Billy Bob Thornton praises Landman cast chemistry

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The screen legend joined Demi Moore and Ali Larter to premiere Landman Season 2 in London. Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00I love the hat by the way. I'm a hat man myself.

00:02Thanks bud, yeah.

00:03I can always recognize.

00:04Lansky's, Memphis, Tennessee.

00:05I'll give it a Google, give it a Google later.

00:07I don't know if my missus will be happy if I buy another one though, to be honest at the moment.

00:10Billy Bob Thornton, hello sir.

00:12Congratulations on the success of Landman, the most stream shown in Paramount Plus over the last couple of years.

00:17I wonder, when does the alchemy of success become apparent to you when you've got a good script, strong characters, a clear vision,

00:24and actors, a cast of actors that all give each other like the space to really go to work?

00:30Well, you know, the good news is you always hope your latest project is the best.

00:35And I can honestly say, this thing fits like a glove.

00:39Taylor writes specifically for people, you know, he wrote this for me.

00:43And then when he casts it, he knows how he's going to write them.

00:47And the thing about him as a writer, you know, some writers write in one voice.

00:52And Taylor writes in who, you know, there could be 50 people in it and each one's got a different voice.

00:59And it really, the chemistry of this cast was instantaneous.

01:04I mean, it was never anything that we had to struggle to get into.

01:10We had a natural chemistry.

01:13I mean, especially like Ali and myself and Michelle Randolph who plays my daughter and Jacob plays my son.

01:20You know, she lives like by our own roles.

01:22It was easy.

01:23It's incredibly fierce and powerful.

01:24And it should be.

01:25You know, she's like, the whole world is behind.

01:26If you're having to struggle, you're doing something wrong.

01:28There's an old adage of Hollywood that like male actors get better and better roles as they get older and female actors often don't.

01:35It feels there's a bit of a sea change at the moment.

01:37I mean, even you look at the difference between season one and season two of this, Demi's role has kind of grown to an extent.

01:43It gives her so much stuff to like to work on.

01:45What was it like kind of going to work and going to war together as old friends and being able to see her fly in particular in season two?

01:52Yeah, I mean, it's been wonderful.

01:55Between Sam and Andy Garcia and Demi, I've known them all for, you know, 30 something years.

02:03And so it always helps when you know someone and you have to get used to each other.

02:12And that thing you said about, you know, female characters.

02:14Yeah, I think times have changed a little.

02:17It used to be that a male actor could be a leading man until they're 95 and have a 25 year old girlfriend.

02:27And it wasn't so much that way for a female actress, but I think it's improving.

02:33But the thing about this cast, it's a group of people who just work together somehow.

02:39There's just this natural chemistry with all of us.

02:43Very quickly, I'd like to see you writing and directing again.

02:46I'm a big fan of Sling Blade. I thought that was a fantastic piece of work.

02:48Oh, thank you.

02:49Are we going to see any of that going forwards?

02:51Well, most of my writing is based on novelists and not screenwriters.

02:55And it's also based on Southern literature for the most part.

02:58And I just don't know if that's relevant now, you know.

03:01And directing and writing takes a year and a half at least out of your life.

03:05And, you know, I've been around a while.

03:08And I think between music and this, I think that's enough.

03:13I would like to do it. I just don't know if there's time.

03:16Well, mate, I'll be crossing my fingers and keeping my eye on the horizon.

03:19You never know. I might do it again.

03:21I'm hoping I've planted some seeds there.

03:23All right, buddy. Pleasure to meet you.

03:25Good luck with the rest of the season.

03:26Thank you for saying that, by the way.

03:27Oh, mate, it's true. It's true.

03:29These opportunities to say what you actually...

03:31The thing you'd want to say if you meet someone on a bus.

03:33So it's better to let people know when they've inspired you in something.

03:36That is very nice of you. Thank you.

03:38Thanks. Pleasure.

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