Landman's Billy Bob Thornton Reveals The Season 2 Scene That Got To Him: 'That Was Not Acting'

One of "Landman" Season 2's most moving moments hewed very close to real life for series star Billy Bob Thornton.

"There's a scene early in the season when I'm in the truck with my son," Thornton, who also serves as an executive producer on the Paramount+ drama, tells TVLine. "He tells me he loves me, and I just can't."

If you watched Season 2, you instantly know what he's talking about: an exchange between Tommy and Cooper Norris (played by Jacob Lofland) that takes place near the end of Episode 2. The two men are in the car, returning from a bleak visit in which Tommy had to tell his father, T.L. (Sam Elliott), that Tommy's mother had died. As they drive home, Tommy tells Cooper about how T.L. used to beat him, and how the cycle of violence and emotional scarring is "almost impossible to break." Cooper won't let his father chastise himself so harshly, though; after all, the younger man points out, Tommy has been a better father to him than T.L. was to Tommy.

"I love you, Dad," Cooper continues. "You did your best, and your best is good enough for me." Behind the wheel, Tommy has to look away in order to keep his tears at bay. (Read a full recap.)

"I start to tear up. That was not acting," Thornton recalls. "I held myself back from tears. Was not acting. That was as real as anything I did this season."

He explains that his real-life relationship with his own father, who died at age 44, was "not great," which was part of why the scene felt so undeniable. "I think if I said that to him, that would have been the reaction."

As viewers know, T.L. moves in with Tommy and his family two episodes after that pivotal Cooper/Tommy conversation. As Season 2 progresses, Tommy's relationship with his dad softens. By the season finale, Tommy has created a new oil company and installed his father as the manager in charge of drilling.

"The problem between them is really why T.L. didn't take care of Tommy more when the mother was such a wreck," Billy Bob Thornton says. "That's really the root of their problem, right there. I think they actually, at the end of the day, they actually do love each other as father and son. And they both see themselves in [the other]. T.L. sees Tommy as him when he was younger, and Tommy sees T.L. and wonders, 'Is this what I'm going to become?'"

He laughs. "He sees the traits that he has of T.L.'s. Because, when T.L. and [Tommy] argue, it's like the same guy talking!"