{"id":363029,"date":"2025-11-07T21:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363029\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T21:19:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:19:19","slug":"billy-bob-thornton-lights-up-fort-worth-landman-screening-sam-elliotts-on-his-heels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363029\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Bob Thornton lights up Fort Worth \u2018Landman\u2019 screening, Sam Elliott\u2019s on his heels"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH \u2014 Billy Bob Thornton makes his way down the red carpet in all black, casual as a roadie at a Thursday night screening of Landman<\/a>, whose second season hits Paramount+ on Nov. 16. The parking lot of the chic Modern Art Museum has been overtaken by floodlights and photographers for this Fort Worth Film Commission event, part of the Lone Star Film Festival. It\u2019s as glitzy as Cowtown gets, though that\u2019s still low-key. Billy Bob\u2019s in a baseball cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had to pick a city in the United States where I feel most comfortable, it\u2019s Fort Worth, Texas,\u201d Thornton says in that languid voice, the slow syrup of a boy raised in Arkansas, one of the last great accents of Hollywood\u2019s A-list. The red carpet is a place of empty chitchat and spin, but Billy Bob sounds sincere. \u201cIf I could shoot everything I do in Fort Worth, I would.\u201d <\/p>\n

The phenomenon that is Landman, Taylor Sheridan<\/a>\u2019s saga about oil and the American dream, is a topic so big I\u2019ll be tackling its appeal next week, too. But one major reason for the show\u2019s success is Thornton, standing before me in a black jacket over a black shirt that reads Knuckleheads, a beloved Kansas City music venue. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The author interviews Billy Bob Thornton on the red carpet at an event for Landman’s second season on Nov. 6, 2025, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Rick Kern \/ Getty Images for Fort Worth Film<\/p>\n

News Roundups<\/p>\n

Catch up on the day’s news you need to know.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

A rocker in real life, with a band called the Boxmasters, Thornton plays the landman of the title, Tommy Norris, like a 21st-century cowboy, the bang-bang of his six-shooter replaced by the beep-beep of an iPhone. His face veers between seen-it-all and can\u2019t-believe-this-one as he staggers from one disaster to another, cigarette dangling from his sun-chapped lips. The man still smokes \u2014 on screen, and in real life. <\/p>\n

\u201cHarry Dean Stanton smoked like an old Buick,\u201d he says to me, and the actor lived to be 91. Thornton is 70 and recently got a clean bill of health. He plucks a pack of Natural American Spirits from his jeans pocket, taps the box. \u201cIt\u2019s the chemicals that will kill you.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sam Elliott\u2019s mustache has no comment<\/p>\n

Missing on the red carpet is Taylor Sheridan<\/a>, the show\u2019s celebrated creator, but his name comes up as several actors \u2014 including Michelle Randolph, who plays Norris\u2019 daughter, Ainsley, and Paulina Ch\u00e1vez, who plays Ariana, a grieving widow turned romantic interest \u2014 work the microphones, looking sweet and small and adorable. <\/p>\n

\"Paulina<\/p>\n

Paulina Ch\u00e1vez poses for photos during a red carpet event for the season 2 premiere of Landman at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Inside the museum, there\u2019s a cocktail party in the foyer that looks like a scene from Landman: 10-gallon hats and boots, designer purses and whiskey in a tumbler. Outside the stars are greeting each other like old friends, huddling up as cameras flash. <\/p>\n

Sam Elliott\u2019s white hair glistens like snow against the black backdrop. New to the Landman cast this season, he plays Thornton\u2019s father; talk about perfect casting. He speaks in a low drawl, befitting an actor whose IMDb page sets the bar for Gruff Old Guy (Road House, A Star Is Born, 1883), and he works the red carpet like a man who has seen enough red carpets.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Elliott poses for photos during a red carpet event for the season 2 premiere of Landman at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is shooting in Fort Worth different than other places?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlatter,\u201d he says, and keeps staring at me like, now ask a real question.<\/p>\n

Red carpets are a dream-nightmare scenario. You have one minute with a living legend: Now go! I thought I\u2019d have a few more beats to collect my follow-up, and I find myself tongue-tied and transfixed by the architectural precision of Elliott\u2019s mustache, like a snowy white awning above his upper lip. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you have any grooming tips for your mustache?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he says, and chuckles. <\/p>\n

This might be the worst interview I\u2019ve ever conducted, and exactly how a conversation with Sam Elliott should go. <\/p>\n

\"Michelle<\/p>\n

Michelle Randolph has better luck with Sam Elliott, as the two hug during a red carpet event for the season 2 premiere of Landman at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Fort Worth gets its closeup<\/p>\n

It\u2019s after 8 p.m. when the crowd migrates inside for a screening of the second season\u2019s first episode. The wood-paneled room is packed, with members of Fort Worth City Council and State Rep. John McQueeney sharing space with normies in suit jackets and dresses. <\/p>\n

The second season opens on Tommy Norris \u2014 smoking, of course \u2014 on a balcony in Fort Worth, a more refined landscape than the dusty, cartel-laden flatlands of the Permian Basin where he spent most of last season. With the passing of his boss, oil company president Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), Norris is stepping into the role of high-flying executive, flashing $100 bills, riding private jets. He\u2019s accompanied in this shift by Demi Moore, playing Monty\u2019s widow, Cami, who seems poised for greatness this season. <\/p>\n

\"Demi<\/p>\n

Demi Moore as Cami, second from right, and Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy (right) are two anchors on the second season of Landman. <\/p>\n

Emerson Miller \/ Emerson Miller\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

The crowd cheers as Ainsley, played by Randolph, and her mother Angela, played by Ali Larter, traipse across the campus of Texas Christian University. The crowd cheers as Longhorn cattle lumber along the Stockyards in an establishing shot, and again when the screen flashes Dickies Arena. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is the only time Dickies Arena is gonna get applause,\u201d cracks co-creator Christian Wallace, whose Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown is the origin of the series, in the Q&A that follows the screening.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Jerry Jones\u2019 cameo on \u2018Landman\u2019 left Billy Bob Thornton impressed with his acting chops<\/a><\/p>\n

The star of the Paramount series says Jones was \u2018very good\u2019 \u2014 likely because the Cowboys\u2019 owner isn\u2019t an actual actor.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cYellowstone\u201d<\/a>Fort Worth-bred show creator Taylor Sheridan expected to leave Paramount for NBCUniversal<\/a><\/p>\n

When Sheridan\u2019s contract with Paramount expires in 2028, he will join NBCUniversal on a five-year film, TV and streaming deal set to begin in 2029, per Deadline.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have fans in Uganda\u2019<\/p>\n

That 30-minute chat, moderated by WFAA morning anchor Marc Istook, covers the show\u2019s complicated family dynamics, including the love-hate bond between Norris and his old flame, played by Larter, and the father-son conflict between Thornton and Elliott that will be central to the second season. Istook asks about getting the accent right (James Jordan, who plays roughneck Dale, confesses he studied No Country for Old Men), and how such a deeply regional drama became a global smash. <\/p>\n

\"Love<\/p>\n

Love is madness, as Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris and Ali Larter’s Angela Norris go another round in Landman’s second season. Photo Credit: <\/p>\n

Emerson Miller \/ Emerson Miller\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought this show would resonate with the middle of the country, what they call the flyover states,\u201d says Thornton. He\u2019s been hanging back during the Q&A, the ball cap on his head casting a shadow over his face, though he pipes up for this question. \u201cWe didn\u2019t think the coasts would like it. We had no idea it would be an international hit. We have fans in Uganda,\u201d he says in disbelief. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the reason is that the show has a little bit of everything. Emotion and humor and drama and danger and absurdity. Nowadays, critics say, well, this thing couldn\u2019t make its mind up what it wanted to be. It had comedy and drama? How can you do that all at once?\u201d More laughter, the trademark Thornton-Norris sarcasm. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more to discuss about Landman, whose second season is only getting started, after all. Who wants to spoil the fun? It\u2019s enough to get a taste, and the crowd seems to delight in seeing a familiar world rendered in mythological scope. The bars, the streets, the people. I know them. <\/p>\n

Sam Elliott gets one of the biggest laughs of the night joking about his own response to seeing himself on screen. \u201cJesus Christ, I\u2019ve gotten old,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Post<\/a>Hepola: Inside Cattle Baron\u2019s Ball, where Post Malone kicks back with high rollers<\/a><\/p>\n

The Grapevine grad and music superstar gave an unforgettable finale at the annual fundraiser, where rain didn\u2019t scare away the fashionable set, or the wannabes.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hepola: Dallas true-crime great Skip Hollandsworth and a mystery that refuses to be solved<\/a><\/p>\n

The Texas Monthly giant\u2019s new collection about female criminals, \u2018She Kills,\u2019 tells epic stories. Good luck finding out his.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH \u2014 Billy Bob Thornton makes his way down the red carpet in all black, casual as…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":363030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,12046,7371,7372,19892,12044,12045,358,173,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-363029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-billy-bob-thornton","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-high-profile","13":"tag-landman","14":"tag-taylor-sheridan","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115510508420800559","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}