Several familiar Fort Worth locations will be seen in “Landman” season 2, including a certain university.
The new season of the Taylor Sheridan show, which premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, on Paramount+, will see the character Ainsley Norris attend and explore TCU. Ainsley, played by actress Michelle Randolph, is the daughter of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris.
The “Landman” production team filmed at TCU a few times this season, incorporating students and staff as extras.
It’s unclear just how much TCU will factor into the new season, but Randolph said she’s excited for folks to check it out.
“I mean, it’s such a fun new character in our show,” she said.
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Ahead of Sunday’s premiere, Randolph and actress Ali Larter, who plays Ainsley’s mother on the show, spoke to the Star-Telegram about the Norris family dynamic going into season 2.
The conversation came a few days after Randolph and a few of her “Landman” cohorts stopped by Fort Worth for a red carpet premiere at the Modern Art Museum.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Star-Telegram: Nice to see you again Michelle after the premiere in Fort Worth, that was fun.
Michelle Randolph: That was fun. I wasn’t expecting that premiere; it was great.
S-T: I wanted to start with season 1. You make a show and hope it resonates with people, and the first season went onto become such a huge thing. Ali, you’ve been a part of some big projects over your career. Michelle, you’re starting out your career with this show. What do you both make of the show’s success?
Ali Larter: I don’t think that you ever expect success in that, especially with the way that the show was received. I have been doing this for a long time, and if you don’t enjoy the process, you’re really missing out on the sweet spot of this industry. Especially being an actor, you have to love the process. Even when it’s challenging and painful, that’s part of the whole fully grounded experience of doing it. I think for me, walking into the first season and getting to work with Billy [Bob Thornton], who is just such an extraordinary actor. Taylor [Sheridan], who’s just an unbelievable screenwriter. Stephen Kay came in and did a lot of directing. Robert McLachlan, our [director of photography]. The rest of the cast, Michelle and Jacob [Lofland].
Getting in and really working on this show, that was just incredible. We hadn’t seen it, so nobody knew how the show was going to work and come together. I think one of the things that connected with an audience was the way that Taylor weaved in all the different tones into our show. He just knows when the audience wants to feel the rush of action, or is ready to slow down and have, like a romantic moment, or when he needs comedy. I think that our show really delivers on so many of those levels.
MR: I feel so lucky to work on a show like this, because it’s incredibly hard to break into the industry. I have so many really talented friends who aren’t working right now. I mean, it’s just competitive. It’s difficult to break into and I got really lucky. Like, yeah, I work really hard, and I prepare a lot, and I care a lot, but I also got really lucky. To get on a show with these people, I just pinch myself.
S-T: When shooting here in Fort Worth, most people seem excited to have y’all here.
AL: We do. We love filming in Fort Worth, too.
S-T: The first season was about the Norris family coming back together and learning how to be family again. It seems like the second season is more about the family staying together. Is that possible? Can the Norris family be a normal family?
AL: The first season, we had all 10 episodes. We knew that when Angela was coming in on FaceTime, it was kind of like tricking the audience of not knowing that by the end, the heartbeat of the show is the family. Then everything else is the tertiary storylines around it. We knew that, but we knew the audience didn’t, so you had to kind of get through the season to understand. We also, the first season, really set up the world of oil and the danger and the cost that it is to all of the families that work within this business.
Then the second season, Taylor just goes deeper. I call the season like heartwarming, heartbreaking. It just goes deep. It goes there and there’s extraordinarily beautiful moments between Cooper and Tommy. There’s loss in the family and how you see Angela support Tommy in those times of mourning, but then also asks him to step up and be a good man in their family. How’s he going to help take care of her in this pain of becoming an empty nester? There’s all this joy, and you still get all the excitement in antics, but we dig deeper into a lot of these real life dynamics this season. Who knows? Like, will they make it? But it just keeps feeling like each step they take, takes them one step deeper. It doesn’t pull them apart, they just keep going closer.
MR: To your original question, can they ever be a normal family? No, [laughs] what is the fun in watching that.
S-T: I’m curious for you Michelle, there’s a big plot point this season in Ainsley going to TCU. I also saw that you recently attended a TCU football game. What’s it been like to work on the campus and have TCU be a part of this show?
MR: I mean, it’s such a fun new character in our show. We shot at TCU quite a bit and they have been so welcoming. I got to work with a lot of the real TCU cheerleaders. Then going to their game, they were all excited. It’s not like we’re in L.A., where films are always kind of around there. We’re in Fort Worth, Texas. We have a lot of them as extras. I love that we’re using TCU in the show and that they’re so welcoming.
“Landman” season 2 premieres Sunday on Paramount+.