Sam Elliott on His Emotional ‘Landman’ Role: How He ‘Spent a Good Part of My Time in Tears’ and Why the Part Speaks ‘Very, Very Strongly to Me’
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains mild spoilers from Season 2, Episode 2 of “Landman,” “Sins of the Father,” which premiered Sunday, Nov. 23, on Paramount+.
Sam Elliott is the ultimate cowboy actor, so it’s no surprise he linked up with Taylor Sheridan and became a fixture in his constellation of shows. He first starred in a “Yellowstone” prequel, “1883,” and is now starring as T.L. Norris, the father of Billy Bob Thornton’s main character, Tommy, on the second season of “Landman.”
Audiences first meet T.L. in more of an emotional state than the stoic actor often portrays, as he receives news that his wife has died at a memory care facility. Meanwhile, T.L. is at a separate facility, his body broken down from a life in the oil fields, and he seems to exist only to see the West Texas sunset every day.
When asked how he was able to conjure up such intense emotion on the show, Elliott said it was a naturalistic process.
“It’s just on the page,” he said. “I had time to think about it. I just wanted to be open to whatever comes my way. When you have that kind of material, you don’t look at a piece of material, or at least I don’t look at a piece of material, and say, ‘I’d really love to cry here,’ or, ‘Really love to make the audience cry,’ or whatever. It just has to come naturally. One of the great gifts about Taylor’s material is that it just allows that kind of emotion to flow. I spent a good part of my time in tears this entire season, so it wasn’t something I expected, but it’s just something that happened.”
Furthermore, Elliott said he feels a deep connection to Sheridan’s storytelling that extends to the quiet life he lives with his wife, actor Katharine Ross, and their daughter, Cleo.
“I’ve spent a good portion of my life growing up in the outdoors, and there’s something about Taylor’s material that I feel like it hinges on that in some respect. That really speaks deeply to me,” Elliott said. “It’s this man connected to the ground, what comes up out of the ground. It’s certainly not like ‘1883’ where we’re out in the elements and all that all the time, but there’s something about what I value personally. It’s like where I live. I live on the western end of Malibu. I’ve been there for 50 years with my wife and daughter. That takes me away from LA completely, and it’s a choice I’ve made. It’s probably not the smartest choice in terms of pursuing a career in the movie business.
“I’m in the elements, and that’s the life that I chose, that Katharine and I and Cleo, all three of us, embrace,” he continued. “There’s something about this guy sitting in a wheelchair at 81 or 82 years old, however old he is, watching the sun go down. I mean, I don’t know how much more to say about it than that. There’s a reason for that. He’s drawn to that, and he talks about it in Episode 2, the light and the dust and the heat and the lack of moisture and the things we hate about that country. It hates us all day, and then it gives us this sunset. Those elements speak very, very strongly to me.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.
