Tommy are] figuring out who they are and what it's going to look like if they try to make a go at this, and all that comes with that. If the children aren't going to be there, who are they to each other?"

Part of the way Angela will find personal fulfillment is through returning to the retirement home and curating some "wild" and "hysterical" family dinners. "There's always something that happens to make things not go right, and then someone gets upset, and then someone's laughing at someone, and then someone's screaming at the other one," Larter teases. "It's the family dynamics that are really, really fun to watch. There's some good ones this year."

They'll also have some new and potentially formidable guests joining in on the family fun. "It starts with the family and then it kind of grows out into all these different story lines," Larter says, noting that she has scenes with both Moore and Andy Garcia, who plays the powerful cartel leader Gallino. "And I love when it all starts to intersect. That's what you feel this season."

Andy Garcia as Gallino in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Business is booming

Thornton, Moore, Wallace, and Larter are all tight-lipped when asked about Garcia's involvement in season 2, but it's clear that his character's presence looms large. After all, Gallino was the one who rescued the tortured Tommy from his own henchmen and floated the idea of a peaceful coexistence between the cartel and M*Tex at the end of season 1. "I'll just say that Andy and I have a very, very interesting dynamic," Thornton cryptically replies. Wallace adds, "The fact that he is back, I think that's all you need to know."

While Tommy is well-versed in Gallino's ways, Moore notes that Cami has "some plausible deniability" when it comes to the existence of the cartel and their interactions with M*Tex. Still, she calls her time working with Garcia and Stefania Spampinato, whom she says plays Gallino's wife, "such a pleasure."

Wallace also emphasizes that while *Landman*'s cartel storylines are mined for drama, they are still grounded in reality. "Just this past year, there's been a lot of oil theft — people stealing oil from tanks and then selling it on the black market — and some of that has been directly connected to the cartels out of Mexico," he says. "It's an ongoing issue we have. We've dramatized aspects of it and really played it up for the narrative drama of it all, but so many of the things in the show are based on these kernels of reality and that is one of them that's continuing to play out right now."

It's a narrative that Wallace can envision exploring deeper in the future. "I think that's a storyline that will continue to develop because part of the actual oil and gas industry's challenges right now is the theft, the crime, and the black market aspects that come into play out in West Texas," he says. "We try to bring in these elements of truth that inform an entertaining story, but are also insightful of what it's like to actually work out in oil and gas."

There's still plenty of action ahead too, though Thornton explains that there are "different types of fights" that viewers will see unfold this season. "They're not always physical; some of them are very emotional or very danger-provoking," he says. "There's always something lurking that [Tommy's] wary of around the corner. Even with his family, every decision they make he has to then deal with, too. So there are all kinds of fights in the world. Some are in your own head, even."**

Sam Elliott as T.L. in 'Landman' season 2.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

The mystery man

There is one character that the quartet dare not discuss — and he happens to be featured in two of EW's exclusive photos. Last April, it was announced that modern-day cowboy and Western icon Sam Elliott would join the cast of *Landman* season 2. His character is listed as "T.L." in the above images and it's apparent that he has at least *one* conversation with Tommy, setting the stage for an onscreen reunion between the two veteran actors after previously starring together in Sheridan's *Yellowstone* spinoff *1883* and the 1993 film *Tombstone*.

"I can only say this: I've known Sam longer than anybody in the cast," Thornton says. "Sam and I go back to somewhere in the mid-to-late-'80s and we've done two things together before this and both of those things, it was only two scenes in each one. To be able to be around him longer on a more regular basis on the set, it's just been a joy for me because I love that man. He's been a mentor and a friend and just a hero of mine always."

Wallace teases that Elliott will be playing "a role that is not so far out of what people have seen him play" throughout his decades-long career. He also praises the 81-year-old's schooled work ethic.

"Sam is one of those actors that doesn't like to go back to his trailer once he's on set," he says. "He had the grips bring him an apple box with a little cushion on it, and he would just sit there right on set, because he said the actor's place is on the set with the cast and the crew. We'd be out in 100-degree heat and Sam would just be sitting there, wouldn't let anyone hold an umbrella for him or anything because he just wanted to be around the people working to make the show and having the conversations and just being in the moment with his character."

'Landman' actress on viral daddy-daughter scene: 'My face turned bright red'

'Landman' review: Man, does this new Taylor Sheridan drama hate women

Go big or go home

Compared to season 1, Thornton explains that the next *Landman* installment is more of "a slow burn" this time around. "Now that the audience knows all the characters, Taylor was able to really dive into the relationships more," he says. "Last season, we had to explain what this business was all about and who the people are. This season, he was able to really focus in the first few episodes on the family dynamic and the business dynamic. But this one really ramps up as it goes on, and there's more and more intensity."

It's that family dynamic in particular that Wallace hopes resonates most with viewers. "These stories of these characters, even though they're in a place that may be unfamiliar and doing a job that they've never seen before, [I hope] that those stories still resonate with them," he says. "And that they see their family in parts of it, that they find the humor, that they feel the heartbreak and that human connection. That's what good stories do. They just connect with us."

*Landman* season 2 blasts its way onto Paramount+ on Nov. 16.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL TV"

Read More

---

Source: VOGUE MAG

Full Article on Source: VOGUE MAG

#LALifestyle #USCelebrities