[This story contains major spoilers from the Landman season two finale, “Tragedy and Flies.”]
Jacob Lofland was thrilled with the season two ending to Landman. “I’m ready to get back with everybody on set,” he excitedly tells The Hollywood Reporter about returning to Texas to film the next era of the Paramount+ mega-hit oil drama.
Production on the already renewed third season will pick up in the spring. So for now, Lofland, who plays Cooper Norris, is anxiously awaiting to see what writer and co-creator Taylor Sheridan will dream up for the Norris family. The second season ended on a hopeful note with Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) launching a new, independently run oil company called CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle and bringing his family and inner crew along for the hopefully lucrative ride. But the threat from cartel boss Gallino (Andy Garcia) hangs over the excitement — Tommy made a deal with the devil to launch CTT Oil, and if things go badly, Gallino will come after what Tommy loves most, which is his family.
“The calmness behind that threat is what makes me scared — how little emotion he shows to let you know that he’s truthful and means what he says,” says Lofland of Garcia and Thornton’s final scene. “Cooper kind of failed upwards and it wound up working out for everybody. It could be a great help or a real problem.”
Below, Lofland shares more of his thoughts around season three as he opens up about filming the violent penultimate episode with co-star Paulina Chávez, who plays Cooper’s fiancée Ariana, breaks down the Landman timeline to explain how much time the series has covered so far, and how he imagines Cooper will balance the weight of trauma with the excitement of new beginnings in season three.
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I spoke with Paulina Chávez, and she said that as soon as she finished reading the script for episode nine and saw Ariana’s attack, she called you. What was your reaction?
We both read it, sat down and went, “OK, this is happening. How are we going to approach this?” I had never been in that situation, and she hadn’t either. It was new for both of us, which I think worked great on the day. So we came to: “All right, we’re not going to worry about it. We trust everyone. We trust ourselves. We trust our director and our stunt coordinators — so when we get there, it’s gonna work.”
We did some rehearsals for the stunts and the fight for a few days, but nothing really getting into the emotions or feelings of the scene. So on the day, it was incredibly heavy and eye-opening for me, and I think everybody involved. It was a dark day in a heavy way. We still made it through. That’s something you never want to have to see or deal with and shouldn’t happen, but it does. But everyone did a great job. We all came out of it safe, and the scene worked. I think Paulina absolutely killed it. I was really, really happy when I saw how it turned out.
She spoke about how you supported her in the scene. What about when it came to Cooper stepping in — how many punches did you throw that day?
There’s no telling. You couldn’t keep count. I was pretty tired by the end of it — my shoulder was sore! But it went well and just kind of took over. Everyone was really respectful of the day, so there were very few people on set. It felt real when I came out and really, emotion takes over. It’s as real as it can be. You put yourself in that mind space because that’s what someone would have done in that position, I think. You do whatever you can to stop what’s happening. It was an incredibly heavy, heavy day, but I’m glad we made it through.
Paulina spoke about how, as an actor, your body doesn’t know the difference and she felt pain for Ariana. How do you shake off a scene like that? Do you carry some of Cooper’s pain with you?
Yeah, that one took a couple days. We were in our heads for a minute. Me and her had conversations coming off of it. And we’re going to see that probably in season three. I don’t have any idea yet, but I’m guessing that, as people, that’s not something you get over quickly. They’re both going to be carrying their own weight going into season three and navigating that on top of everything else that’s happening.
The season ends on celebratory note with the launch of the Norris’ family-run independent company, CTT Oil. But there was a scene before that when Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) visited Cooper and Ariana said Cooper is not going to be OK. How do you see Cooper navigating the trauma of what happened?
That’s the weight Cooper is going to carry. I really don’t know. I’ve never personally been in that situation. So we’ll have to see what’s written and what Taylor [Sheridan] has in mind for Cooper navigating this. That’s what we’re waiting on. I’m just excited to get the scripts and see where we’re heading in season three, to be honest.
Taylor Sheridan made an empowering point via attorney Rebecca (Kayla Wallace) when she made her argument to not charge Cooper with murder — that the man who saved a 22-year-old widow from rape in a back alley shouldn’t be punished. Did you have any conversations with Taylor, or co-creator/showrunner Christian Wallace, about the point they wanted to make?
Not on that scene. That was their deal. I think Paulina talked to Taylor a little. But I never really had a conversation about that part. It’s not something you enjoy talking about. But the coolest part of that portion was getting to work with Kayla and see her come in and just absolutely own that room. She is phenomenal. I love anytime I get to be on set with her, to watch her go from the absolute sweetest person in the world to a bulldog in the snap of fingers is awesome. I loved watching her own those guys.
Now that we know the ending, I understand why you told me beforehand that the finale sets up a really exciting third season. You said it blew you off your feet and you didn’t see certain things coming. What did you not see coming?
The [man who attacked Ariana] dying was the biggest part. I didn’t see that coming at all. I figured there would be some repercussions, but I didn’t know that was going to be what Cooper had to deal with. And then Cooper being president of the oil company now, that’s the second thing I absolutely didn’t see coming. I figured something was going to happen, hopefully, with Cooper and the family. But not that caliber with Tommy putting Cooper as president, and Tommy as senior president. It’s a leap of faith that really shows the trust and faith Tommy has in Cooper.
We talked about how, in season one, Cooper and Ariana were almost in their own show. Now in season two, Cooper gets more into the family fold. What was it like to play out that final CTT Oil scene, and what excites you most for season three?
It meant so much, especially to have everyone there. They’re all family at this point. It’s not just Cooper, Tommy and T.L. — it’s Dale [James Jordan] and Nate [Colm Feore] and Rebecca. We’ve built this family and clearly, they all think the same way because they’re willing to leave their jobs and come to this company. It really shows the trust and love everyone has for Tommy and this idea that they are willing to follow him anywhere.
We can assume this means Sam Elliott is returning for season three.
I would hope. I would really hope so. I have no idea, but I’m praying!
Have you thought about working with Sam Elliott on the oil rig?
It’s funny; I haven’t that much. I’m looking forward to it, but it’s hard for me to do that because I don’t want to think we’re going to get that and then be disappointed. I’m really just waiting on Taylor to hand some scripts and see where this thing goes. I do know that whatever he writes is going to be absolutely amazing and 1,000 times better than anything I can come up with. I’m ready to get back with everybody on set.
With Cooper now becoming a real landman, will you prep differently for season three?
I’m going to have to do a lot more research. I’m really going to have to figure out the terminology and inner workings. I would like that understanding going into it. I will probably dedicate a little more time to figuring that out. Being a little older than Cooper, I’ve hopefully gotten to the point where I don’t make as many mistakes. Hopefully, [the character] just encroaches closer to who I am today and eventually we will just be the same person. We’re real close to it now.
And if he does now have more family scenes, are you also excited to work more with Ali Larter and Michelle Randolph?
One hundred percent. It’s such a different dynamic from everything Cooper is used to on the show when you throw him in with Angela and Ainsley. It’s night and day in the feel of the set and chemistry. I love it. Like in the truck scene where he gets the ring. That’s the first time all three of them have been alone in a scene together, and the dynamics are hilarious — with Ainsley giving Cooper all the crap she can, and Angela in the middle trying to moderate. It’s such a such a sibling moment. I love working with those two.
Do you think season three would span a similar timeline, and take place across 10 to 15 days?
I have no idea, but I would think that it would be a short timeline of rapid, every day-to-day stuff. I think this season took place over a 10-day period. It was shorter than the first season. Then there was time needed to heal in hospitals that were a week or so, but the rest of it was probably a 10-day period. Some time had passed between seasons one and two, probably four weeks, maybe six to eight. Clearly enough time for Cooper to get some rigs up and going, and that takes some time. I would figure it would stay on that plan, but it’s up in the air. I’m just ready to get the scripts and see when we go back to work.
We haven’t seen Gallino (Andy Garcia) in full villain mode yet, but he makes a big threat to Tommy that if he messes up their deal, he will ruin his life. How nervous are you going into season three knowing the pressure weighing on Tommy around CTT Oil?
The calmness behind that threat is what makes me scared — how serious he is and how little emotion he has to show to let you know that he’s truthful and means what he says. That was a great scene with Andy and Billy. That’s going to be interesting. Cooper kind of failed upwards and it wound up working out for everybody, so we’ll see where it goes. It could be a great help or a real problem.
Do you have any idea if Demi Moore will come back?
I really don’t know. I would imagine so. I would also love to have a scene with Demi. Same with Andy. I haven’t got to work with Andy yet, either. I really hope everyone comes back and Cooper gets to see him a few times.
Has anything surprised you about the viewers reaction?
People love it, so that’s awesome! There are many more good comments than bad, and the only bad ones are peoples’ own opinions. I’m thrilled with the reactions to the show, I really am.
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Landman is now streaming all of season three on Paramount+. Read THR‘s finale postmortems with co-creator Christian Wallace and stars Billy Bob Thornton and Ali Larter.
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