Billy Bob Thornton recently did a two-for-one. The actor was able to promote his new Paramount+ series, “Landman,†while on tour with his band, the Boxmasters, in Texas in September. “I did a few things along the road,†he says. “Not many. There were a few phone interviews and then a couple of cities where they had a SAG screening that I would go do a Q&A in the afternoon before the shows.â€
While filming, Thornton and his wife, Connie, rented a house near Fort Worth and enjoyed reconnecting to all things Texan, as the actor spent some time there before finding success in Los Angeles. Although he did an entertaining stint as a hit man in a “Fargo†arc, “Landman†is the Oscar-winning actor’s first commitment to a series since “Goliath,†and like his hard-charging lawyer character in that series, Thornton is once again portraying a man whose passion lies deeply in his work. Only this time, he explains, his character is working for the “corporation†while legal eagle Billy McBride was “taking [the corporation] down.â€
Also, the opportunity to work with Taylor Sheridan in a role that was written just for him was too good to pass up.
“I did this cameo for Taylor on ‘1883,’†Thornton says. “We started talking, and I liked his directing style. We seem to have a good working relationship. So when they had the premiere for ‘1883’ in Las Vegas, afterward at the dinner, I was sitting next to him and he said, ‘I’m writing a series for you called “Landman,†and I’m going to write it in your voice. It’s in the world of the oil business in Texas,’ and he explained the character to me, which was essentially kind of me if I were a land man.
“And I was very intrigued. Then once I read the first script or two, it was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is my voice!’ I think I can do this because I like to do parts that I’m right for. I’m not big on playing, like, French guys and stuff. I don’t really want to do an imitation. Having grown up in Arkansas and Texas, I have an affinity for that area and everything, so it just all made sense to me.
“I found out I knew some about the oil business, but I did learn a few more things about it. Then we had Taylor and Christian Wallace, who had the podcast. Christian was there on the set, so if I needed technical information he had it. An actor wants to know what he means when he’s saying it instead of just memorizing lines and spouting them off.â€
Wallace, a West Texas native with a master’s in writing from the University of Galway in Ireland, joined Texas Monthly, the Austin-based glossy magazine, as a fact-checker in 2016. He wrote seven long-form cover stories, several of which were quickly picked up by Hollywood production companies. While some have since been dropped, fast-forward a few years, and Wallace is now writing “Landman†along with Sheridan. The relationship started when Sheridan bought the rights to Wallace’s successful podcast “Boomtown,†about the big 21st century oil boom in the West Texas basin.
“And I’m very grateful, because the reason why I’m sitting here talking to you as the co-creator of this show is because Taylor Sheridan made that happen for me. He did not have to bring me along,†Wallace says, noting that the podcast purchase could have been the end of it. “Instead, we had conversations for two years about story and character and where we wanted to take this thing. And at one point, he asked me to write a spec script based on our conversations.
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“I went off and did that, and he gave me a call a little while later and said, ‘Well, buddy, I think this is going to work.’ And so that’s when he decided to make me a co-creator of the show and an executive producer and brought me into the production process — I was involved with casting — really just brought me in with his producing partner, David Glasser. They’ve guided me every step of the way.â€
How has Wallace’s fancy new Hollywood career manifested in his personal life? Well, he bought a new pickup truck — but only after his 16-year-old one was totaled in an accident. “If I wasn’t working on a Taylor Sheridan show, I probably wouldn’t have done this, but I went down and got a lease on a brand-new Toyota Tundra that was made in Texas, and I love that thing so much. I love driving it,†Wallace says. “It is a nice reminder every time I get in that something has worked out for me, I guess, so far.â€
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