The Landman Scenes Billy Bob Thornton Struggles To Film With Sam Elliott

Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott have known each other a long time. In fact, Thornton considers Elliott an inspiration and a hero, which should have made filming scenes with Elliott in Taylor Sheridan's "Landman" both comforting and familiar, as the veteran actor was brought in for Season 2 to play Thornton's father, T.L. But Thornton, who plays gritty oil executive, Tommy Norris, revealed the exact opposite to Variety, admitting that he really struggled with his scenes. "Some of the hardest stuff I had to do was when I had to be abrupt to, or even mean with, Sam Elliott. Sam and I are old, old friends. He's been like a pop to me since I've known him in the '80s."

Thornton continued, "He's been a mentor, a friend and everything. Sometimes, knowing the other human, it's not as easy to just go for it, but you have to. You have to go 100%." Thornton and Elliott's onscreen father-son relationship is certainly complex and rooted in emotional turmoil so both actors had to dig deep in their performances to work through their baggage. According to TVLine, Thornton spoke at the PaleyFest 2025 in New York about having to be tough on his real-life hero while the cameras were rolling, "One of the hardest things to do as an actor is to be either mean or disrespectful to someone that you love so much in real life," Thornton said. "Sam and I both feel that. So every time we did a scene together, we would always hug each other, and he'd go, 'I love you, buddy.'"

In a joint interview with Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott for Entertainment Tonight in November 2025 while both were promoting "Landman," Thornton admitted that he had a strong reaction to learning that Elliott was being cast to play his father. He said that when he told his wife, Connie Angland, the big news, it made him cry tears of joy.

Thornton wasn't the only one excited about the prospect of working with his old friend. Elliott gushed to People that he was thrilled to work with the "Bad Santa" actor again. "Having an opportunity to work with Billy again — we've only worked, briefly, a couple of times, and this time, we're in deep, and it's just a treat to go to work and be with him," Elliott said. "I've loved him afar for a long time, and now I get to love him up close. It's special."

During a November 2025 appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show," Thornton revealed how he and Elliott first met at a Super Bowl event hosted by a producer who was a mutual friend. Eventually they got to act together in 1995's "Tombstone," which sealed the friendship. In 2025, Elliott told Deadline about time spent with Thornton onset. "The reason we got to know each other a little bit on 'Tombstone' was through a mutual friend, Bill Paxton. Bill and I were riding back and forth to work every day. Then when Billy came to town, he rode with us." And now it sounds like they're each other's ride or die for life.