Why Ariana From Landman Looks So Familiar

If you're a "Landman" fan, then chances are you've wondered why the cast looks so familiar. Sure, there are actors like Billy Bob Thornton, Sam Elliott, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm, whose names we know as soon as we see them on screen. But, others send us straight to Google trying to figure out where we've seen them before. If you found yourself scratching your head upon seeing Ariana, you're not alone. 23-year-old Paulina Chávez plays Ariana, and while she may be young, she's managed to rack up credits that introduced her to plenty of people long before she appeared on "Landman."

Chávez's debut role was a decade ago: she played Carmen on one episode of the series "Day 5" in 2016. If you're a big Christmas movie fan, you may have watched her alongside Mario Lopez in 2020's "Feliz NaviDAD." Netflix watchers might recognize her as the titular character in the 2020 series, "Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love." Or, they may have seen her two years later as Flora in "Fate: The Winx Saga," a live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon's "Winx Club." In 2025, she played Mia Garcia in "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip." Some extra observant TV watchers may have recognized Ariana from "Landman" for another reason: her voice. If it was how Chávez sounded that was familiar, then  you probably watched Netflix's "The Casagrandes Movie;" she provided the voice for Punguari and Shara.

While there are a few different roles that folks recognize Paulina Chávez from, she isn't a household name — yet. "Landman" has proven to be a very different role for Chávez. In fact, single mom Ariana was so different from the characters she'd played in the past that she didn't expect to land the role, at all.

Chávez was only 20 when she auditioned for the now-popular Paramount+ series. And, as someone freshly out of her teen years, she only had experience playing teenagers, so she didn't think this was the kind of resume that made her seem prepared to play a widow in a gritty drama. "Having only played 16-year-olds and done comedies, to be able to explore this very grown-up role was exciting," Chávez told Backstage, adding, "I never expected to hear back from them because of how young I was." She recalled, "I didn't hear back for a month. Then I got a call from my agent, and I was completely shocked." Clearly, though, this foray into more adult roles is working for Chávez, and she's enjoying this heavy subject matter. According to her, "Things are messy, people are messy, and it's cool to embrace it."