Billy Bob Thornton Chucked Jim Parsons ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Trick Aside While Prepping For Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Landman’

Created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman is a drama series based on the podcast Boomtown which is hosted by Wallace. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Jacob Loflan, and more. The story is set between the worlds of oil rigs in West Texas and follows Tommy Norris as he navigates the chaos of the oil industry in Texas.

Billy Bob Thornton is one of the most respected and talented actor-filmmaker-singer-songwriters. He is regarded for his roles in movies including Monster’s Ball, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Bad Santa, and more. The actor recently shared how he prepared himself for Landman.

Billy Bob Thornton talks about his character in Taylor Sheridan’s Landman

In an interview with Collider, Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Tommy Norris on the show, was asked about his preparations for playing Norris on the show. The host asked him about something that surprised him during his research for the show, to which he said,

I have a couple of friends whose fathers were landmen, and I talked to them a little, but I didn’t do a lot of research beforehand.

The actor stated that he wanted to talk to the technical people and understand what they meant. Thornton added that it’s because if he didn’t know what he was saying meant, he wouldn’t be able to deliver the line properly, as it wouldn’t make the audience believe unless he knew what he was saying. He further shared,

I had Christian Wallace on set all the time, so if there was a line and I wasn’t sure what that meant, like a technical term in the oil business or something, I’d ask him.

Billy Bob Thornton’s method of saying dialogues, especially those that have a lot of technical terms, is very different from Jim Parsons’ way of saying his dialogues in The Big Bang Theory, which had a lot of scientific jargon. In an interview with his co-star Mayim Bialik, he shared,

During the week, I start; I probably have them on me; I do; I make my flashcards. This is Act 1 Scene A, and then there’s my first cue line; it’s from Leonard. There’s the I; it says, ‘Ok, see you later.’ And then on the back is my line.

Parsons added that he’d pace around his house and drill them like some sort of ballet dancer learning moves. He shared that it’s because largely he didn’t understand a lot of what he was talking about. He needed the muscle memory to be in his mouth.

The actor who played Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the show, revealed that he’d do one scene at a time and sometimes type out the entire scene in a Word document. He did that so that he’d have not only have the words right, but the entire cadence of the conversation.

However, it should be noted that the science jargon that Sheldon Cooper used on the show is almost impossible to remember, so in that sense, Parsons did a wonderful job and was highly praised for it. He is to date recognized for his work on the show, so his flashcards worked for him.

Christian Wallace is hopeful for Season 2 of Billy Bob Thornton’s starrer Landman

Season one of Landman premiered with two episodes on Paramount+ on November 17, 2024, with the following eight episodes dropping weekly till 12th January 2025. The co-creator, Christian Wallace, in conversation with The Direct, shared that they are hopeful for a season two. He said,

I mean, as long as there are stories to tell, I would love to keep telling them. And I think we just skimmed the surface on our first season, and that’s saying something because they cover a lot of ground. I hope we keep telling these stories for a while.

The co-creator added that he hopes with their series they are able to bring light to the men and women who work in West Texas and the oil and gas industry. He explained that he wanted to put actual human faces to the stories from the oil industry, which he describes as a multifaceted, international thing, adding that he wanted to zoom in on the personal stories.

Wallace also shared that he was surprised to learn how big the oil industry is as far as profits and where it ranks. He noted that it’s a massive thing, and when someone tries to put numbers on it, it’s just kind of an unfathomable machine.

He mentioned that people in the industry work really hard for long hours, but they still don’t know if they’re going to hit the gold at the end or not.

Landman is streaming on Paramount+.