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  • ‘Landman’: Guy Burnet on Charlie and Rebecca’s Hot Chemistry, Shooting That ‘Naked’ Bedroom Scene and His Bond With Superfan Arnold Schwarzenegger

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    SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Season 2, Episode 6 of “Landman,” “Dark Night of the Soul,” which premiered Sunday, Dec. 21, on Paramount+.

    Guy Burnet has only been on two episodes of “Landman,” but he’s already made a big impact.

    Burnet plays Charlie, a M-Tex geologist who had a one-night stand with Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) after a traumatic (and drunken) plane ride. Yet Rebecca had no idea they were both employed by M-Tex — and that she’s technically senior to him, breaking corporate rules — until she traveled to meet him at an informational meeting during this week’s episode.

    It’s been a treat getting to see the high-strung Rebecca let her hair down around the suave Charlie, and the characters’ chemistry is electric. In an interview with Variety, Burnet is quick to praise his scene partner as essential to bringing the spark to their scenes.

    “I think the secret behind it is having two people who are game to do something more, to elevate something,” he says. “Kayla is the opposite of her character. She is this wonderfully kind and generous and gentle human being. When I first went out to Texas, I got her information and said, ‘Hey, would you like to meet?’ Some actors just want to turn up and do the job. She’s not that way, and we share the same philosophy of, ‘Let’s do something fun here. Let’s build something.’ So we met up and talked about life and shared stories, and got on well. Kayla and I have a real protectiveness of each other, and we bring that chemistry to the characters and let that be natural.”

    Burnet, who has also acted in series like “FUBAR” and “Counterpart” and films like “Oppenheimer” and “Pitch Perfect 3,” had the additional challenge of not just being emotionally vulnerable in his first episodes, but also putting it all out there physically as well. On his first episode, both Charlie and Rebecca woke up from their wild night in various states of disrobe, which can be challenging for even the most fearless and dashing actors. But Burnet thought about the situation and his character’s state of mind a little differently.

    “Let’s be honest, I’m not Chris Hemsworth,” Burnet says. “Everyone’s a beefcake these days in these Marvel movies. Do I work out? Yeah, I train, and I box, but I’m not a lot like those guys, so whatever. I got to give up at some point and go, ‘All right, this is me. I’m fine, whatever.’ The first thing we shot was that bedroom scene. I’m coming in naked. Kayla is so abundantly beautiful, and in my mind, I’m going, ‘Why would she want to be with me?’ And then I’m like, even in my head, genuinely at the time, ‘The audience is going to be like, “Oh, come on.”‘ The character is happy-go-lucky, and he just gets lucky. She’s out of his league. That’s how I see it. If it develops from there, he’s hit the jackpot. I don’t think it actually was nerve-wracking because I kind of gave up. I was just like, ‘Whatever, man. I got lucky. She is probably never going to want to see me again. So I’ll just say goodbye,’ and the fates intervened.”

    Fans will definitely get to know Burnet more this season, and while he can’t spoil specifics, he’s excited to show different sides of the character.

    “As you can see already, there’s obviously a very strong chemistry that Rebecca and Charlie have,” he says. “I think that develops both of their characters. She becomes a bit more three-dimensional, which then allows you to learn more about him. That’s really to drive her character and her story. I’m here to serve that story. Also, he has a natural set of skills that are needed that can bring him into the M-Tex world, which would involve the other characters, and who knows where beyond that. So it’s naturally gonna transition from just their bubble into the greater scheme of things.”

    As his role grows, Burnet has one key support figure in his life: His good friend and “Landman” superfan Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he grew close with while shooting “FUBAR.”

    “Along the way in this job, you get to meet some cool people,” Burnet says. “If you’re lucky enough, you stay in touch. Arnold is such a special, special person. He’s saved me in situations — I’m not going to say that lightly, and I won’t get into what, but when I needed somebody, he was there. He checks in on me all the time. He believes in me more than nearly anyone I’ve ever come across. He makes me believe in myself. He’ll call to check in with me: ‘What’s going on? How are you doing mental health-wise?’ And his favorite show is ‘Landman,’ and he calls and sends me messages and loves it. I consider that relationship one of the great things that’s ever happened for me.”

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    William Earl

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  • Sam Elliott on His Emotional ‘Landman’ Role: How He ‘Spent a Good Part of My Time in Tears’ and Why the Part Speaks ‘Very, Very Strongly to Me’

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    SPOILER ALERT: This post contains mild spoilers from Season 2, Episode 2 of “Landman,” “Sins of the Father,” which premiered Sunday, Nov. 23, on Paramount+.

    Sam Elliott is the ultimate cowboy actor, so it’s no surprise he linked up with Taylor Sheridan and became a fixture in his constellation of shows. He first starred in a “Yellowstone” prequel, “1883,” and is now starring as T.L. Norris, the father of Billy Bob Thornton’s main character, Tommy, on the second season of “Landman.”

    Audiences first meet T.L. in more of an emotional state than the stoic actor often portrays, as he receives news that his wife has died at a memory care facility. Meanwhile, T.L. is at a separate facility, his body broken down from a life in the oil fields, and he seems to exist only to see the West Texas sunset every day.

    When asked how he was able to conjure up such intense emotion on the show, Elliott said it was a naturalistic process.

    “It’s just on the page,” he said. “I had time to think about it. I just wanted to be open to whatever comes my way. When you have that kind of material, you don’t look at a piece of material, or at least I don’t look at a piece of material, and say, ‘I’d really love to cry here,’ or, ‘Really love to make the audience cry,’ or whatever. It just has to come naturally. One of the great gifts about Taylor’s material is that it just allows that kind of emotion to flow. I spent a good part of my time in tears this entire season, so it wasn’t something I expected, but it’s just something that happened.”

    Furthermore, Elliott said he feels a deep connection to Sheridan’s storytelling that extends to the quiet life he lives with his wife, actor Katharine Ross, and their daughter, Cleo.

    “I’ve spent a good portion of my life growing up in the outdoors, and there’s something about Taylor’s material that I feel like it hinges on that in some respect. That really speaks deeply to me,” Elliott said. “It’s this man connected to the ground, what comes up out of the ground. It’s certainly not like ‘1883’ where we’re out in the elements and all that all the time, but there’s something about what I value personally. It’s like where I live. I live on the western end of Malibu. I’ve been there for 50 years with my wife and daughter. That takes me away from LA completely, and it’s a choice I’ve made. It’s probably not the smartest choice in terms of pursuing a career in the movie business.

    “I’m in the elements, and that’s the life that I chose, that Katharine and I and Cleo, all three of us, embrace,” he continued. “There’s something about this guy sitting in a wheelchair at 81 or 82 years old, however old he is, watching the sun go down. I mean, I don’t know how much more to say about it than that. There’s a reason for that. He’s drawn to that, and he talks about it in Episode 2, the light and the dust and the heat and the lack of moisture and the things we hate about that country. It hates us all day, and then it gives us this sunset. Those elements speak very, very strongly to me.”

    This interview has been edited and condensed.

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    William Earl

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  • Paramount+ TV Show Sets New Viewership Record for Streaming Service

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    Following last Sunday’s Season 2 premiere, Taylor Sheridan’s oil rig drama Landman continues to exceed expectations as it breaks another viewership record for Paramount+. This new update comes ahead of the release of the Billy Bob Thornton-led show’s Season 2, Episode 2, titled “Sins of the Father,” which will air this November 23.

    “In Season 2, as oil rises from the earth, so do secrets – and Tommy Norris’s breaking point may be closer than he realizes,” reads the Season 2 synopsis. “Facing mounting pressure from M-Tex Oil, Cami Miller, and the shadow of his kin, survival in West Texas isn’t noble – it’s brutal. And sooner or later something’s got to break.”

    How well did the Landman Season 2 premiere perform for Paramount+?

    According to THR, the first episode of Landman Season 2 has already garnered a record-breaking 9.2 million views worldwide, a few days after its premiere. It actually performed three times better than the show’s Season 1 debut last year. Because of this, it has now become Paramount+’s biggest season premiere to date.

    Landman is created and executive-produced by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace. The ensemble cast includes Ali Larter, Demi Moore, Michelle Randolph, Jacob Lofland, Kayla Wallace, James Jordan, Mark Collie, and Paulina Chávez, with Jon Hamm, Andy Garcia, and Michael Peña as guest stars. The series was executive produced by David Glasser, ​David Hutkin, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, Geyer Kosinski, Michael Friedman, Stephen Kay, Dan Friedkin, Jason Hoch, J.K. Nickell, Megan Creydt, and Peter Feldman. It is a production by MTV Entertainment Studios.

    “Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, the series is a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs,” reads the show’s logline. “Based on the notable 11-part podcast Boomtown, the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.”

    (Source: THR)

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    Maggie Dela Paz

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  • Landman Season-Premiere Recap: The Sharks Are Circling

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    Photo: Emerson Miller/Paramount+

    Anyone who followed my recaps of the last few Yellowstone seasons knows that I have a mixed relationship with Taylor Sheridan, to put it lightly. That show had its charms, especially early on, but it grew dull, directionless, and indulgent by the end. Sheridan seemed more interested in devoting his time and energy to his several other series, including Landman, which aired its first season concurrently with that pitiful final stretch.

    So yes, here I am again, recapping a Taylor Sheridan show. The important distinction is that so far, I’m not bored to tears watching this one. It has its issues (and trust me, I’ll get into them), but the oil industry milieu is interesting, and there’s a general energy sorely missing from Yellowstone near the end. Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as petroleum landman Tommy Norris is the obvious standout; this show was written with him in mind, and he’s wildly entertaining to watch, even while delivering eyeroll-worthy rants that feel like they came directly from Sheridan’s mouth.

    “Death and a Sunset” wastes no time getting back to the goods with one of those signature rants. It’s less than a minute into the episode, and Tommy is already monologuing about how corporations like Kellogg’s spread propaganda about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. He also passes along a $100 bill to send a busboy on a cigarette run. What a legend.

    Not much time has passed between seasons. Following the death of Tommy’s boss and buddy Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), he is now president of M-Tex Oil, and he’s slowly getting used to that lifestyle with private-jet trips between Midland and Fort Worth. But pressure is high at work, where the banks are feeling skittish about funding an independent company with a power vacuum at the top. Tommy is still the one who actually gets all the shit done, but Monty’s wife, Cami, owns the company, and she doesn’t necessarily know the ins and outs of oil. That doesn’t inspire much confidence from people who have contracts with M-Tex. So she throws a luncheon to address her naysayers and prove herself as a force to be reckoned with.

    Demi Moore’s nothing role in season one felt inexplicable at times. But it seems like she’ll have a much bigger part to play this time around with Monty out of the picture, and I have to say, I’m pretty excited. This is what I hoped the show was setting up early on, back when she was just the “wife” character, contributing the occasional affectionate or mournful look.

    It also must be said that Landman sorely needs a well-written, strong female character, and Cami might actually fit. The premiere’s time with her is the most compelling stretch, starting with a restroom scene thematically and even visually straight out of The Substance, complete with a harrowing shot of Moore’s distressed, insecure reflection. And in case she needed years of misogyny and ageism reflected back to her verbally, Cami receives a cartoonishly mean remark from a young woman bragging about her upcoming Tulum vacation with a rich old man. “The divorced doctor convention is one hotel over,” she says. “It’s a young woman’s game here.”

    Of course, Cami’s resentment only fuels her to knock her high-stakes speech out of the park, and she does. She identifies herself as a hunter, details her shark-like plans to make money off all these people during the coming energy boom, and claims to be “meaner” than Monty, warning her listeners not to test or underestimate her. The crowd responds well, and Tommy offers some surprisingly warm praise afterward, telling Cami that Monty would be proud. It’s rare to see Tommy genuinely respect a woman on this show, and it feels nice.

    I wish I could say things have also improved with Angela and Ainsley, who struck me during season one as possibly two of the worst-written female characters I’d seen on TV since the aughts. Unfortunately, that is still the case, as evidenced by Angela immediately extolling the virtues of gray sweatpants (two words: dick print) to her 17-year-old daughter. They’re touring Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where Ainsley’s priority walk-on cheerleader status basically guarantees her admission.

    The admissions counselor doesn’t exactly feel great about that, and I don’t blame her. Their meeting goes disastrously, with Ainsley sinking to previously unknown depths of idiocy. Look, I support a funny bimbo character if the writer has a solid grasp on who she is, but Ainsley is a confusing type of dumb. She studies hard, got a pretty decent 29 on her ACT, and is in the top 10 percent of her class, yet she doesn’t know the word “precipitate,” claims to be “studying abroad” in Midland, and thinks cheerleaders are being persecuted at Texas Tech because they can’t date athletes? It’s not even that funny to watch her flounder.

    If that’s Ainsley’s big, dumb scene of the premiere, Angela’s cacio e pepe dinner (with shaved white truffle on top) is her big, dumb scene. Planning her daughter’s future already has Angela in an emotional mood, and she’s set on buying a house in Fort Worth to be near TCU. It’s not that crazy of an idea, considering the level of wealth this family is accumulating, but to Tommy, it’s another example of Angela being rash and melodramatic due to her menstrual cycle. Gross. But of course, Angela plays right into it by giving him the tantrum he wants, throwing plates everywhere, and then gets over everything almost right away when Tommy compliments her breasts. He learns his lesson and understands now that he doesn’t need to comment on his partner’s periods all the time, but we’ll see how long that sticks. In the meantime, I’m very annoyed that the show vindicates Tommy by confirming that his wife was indeed hormonal and PMSing.

    What about Cooper? Well, everything’s coming up Cooper. The well he owns is starting to churn out oil at high ratios, which will quickly add up and soon totally change his and Ariana’s lives. She only seems moderately impressed by this news, though, and I wonder what we’re supposed to glean from her underplayed reaction. If someone told me we were about to make $10 million a year, I’d probably start screaming and crying.

    In the closing moments of “Death and a Sunset,” Tommy receives some devastating news: His mother has died. We really don’t know much about either of his parents, so we’ll have to wait until next week for some real context, but the episode does introduce his father, Thomas, a.k.a. T.L., seen receiving the bad news about Dorothy while watching the sunset outside his assisted living facility. It’s a striking scene, especially thanks to some better-than-usual writing (T.L.’s misplaced rage about the prospect of missing a sunset feels right) and the always reliable Sam Elliott, whose performance immediately grabs your attention. If there’s one reason to think season two of Landman could be a step up from season one, it’s him.

    Boomtown

    • If there’s another reason, it’s Andy Garcia, who’s also a regular this year following his appearance as cartel boss Gallino in the finale. No sign of him yet, though.

    • When Tommy advises Cami to defer to him, you get the sense that he’s not being condescending or greedy. He just knows that people will gun for her, and he wants to protect her (and the company) as much as he can.

    • Also not around this week: Rebecca Falcone (the young lawyer to whom Tommy once mansplained wind turbines), whom M-Tex presumably still employs.

    • Glad that the admissions counselor called out Ainsley for being offensive and elitist, because we were skirting close to eugenic thinking with all her gushing about hot cheerleaders belonging with hot football players.

    • I hope we get some real insight into Cooper and Ainsley’s beef this season. That would also provide a nice opportunity to see Ainsley do something new.

    • Nate calling out Angela’s use of “senorita” as cultural appropriation just feels like Sheridan’s idea of something the libs would get mad about.

    • T.L. gets the news about Dorothy from “Memory Care in Amarillo,” so I’d guess she was sick for some time.

    • “I recommend you find a way to die quick. This dying a little bit every day is…”

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    Ben Rosenstock

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