At 81 years old, Sam Elliott has become one of Hollywood’s defining cowboy figures—but the Landman star says he is far less interested in being called “iconic” than he is in staying honest on screen.
In a new interview with Variety, Elliott reflected on aging, physical wear, and the emotional weight behind his role as Thomas “T.L.” Norris, the estranged father of Tommy Norris, played by Billy Bob Thornton. “The truth of it is [that scene] is very true to where I am at this point in my life physically,” Elliott said while discussing one of Season 2’s toughest moments, in which T.L. falls into a swimming pool and cannot pull himself out. “I’ve had a hard life. I’ve been an athlete all my life, and I’ve been a laborer all my life, and I’m paying for it now.”
That realism became one of the emotional engines behind Season 2. Introduced as Tommy’s aging father, T.L. arrived carrying decades of guilt, alcoholism, and unresolved damage.
Over the course of the season, Landman slowly peeled back the bitterness between father and son, eventually leading Tommy to bring T.L. into his home after years of distance.
Elliott credited creator Taylor Sheridan with writing characters that feel lived-in rather than manufactured. “The stuff that he writes for me, so far, has been from the heart,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun to do it.”
The actor also had high praise for Thornton, whose performance as Tommy Norris has become the center of the series. “I’m working with Billy Bob Thornton, so I’m going to be learning something from him this time around,” Elliott said. “He’s not only a brilliant actor, but he’s not a bad director or a writer.”
That father-son dynamic has become increasingly important to the show’s behind-the-scenes work as well. Co-star Jacob Lofland, who plays Cooper Norris, recently revealed that filming emotional scenes with Thornton took on new meaning after the death of his own father in 2025.
The emotional grounding has helped turn Landman into one of Paramount+’s biggest breakout hits. The Season 2 finale pulled 15.8 million viewers in its first two days, while the series spent 10 straight weeks above one billion streaming minutes.
Despite the success, Elliott still sounds surprised by the scale of the audience. “It’s dumbfounding that there’s so many people that are watching this show,” he admitted, adding that the series offers viewers “a great escape from the sh*t that’s out there in the world today.”
