Landman's Billy Bob Thornton Reveals What Sam Elliott Said To Him After Some Tough Season 2 Scenes

We haven't yet seen Tommy and his father interact on Landman, but— as the Episode 2 preview indicates — the Norris men's relationship doesn't appear to be a close one. Off screen, though? Series star/executive producer Billy Bob Thornton says the minute the cameras stop rolling, he and co-star Sam Elliott have a shorthand that dispels any animosity between their characters.

Sunday's Season 2 premiere of "Landman" introduced Tommy's dad, T.L., played by new series regular Elliott (1883). (Read a premiere recap, and see what Demi Moore had to say about Cami's big scene.) Soon after we met the character at the senior living home where he resides, he was informed that Tommy's mother, Dorothy, had died in a memory-care facility. Though the news upset him, T.L.'s remarks made it seem as though he and Tommy's mother had a contentious relationship.

Elliot and Thornton have been friends for decades and have acted together occasionally, such as in the 1993 film "Tombstone," though "Landman" marks their meatiest shared work to date. "Sam and I go way back," Thornton told me during the show's recent PaleyFest 2025 panel in New York. "And when Taylor [Sheridan, series co-creator] told me that Sam was going to play the dad, I was so thrilled, because he's one of my heroes and a mentor of mine."

Speaking carefully so as not to spoil the live audience, Thornton hinted that Tommy and T.L. have a lot of hurt feelings in their past. "I can't talk a lot about it, but I can say that I had a difficult relationship with my father, and he died at 44, so we never got to fix it up. But I did think a lot about my own father during this process," he said.

He went on to explain that he and Elliott pulled on their long history together whenever the director yelled "Cut!"

"One of the hardest things to do as an actor is to be either mean or disrespectful to someone that you love so much in real life," Thornton said. "Sam and I both feel that. So every time we did a scene together, we would always hug each other, and he'd go, 'I love you, buddy.'"

Thornton was joined on the panel by co-stars Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph, Jacob Lofland, and Paulina Chávez and series co-creator Christian Wallace. Press PLAY on the video above to watch the in-depth conversation, then hit the comments with your thoughts!