[This story contains spoilers from season two, episode two of Landman, “Sins of the Father.”]
Landman only drops bombs when it comes to Andy Garcia‘s character.
After a season one finale showdown between Garcia and star Billy Bob Thornton — when it was revealed that Garcia’s cartel boss Gallino would be pulling the strings as oil fixer Tommy Norris (Thornton) steps up to control the largest independent oil company in Texas after the death of M-Tex CEO (Jon Hamm) — the second episode of season two set off another explosive: Gallino is also the secret backer to Tommy’s son Cooper’s (Jacob Lofland) new oil venture.
In three short episodes, Gallino has managed to pull both the reluctant father and son into his grasp, and this, even as viewers have yet to actually see Gallino in season two. When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, below, the iconic movie actor wouldn’t spoil when or how viewers will see him next, but he shared bits about what excited him about the role, along with his casting story and why he hopes to stick around in the Taylor Sheridan-verse.
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How did your Landman casting first came about, and did you take any convincing to make the jump to TV?
No convincing at all. My agent said, “Taylor [Sheridan, co-creator] wants to meet you. Will you fly out to Fort Worth to meet him?” I said, “Of course.” So I went out to his house. He wanted to talk to me about this part he wanted to write for me. We talked about our past, catching up on our history in the business. He happened to be a big fan of a film I did many years ago called 8 Million Ways to Die. There was a crazy character who was a young drug lord in Los Angeles. We talked a lot about that movie. I talked about how much improvisation there was in the film, and then I told him how much I loved his work and that I was so touched he would want to write something for me.
It’s like having Shakespeare call you up and say, “I’d like to write a play for you about a prince who has an issue with his father” — and then he sends you Hamlet. That’s the way I look at it when Taylor wants to write for you. He’s a sublime writer, coming from an acting, teaching and directing background, his revolver is fully loaded with very powerful, creative bullets.
So he explained to me who this guy was [Gallino]. I said, “There are cartel people in the Permian Basin?” I had no idea. He said, “Oh, yeah.” I said, “OK, man, I’m all in. Let me know when we go.” And that was it. He did have an idea about what the [season one finale] scene was going to be. He hadn’t written it yet, but he had in his head conceptually what the scene was going to be, and was ruminating how the character was going to be part of the universe.
Then I landed in a beautiful set run by Stephen Kay, who directed all of our second season, with this extraordinary cast and the sublime Billy Bob Thornton, who I knew from before. We were acquaintances, someone I have much respect for, and he was happy to see me and happy to play together. He said, “It’s great. We got two old folks, two old veterans going at it.” So it was a real joy to explore that relationship together right away.
Did you improv any of that season one finale scene with Billy Bob Thornton?
Some little things came up. Stephen, before we started the scene, said that Taylor told him, “Let them do their thing. They know what they’re doing.” But you don’t go in with that mindset. It’s just the natural process of exploring a scene. Sometimes there’s an impulse and an actor will say something or something will happen. In general, people like Stephen Kay, who is also an actor, or Taylor, knows an embellishment or an improvisation that spontaneously comes up, if they can use it or not. It’s not a form of disrespect to the material, but to the contrary. It’s something stimulated from the material where the actors take control for a moment and have something to say.
With film, it’s not like a piece of theater you’re rehearsing for many weeks and then doing for six months. You go in and have two or three hours to explore. You talk about the blocking and movement of the scene, either emotionally or physically, and once everybody agrees that it feels right, you try to squeeze the juice out of the sponge as much as you can. Every take is different. One take there might be an improvisation, the other take there isn’t. It’s the exploration of the raw material so Taylor and the editor and directors can receive all these goodies to play around with.
That finale was a fun surprise for viewers, revealing how Gallino will play a key role in Tommy’s future. Did you know that scene would be setting yourself up for a season two return?
It’s what I hoped for! Yeah, that was kind of spoken, that I would be introduced and then my character would come on for the next season. That was part of the game plan when they made a formal offer and approach, very much like Demi [Moore]’s character in the first season. John Hamm’s character [Monty, the deceased husband to Moore’s Cami] was more present. She was there, but with the intention of how she would play out in the second season.
Andy Garcia as Gallino with Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris in the Landman season one finale.
Lauren Lo Smith/Paramount+.
In this second episode of season two, we got another bomb drop about your character and how he has reluctantly now pulled both father and son into business with him.
They might be reluctant. I’m not so reluctant.
Can you tease what kind of a role you’ll be playing with this family, now that Gallino is revealed to be the backer of Cooper’s new oil project?
No, I really can’t. To tell you the truth, I can’t. It would be disrespectful to the surprises that await. I think it’s better to leave it unspoken for, but, like you said, there’s a little twinkle to what it could possibly be at the end of this episode. In the first season, there is an exchange between Billy and I in that [finale] scene where I say, “We need to be friends. We need to coexist.” He says, “We can stay out of each other’s way, but we ain’t never going to be friends.” And my character says, “Oh, no, we’re gonna be real good friends.” So that’s Taylor putting a curve ball in, where you think it’s going to go in a certain direction, but he’s setting it up to newer and different dynamics.
Are you allowed to say what season two episode you will appear in, or how many episodes total?
All I will say is that I do appear!
We know that a wife has been cast for your character.
Yes, Stefania Spampinato.
So can we assume we may see more of your character’s life unrelated to Billy, and zoom out a little bit?
A little bit, yeah. (Laughs.)
In the first season, you only had that one scene with Billy, so it was more of a closed set experience for you. Now that you have a more expanded role for season two, what was it like being on a Taylor Sheridan set and getting to work with more of the ensemble?
It’s extraordinary. It’s such well-oiled machinery. We’re shooting three cameras at all times for all set ups. There’s a lot of interesting coverage happening. Things are being stolen when you’re always on, somehow. Stephen Kay and his entire group is run so efficiently and beautifully, how it moves around organically in the scene. You see how visually interesting the show is. There’s a beauty to it, but there’s also a voyeuristic element to the show that’s really attractive to me.
My character does a reach out and gets to integrate a little bit more with other characters, and that was a lot of fun. And now we also have Sam Elliott, the sublime Sam Elliott.
Do you have any scenes with Sam Elliott?
Um, I’m in the same show as Sam. (Laughs.) There are moments, maybe … we’ll see.
This show has become such a phenomenon. Is there anything you could pinpoint to its success now having been there for two seasons?
It all stems from Taylor and his touch as a writer, creator and storyteller. Then he says, “Who’s gonna be my Tommy Norris? Billy Bob Thornton.” That’s a stroke of genius in itself. “I’m going to write to Billy’s voice, and OK, who’s the wife — Ali Larter — who’s the daughter?” He goes down the road. Everybody he puts in there is so well put. That’s an art form in itself, the folks who cast the show with him. There is a line in there when Ali says, “We’re moving out. We need a bigger house.” And he says, “Thank you, Jesus.” I laughed so hard because he’s been putting up with insanity of this household, which is also a character.
Has working on this show influenced the type of work you want to continue to do? And have you thought about other Sheridan shows you’d want to hop over to?
All of them! Kick me in that direction, I’ll show up. I heard they were writing a new one called NOLA King [the Tulsa King sequel]. I said, “I’ll be on NOLA King. There’s got to be somebody in there I could play.” It’s a utopian situation for an actor to have that kind of writing and storytelling with the quality of actors who come to the table.
Your co-creator and showrunner Christian Wallace told me that even after season two, he feels you have only scratched the surface with these characters. Billy Bob Thornton also said he signed a four- or five-year contract. Do you hope to continue on with this show beyond season two?
He won’t go down easy. But as they say, the pen is mightier than the sword. So the moment Taylor stops writing for Gallino, he’ll go down! But I’m in for the long haul. I’m with Billy. I’m good for five or 10 years. It’s a great place to be. It’s a great show with great writing, actors, directors, just a phenomenal workspace to be working with the top cats in the business.
There was recent news about Taylor Sheridan and his future, with his eventual jump from Paramount to NBCUniversal for a deal worth as much as $1 billion. How did you react?
It’s well-deserved. I sent him a note of congratulations. Whatever he feels is best for him and his family, is all good and well-deserved. Whatever opportunities he continues to get to explore his work as a filmmaker, a writer, an actor? God bless him.
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Landman releases new season two episodes Sundays on Paramount+.
