Sam Elliott’s ‘Landman’ Character Details Unveiled — It’s a Must-See

I’m pretty sure I know what Taylor Sheridan has planned for Sam Elliott’s new character in Landman, and it would be great if it were true. Landman is the Yellowstone executive producer’s new oil drama starring Billy Bob Thornton. The show premiered alongside the final season of Yellowstone, debuting in November 2024 to immediate success. The West Texas saga follows Thornton’s frontman, Tommy Norris, the fixer for the M-TEX oil company, run by Monty Miller (John Hamm) in Landman season 1.

In Landman‘s first 10 episodes, we get to know Tommy and his family. Landman‘s cast includes Tommy’s wife and daughter, Angela (Ali Larter) and Ainsley Norris (Michelle Randolph), who move in with Tommy amid the more harrowing events of Landman season 1. Things will get even wilder for Norris as he steps up to run M-TEX after Monty Miller’s death in Landman season 1’s finale. Landman season 2 has also added Sam Elliott to the cast, and I think I know just what the iconic Western actor’s role will be after Tommy’s M-TEX promotion.

Sam Elliott’s Landman Character Could Be M-TEX’s New Landman: M-TEX Needs A New Landman After Tommy’s Big Promotion

Since Hamm’s Landman character, Monty Miller, died in Landman season 1’s finale, Thornton has said that Tommy will play a more significant role in Landman season 2 in the company’s operations, with Norris sometimes throwing a “sports jacket” over his oil patch clothes. While it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else in Thornton’s role as landman, with Tommy stepping up to run the oil company’s more executive functions, M-TEX will need a new fixer to manage the day-to-day ground operations in Tommy’s place.

With Landman season 2 adding Sam Elliott to the cast, I wonder if Elliott has been chosen to replace Thornton as M-TEX’s fixer. Elliott has a robust career as a leading man, so it makes sense that his casting would be a significant one, symbolically taking Thornton’s place. Elliott’s character taking over for Tommy Norris as landman would be hard to argue with, since the actor has the chops for the role, and is already a tested Taylor Sheridan actor. Elliott was one of the key cast members in 1883, Sheridan’s first Yellowstone spinoff.

Sam Elliott & Billy Bob Thornton Already Appeared Together In Taylor Sheridan’s 1883: Billy Bob Thornton Has A Cameo As Marshal Jim Courtright In 1883

We know Elliott is great in a Sheridan production, thanks to 1883, wherein he helped lead the show as Shea Brennan. Elliott’s 1883 character is a Union veteran and wagon train leader who leads a train of emigrants along the Oregon Trail in the offshoot. James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) tag along with Shea’s wagon train on the trail, traveling Northwest from Texas. Billy Bob Thornton is also in 1883, playing Marshal Jim Courtright, and we see the actors in a few scenes together.

Shea Brennan seeks out the marshal, based on a real person, after a group of unruly men attack the men, women, and children of his wagon train, killing several members of the party before they ever leave Texas. Brennan goes to the marshal to help him apprehend the criminals, finding them at the White Elephant saloon. Elliott and Thornton gunsling side by side in the 1883 scene, killing all the criminals in a matter of seconds. However, Thornton and Elliott don’t have more scenes together, since the marshal stays behind in Fort Worth.

How Sam Elliott’s 1883 Character Proved The Actor Would Make A Great Landman: Shea Brennan Is A Fierce Yet Compassionate Leader In 1883

After Shea parts with Marshal Courtright in Fort Worth, he makes his final harrowing journey along the Oregon Trail, successfully reaching the Oregon Coast. Shea is one of the few members of his wagon train to make it at the end of 1883, and his journey in the titular year is doubtlessly one of his most difficult. The majority of Shea’s wagon train dies in the prequel, succumbing to the elements and other dangers as they fail to successfully heed his instructions, due to inexperience, stubbornness, and language barriers.

… the traits that Elliott possesses in 1883 would lend themselves perfectly to his potential role as M-TEX’s new fixer in Landman… Amid the clamor of the journey, Shea is a fierce leader, often yelling at his party as they cower in fear or watch him with awestruck expressions. Shea doesn’t hesitate to tell it like it is, frequently losing his temper, but he works coolly amid the most significant dangers he navigates. All the traits that Elliott possesses in 1883 would lend themselves perfectly to his potential role as M-TEX’s new fixer in Landman, with Elliott able to emulate the complexity of Thornton’s role entirely. Shea is also a compassionate leader beneath the surface, as is Tommy in Landman.