How to Get Cast on ‘Landman’

Based on Wallace’s 12-episode “Boomtown” podcast, which examined the 21st-century oil boom in Texas’ Permian Basin, “Landman” focuses on the fictional Norris family as they navigate the oil rigging industry. From the beginning, the family’s patriarch, Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton), finds himself at the mercy of a powerful cartel, as he’s taken hostage and must negotiate his release. With pressure looming, and a deadly rig accident that almost kills his son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), there’s no shortage of tension for this landman and his family.

“Landman” Season 1 was overflowing with A-list talent, including:

• Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris
• Ali Larter as Angela Norris
• Jacob Lofland as Cooper Norris
• Michelle Randolph as Ainsley Norris
• Paulina Chávez as Ariana
• Kayla Wallace as Rebecca Falcone
• Mark Collie as Sheriff Walt Joeberg
• James Jordan as Dale Bradley
• Jon Hamm as Monty Miller
• Demi Moore as Cami Miller
• Colm Feore as Nathan
• Mustafa Speaks as Boss
• Mitchell Slaggert as Ryder
• Alex Meraz as Jimenez
• J.R. Villarreal as Manuel
• Octavio Rodriguez as Antonio
• Ben Browder as Colonel Ivey
• Robyn Lively as Ellie

Most of Season 1’s main players are expected to return. Andy Garcia, who made a cameo appearance as cartel boss Gallino on the Season 1 finale, is also set to reprise his role, adding to the show’s serious star power.

John Papsidera (“The Dark Knight,” “Oppenheimer”) serves as the primary CD on “Landman.” The Emmy Award–winning casting director has become Sheridan’s go-to, as they have partnered to cast “Yellowstone,” “1883,” “1923,” and “Lioness.” (If you couldn’t tell, he’s also Christopher Nolan’s top CD.)

Having trained as an actor himself, Papsidera brings a unique perspective to the process. “I don’t know how people [who] haven’t trained or studied acting compare or look at work, but certainly you look at moment-to-moment work; you look at creativity. It’s informed me a lot about…what separates people. I think confidence is one of the biggest things. It’s infectious if an actor walks in with confidence and belief in themselves—and not cockiness and not hubris, but belief in what they’re bringing into the room. It’s contagious to directors and producers,” he told us. 

“I also think choices make a huge difference,” he added, “and you’ll just find actors along the way [who] enable themselves…to find moments that are uniquely theirs. You’ll see a lot of people come in and the readings are fine, but they’re not individualized. They read the words on the page, and it sounds right; but it’s the person [who] comes in and makes a choice that is incredibly specific to them that then you remember those things and go, I didn’t think of it being played that way, or I didn’t know that that was what it could be. And those are truly gifted people [who] take their craft into a different realm than just anybody [who] can read lines.”

While Sheridan wrote the character of Tommy Norris with Thornton in mind, Wallace was privy to the remainder of the casting process. “I got to be there for every major character that we cast,” he told us. “We had a lot of great actors audition for those roles. I don’t have a ton of experience with that process, but as someone who’s loved film and TV for my entire life, it was thrilling to see. [You think,] Oh, well, that’s not the version of the character in my head. But you play it out with all these different actors. In the end, you go with your gut.”

For Michelle Randolph, getting cast as Tommy’s daughter, Ainsley, came on the heels of her “1923” role. Sheridan personally encouraged Randolph to audition for “Landman,” but that left the actor with only 12 hours to record 18 pages of dialogue for her self-tape. “I dropped every single thing. I turned my phone off. I locked myself in a room. I didn’t sleep. It was helpful. It’s nice when you have undivided attention for something because it’s easy when you have time to get distracted,” she told L’Officiel. 

“Right when ‘1923’ was coming out, I had heard about ‘Landman’ and I in no way thought that I would be able to work on that show, because I was meant to be filming ‘1923’ Season 2,” she explained to Town & Country. “I felt like it was my job to lose because I knew I was right for it, and I knew Taylor wanted me for it. I put a lot of pressure on myself to just really deliver in that tape. Oddly, my performance hasn’t strayed too far from what I initially found her as. There have been a lot of changes with my accent and little things, but the bones of it were there from the beginning,” Randolph added.

For more insight into how to ace an audition for one of Sheridan’s hit TV series, check out these guides:

• How to Get Cast on ‘Yellowstone’
• How to Get Cast on ‘Yellowstone’ Prequel Series ‘1923’
• How to Get Cast in a Taylor Sheridan Production

Filming for “Landman” Season 2 has already begun. The cast returned to North Texas in late March, just after the series officially got the greenlight. From downtown Fort Worth to the town of Cresson, the series’ stars, including Thornton and Demi Moore, have been spotted in the area, which could bode well for locals looking for a place among the cast.

Currently, there are no public casting calls available for “Landman,” but the team did post notices looking for extras in the North Texas area in late March and early April (and there could be more on the way).

According to Lonestar Live, Legacy Casting posted numerous notices for background and extra roles for shoots to take place between April 3–10. Notices included calls for “paramedics for a scene in which you will look like you are administering first aid to one of our characters,” “roughnecks with trucks,” and “beautiful young ladies to be at an event cozying up to rich men”; these calls even sought a “running double on camera” for Moore’s character. Check out our guide on how to audition for background work so you’re prepared for the next potential round of notices. And don’t forget to bookmark our main casting page, which regularly updates with the latest listings. (Our guide on how to audition for Paramount+ might help, too!)

Be kind to yourself. Randolph clearly made an impression on Sheridan, as he cast her in two series, but that doesn’t mean impostor syndrome instantly left her body when she landed her big break on “1923.” In fact, she told us it’s worse—but she also noted that this has taught her to be kind to herself. “I have even [worse] impostor syndrome,” Randolph told us. “But I’ve developed confidence, too, because I’ve worked with some of the most incredible actors and people in the industry, and I’ve been able to seek advice from them. That feeling of being an impostor never goes away—but knowing that someone at the peak of their career can also feel that way, I’m nicer to myself than I ever was before.”

Exercise your talent. Moore told us she “went to the university of ‘fake it till you make it,’ ” as she worried someone else’s perception of her skills might dictate her chances at success. But she explained it’s important for young actors to get outside their heads and exercise their acting muscles. “I was almost afraid to be in an acting class,” she noted. “There was some weird psychology—I’m talking about when I was really, really young—where I thought that if I went to an audition, there could be a variety of reasons why it didn’t work out. That way, I could prepare myself for rejection. Maybe they wanted somebody blond; maybe they wanted somebody taller. But in a class, I somehow made up this thing that if the teacher said, ‘Oh, my God. You’re awful, and you shouldn’t be doing this,’ I would never have a chance.

“I’ve come to realize that was just an absolute misunderstanding that I created,” Moore added. “I really do encourage [young actors] to go explore. Especially if your path is more in television or film, we usually only get the opportunity to work on our craft when we’re actually hired for a job.”

Make smart choices. For Papsidera, the most memorable actors are those who come into their audition prepared. “I’m not one for a lot of rules. I’m not a big ‘don’t’ guy. It’s more about being present, making smart choices, being prepared,” he said. “Those are things that impress me, and that make a difference and separate actors from one another. If an actor makes a smart choice or an unpredictable choice in some way, the person who really thinks about the material and tries to come at it creatively rather than just saying lines is nine times out of 10 the person that you’re going to think made a great choice. It’s going to stick out from the rest of the crowd. 

“It seems simplistic and rudimentary,” he continued, “but it would shock you how many people don’t think it through. It doesn’t mean a random choice, and it doesn’t mean being outrageous. It’s about smart choices. It’s about interpreting the material and character in a certain way that nobody else thought of. Fear gets in the way of making smart choices, being present, and allowing the camera and the process to happen. It’s less about doing sometimes and more about being.”