We try to keep the family really messy... that's how families are

As oil drama Landman returns, stars Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter and Demi Moore discuss the evolution of their characters with YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI

- 

BILLY Bob Thornton has little time for justifying the morality behind making a show about the oil business in West Texas.

The 70-year-old actor, who stars as Tommy Norris in Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s gritty drama Landman, says you can make a show about any corporation because they are all “moneymaking machines”.

“If they found another way to transport oil underwater tomorrow, the oil guys would get into the water business. It’s not that they worship oil; they're businessmen,” says Billy Bob, whose previous roles include in Fargo, Goliath and Bad Santa.

Heroes star Ali Larter, 49, who plays Tommy's wife Angela in the Paramount+ series, agrees and adds: “This show was based on a podcast that Christian Wallace did called Boomtown, and he’s from West Texas. When you watch our show, the guys who are on the oil rigs actually work on them and come in to be a part of it. So, there's so much truth to the eye into this world.

“It's not my job to judge it or to look at that side of it. I’m here to tell an authentic story. I’m also really attracted to flawed characters, and I don't want things to be perfect. I want to find out what the interesting parts of a story are, and try to portray that as authentically as possible.”

In the second series of Landman, Tommy takes on his new role as the president of M-Tex Oil after the death of its previous owner Monty Miller, played by Mad Men actor Jon Hamm, at the end of series one.

This role requires a lot more from former landman Tommy, including dealing with a new tense landscape, as Monty’s wife Cami Miller, played by Demi Moore, 63, asserts control.