Billy Bob Thornton is clearing the air over his future on Landman.
Thornton, who plays oil executive Tommy Norris in the hit Paramount+ show, shut down speculation that he is leaving the Taylor Sheridan drama after its second season, which wrapped on Sunday, January 18.
It appears rumors began circulating about Thornton’s role going forward after his character was fired as president of M-Tex Oil by the company’s owner, Cami Miller, played by Demi Moore, in the penultimate episode of season 2.
In an interview with USA Today published on Saturday, January 17, Thornton, 70, called rumors of his exit “AI-generated crap.”
“There’s an AI report that Demi and I are a couple now, and there’s one that I’m leaving the show. They have nothing to do with reality,” he added to the outlet.
Landman has already been renewed for a third season, which is due to start filming in the spring.
According to Thornton, “I’ll be there.”
Landman season 2 has been a bona fide hit for Paramount+, improving its audience from season 1, which premiered in November 2024.
Thornton told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview on Sunday that “it has been surprising” to see the show continue to exceed expectations.
“I didn’t really realize that the show was going to go up in popularity that much,” he shared. “It was already the hugest show with the first season, and then the next season, I think they call it ‘viewable minutes’ — they went up like 262 percent. I’m not great at math, but I thought, how is that possible? I thought there was only 100 percent and then you can’t go any further!”
He added, “But it was really great doing season two because in the first season, the world was introduced. And with the second season, now that everybody knows who everybody is, you could delve deeply into the relationships. I thought that was very smart of Taylor to do that, because to do another season that started and ended with an explosion would just be repeating yourself.”
“It’s like, ‘Okay, we get it. That’s what this show is. Every week will be a dangerous moment with an oil rig,’” Thornton continued. “I thought he was very smart about saying, ‘For the second season, let’s concentrate on the family. Let’s show more about the executive end of the oil business with Demi’s character and Tommy becoming president.’ I quite enjoyed doing more character stuff that didn’t involve the excitement.”
As for what’s next for Tommy, Thornton said Sheridan keeps the plot “pretty close to the vest.”
“I think Taylor would probably rather the craft service people know than the actors,” he said. “And that keeps you interested and on your toes, the way he does that. But I have a feeling — this is not even a rumor, it’s only in my head and just a guess — but that season three may be a combo of seasons one and two. Where maybe the danger will come back, but those relationships will still be at the forefront. And that’s just a guess.”
All episodes of Landman are available to stream on Paramount+.
