- 5 minutes ago
'Landman' director Stephen Kay sat down with THR's Executive Awards Editor Scott Feinberg to chat all about the Paramount+ series in a Directors in Focus conversation.
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00:01Thank you for being here, and please excuse any fanboying or whatever about the show here.
00:08But let's, you know, I've just mentioned the long history you have with Taylor Sheridan.
00:14I wonder how that began.
00:16I was kind of speculating about the fact I saw that you guys have both kind of come out of
00:21the world of acting yourselves.
00:22Is that where you guys bonded, or where did it start?
00:25We met, I was directing Sons, and he was an actor, Sons of Anarchy, and he was an actor.
00:34And we bonded over, you know, acting and horses.
00:38And then he, you know, he started writing and started sending me stuff, and that was that.
00:46And there was recently an event at the TV Academy.
00:50I think you had to be out of town, but in a way it was cool because we could hear
00:55your whole cast, principal cast from the show,
00:58talk about you without being self-conscious.
01:02And they were just gushing about how well you work with actors and how much you seem to love actors.
01:07I know you're married to an actor.
01:08Just, do you think that having been on that side of the camera affects the way that you approach directing
01:16as well?
01:17Yeah, 100%.
01:18I mean, it's, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I started doing all this.
01:26I think I was in college and saw like, I had a class where you had to watch movies on
01:33little tiny TVs.
01:35And I saw Taxi Driver, and I was like, I don't know who I want to be in that.
01:40I want to kind of be all of it.
01:44And acting seemed like the only thing that I understood.
01:47And then I went to be a writer and then found my way to directing.
01:51So I love it all.
01:53And I think that's part of how you become a storyteller, you know?
02:00Now, you're from New Zealand?
02:02No.
02:02No, I didn't see something.
02:03I'm not, they put it, they put it on, I can do the accent.
02:07Yeah.
02:09They, they put it on, I was doing a movie in New Zealand for like a year.
02:13They claimed you.
02:14And then they claimed me.
02:15And they, it was on, it was on IMDB.
02:18And my kid was little at the time.
02:20And she said, please don't change it.
02:23So much cooler than being from Philly.
02:25Well, I guess in, in either scenario, it's quite removed from the oil, you know, areas of Texas.
02:34Yeah.
02:35And many of the locations of, of these different Taylor shows.
02:39Is there something though that clearly he relishes the outdoors, the West, the kind of old ways of, of life
02:49in America?
02:49Is that something that you share or are you just, you can insert yourself into any environment?
02:55I mean, I definitely share.
02:57I definitely like, I, I was, I, so I got my kid a horse when she was six.
03:02I'm like, I'm a, I'm a guy who believes like a pound of dirt before you die.
03:09But the, you know, I, I think all of his stuff, we, we love the sort of openness of the
03:17world and, and all that and, and getting in and getting dirty.
03:20But it's also, it's about people.
03:22It's, you know, in the end, it's people and family.
03:24Yeah.
03:24And that's, that's something that we definitely share.
03:28So can you talk about, I, I understand he, season one was very present and he directed the first, I
03:35think, two episodes.
03:38How does it work though now, like season two, as we say, you directed all 10.
03:42Are you guys, is, is he on set?
03:45Are you in touch at a certain interval every day?
03:48Or is it just sort of at a certain point, it becomes kind of your baby?
03:51How does that work?
03:52Yeah, I mean, he, he, he was, uh, he was around at the beginning of season one.
04:00Um, I think, you know, he and I have been working together for 10 years.
04:04And, and I think now he, when, when he was writing this, we were talking about it and he, he,
04:13he's a, he's a, at some point you trust.
04:17At some point you have to hand it off and you go, go do your thing.
04:21And I think this, I think season two, he, he, he was not on set.
04:27Yeah.
04:27Um, but he was, he's, he's supportive.
04:30If I need something, I can call him.
04:32Um, but he's, he's, uh, he's there as much as I want him to be there.
04:36And I guess if we were to break down, it felt to me at least that season one was sort
04:41of, obviously you have to establish who everyone is and where everyone is, but it was about the business to
04:47a large extent.
04:47Yeah, it was learning about all.
04:48Right.
04:49And season two though, seems to be much more about family.
04:51Yeah.
04:52I think season one was learning about all and season two was learning about who these people are.
04:56Yeah.
04:56And, um, and it made it really fun for all of us, you know.
05:01And obviously in season one, uh, almost the same group of people was there.
05:07Season two, you've brought in great Sam Elliott as the, as the, uh, father of Billy Bob Thornton's, uh, character,
05:14Tommy.
05:14Um, but also increase the, the roles, uh, or the involvement of, uh, everyone from, uh, Demi Moore who has
05:26much more going on in season two, um, and, and, uh, Andy Garcia.
05:32And so I guess though, let's, if we can, um, I guess let's start with this, the idea of fathers
05:38and sons, uh, because it's, so Tommy's in the middle here.
05:42He's, we bring in, in season two, you, we learn a lot about his father and his father, Sam Elliott
05:48comes to, comes to live with the family, but also he's dealing with his own son, uh, Cooper, who's got
05:55a, quite a dramatic arc in this season as well.
05:58Um, was there something, I guess, particularly that you guys want to say or look at about, you know, the
06:05father son dynamic?
06:07Yeah, I think when we started this season, I called him and said, this is, you know, maybe the only
06:15show I've ever, you know, sort of experienced where it's a, it's a, at its, at its, in, in its
06:23spine is three generations of men.
06:26And, and, and how we revisit the sins of our fathers and, and how we can change that, how we
06:33don't have to be, uh, prisoners to, to the, the person who, who handed us down our, our lineage, you
06:42know?
06:43You want to talk a little bit about just the, the kind of quote unquote below the line work that,
06:49that's done here, scimitography especially.
06:52Yeah, I mean, it's, I mean, first of all, those are two of my favorite human beings on the planet.
06:59Um, I, I see them all the time and I, and, and, and I think that crew has become a
07:09family and, and we, you know, so, so I look at that feeling a lot of love and that's the
07:18crew.
07:18That's, that's, that's everybody.
07:20That's, you know, we, we, uh, um, that, that chair, um, that's there at the end was, we, we, I
07:32didn't, it was a big, it was a big empty vista.
07:36And, um, I think my wife said to me a long time ago, if you want to show an empty
07:40bookshelf, put a book on it.
07:42And, and I wanted, I wanted to feel something empty and we, we found a chair and I said to
07:51Billy, drag the chair over, sit in the chair and then leave it there so that we can feel empty.
07:56And, and, and that's all, you know, that's a production designer who's going, who's aware of things.
08:04It's a art director.
08:05It's, it's, it's a DP.
08:08It's a camera operators are wizards.
08:11Um, we shoot three cameras all the time and they've crammed into places that three cameras should not cram into.
08:17Um, and everyone's, uh, everyone's a storyteller, you know, and that's, that's sort of our, our collective goal.
08:26Um, and everybody, I mean, it re it's a weird cliche, but everybody loves everybody on the, I mean, we
08:35go, you know, bowling together on weekends.
08:38We are, this is a very close knit group of people.
08:41Well, Billy Bob said he cried when he heard that Sam had been cast as his dad because I guess
08:45they go way back to him.
08:47Way, way back.
08:48Yeah.
08:48Yeah.
08:49Now are you, I, I, I imagine you have a hand in every decision.
08:53Were you part of the, do you say, you know, let's go get Sam Elliott knowing that there is that
08:59kind of a built in history?
09:01No, this, this Sam thing, honestly, um, uh, Taylor just called and said, bro, what do you think?
09:09And I was like, I, I, I'd never met Sam.
09:12And I really, I, I was like, okay, let's, let's play.
09:15And, uh, and it took 30 seconds and I fell in love with him.
09:22They did 1883.
09:23Yeah.
09:23And I fell in love with him.
09:25I'm like, I think he is, I'm going to see him tomorrow.
09:28I saw Billy 15 minutes ago.
09:30That's great.
09:30I'm, these are my favorite people on the planet.
09:33What's also to me particularly noteworthy about the show is how somehow you guys multiple times in an episode can
09:41go from, uh, the, the funniest, most out there, uh, comedic stuff, particularly with, um, Angela, Allie Larder and Ainsley,
09:53Michelle Randolph from like, you know, uh, uh, uh, absconding with nursing home patients to go to a casino.
09:59To, uh, you know, having a stripper perform physical therapy for Sam Elliott's character.
10:06I mean, like you, it's off the wall stuff.
10:08And then without getting whiplash, we go to some of the most, uh, dramatic stuff you could have.
10:16I mean, there's a, the Paulina Chavez character, uh, is assaulted in this season.
10:22And, um, there, there's just it, but it, but it doesn't feel like you're watching two different shows.
10:28So how tonally do you navigate that?
10:32I think that's the, that's my hope is that's why people like the show is cause it's not, you know,
10:39keep banging the same drum.
10:40Uh, we, you know, it goes back to truth.
10:46It goes back to being honest and on it to, for me, I love comedy.
10:51I love like, I love that there was a laugh in here and at the end it breaks your heart.
10:57And that to me is what we want to do in every episode.
11:02And Taylor is a freak at, he's a really funny man.
11:08He's a really serious man.
11:11He's a really smart.
11:12It's like, it's a very, it's this and you can have a dinner with him and it's like this and
11:17it's the same.
11:18That's to me, you know, the, I want an audience to watch this and feel like they're doing this.
11:25And then they go, let's, let's go out to dinner again.
11:29Well, one of the most complicated relationships in the show is between Tommy and Andy Garcia's Galeno,
11:36who in season one, uh, is present at, uh, you know, uh, a pretty, uh, unendearing.
11:45He's pretty unendearing to Tommy and some of the scenarios, just like a man of a lot of wealth, but
11:51a lot of kind of menace.
11:53Uh, and yet they are forced into dealing with each other.
11:58Are you the kind of director who's giving them, uh, ideas and notes ahead of, ahead of the scene?
12:05Or are you like, I guess, how do you approach when you're dealing with people who, you know, are, are,
12:09are so good and so experienced,
12:11but obviously, you know, may, may want input as well.
12:14Yeah, we talk, we talk a lot about intention and we talk a lot about where you're going and, you
12:22know, I like to sort of go, you know, here's where, here's where you are.
12:26Here's where you're going.
12:27Now let's go fuck around.
12:28And, and that's, I was literally on a set last night at like three in the morning and I, we,
12:35we rolled and I was like, all right, let's fuck around.
12:37And one of the actors came over and went, that's like your thing.
12:40And, and it, I, it's what I like to do.
12:43It's like if, especially you have two crazy ballers and you go, yeah, here's what you want.
12:50Here's what you want.
12:52Let's see who gets it.
12:53Let's go mess around.
12:55I guess one thing I wonder is, I don't think it's especially common for one director to do every episode
13:05of a whole season.
13:06That's a lot of work and a lot to take on.
13:08Do you, A, what, how would you describe just what, what it's like to bear that load, but also does
13:13it come with advantages in terms of not just a kind of a, I guess a cohesiveness to the whole
13:20season and, and trust and everything with the actor.
13:24Just, uh, again, how, how common you would say it is and what that's the pros and cons of it
13:30from your point of view.
13:31Uh, it's definitely not common and it's a long time of shooting and it's tiring for everybody, but I would
13:40do it.
13:41I mean, I'll do it.
13:42We'll do it again this year like that.
13:44I hope to always, if I, if I continue, you know, doing, uh, more series like this, I would always,
13:55you know, I'd ask for that.
13:57Uh, you have to have scripts.
14:00You have to have belief in each other, all of that.
14:02Um, but yeah, you're making a movie, you know, it's, you're making a 10 hour movie.
14:08And, uh, so everybody knows, like we had conversations a month before that informed this.
14:18And so you have that frame of reference.
14:20And for the actors, um, I have a lot of friends who are actors, who are film actors, who have
14:27a really hard time with the concept of here's a new director.
14:31Here's another new director.
14:33Here, I just got into a rhythm of how you work and now there's another person, they work a different,
14:38and, and it's hard for actors, it's hard for crew, it's hard to get a rhythm.
14:43And I think having one person really, it, it makes it feel a little different.
14:50I mean, uh, uh, it's, it's, uh, I, I love it.
14:54Does it affect the, so, you know, I, I guess when it's multiple directors, somebody's taking on one, four and
15:01seven, somebody's two.
15:02Are you, like, does this, are you able to do maybe a bit more chronologically because you're going to be
15:10a part of every episode or a big part of it?
15:12Or how does, I guess, is there any difference in the way you actually approach the production because there's one?
15:17A thousand percent.
15:18I mean, that's not always, that's not always great for an actor because you're going, all right, so this is
15:23what happens in episode 10.
15:25We're going to shoot episode 10 in the morning.
15:26Then we're going to shoot episode two in the afternoon, and that's a lot of material, but then it's more,
15:33you know, incumbent upon me and, uh, uh, and the actors and, and script supervisor and stuff to be able
15:41to go, all right, emotionally, you're going to be, you were here, I think.
15:47And you're trying to get to here, and now you were here, but now you're trying to get, it's, it's,
15:51but I think it's, it's part of the game.
15:55It does make it way easier.
15:56If you have a location that you're shooting in one, three, and seven, you can shoot it out in a
16:02day.
16:02Whereas if you were doing a different, uh, if, if I was doing one and you were doing three, we'd
16:08have to come back to that same location that might be an hour and a half away.
16:12Plus you can have in your mind and communicate to the others, you know, if, if two people were doing
16:19it, I guess, uh, you know, it's just probably harder to convey to the actor or for the actor to
16:25grasp.
16:26Just like, I'm trying to think how to, how to put this, but yeah, that just that you can articulate.
16:32It's continuity of thought, continuity of emotion.
16:35It's, uh, yeah, it's, it's like making a movie.
16:38It's like making a long movie.
16:40Yeah.
16:41Let's talk about Demi Moore because, um, again, in the first season, she's sort of the, the faithful wife and
16:49then the widow and has some great moments.
16:52But in season two, she's, she's much more, uh, active and, uh, you know, taking strong positions.
17:01And I mean, there's several moments that one at the bar where the guy tries to wipe the thing off
17:07her face.
17:07I mean, I, I, you realize you don't want to mess around with, with her.
17:10Um, and then there's a scene that leads up to, uh, kind of a, uh, not even a confrontation as
17:18much as just a, um, crescendo or something with Tommy, who she's, she's now the boss and she is going
17:26to decide whether she wants to, how their, how their relationship should unfold moving forward.
17:30You know, maybe this is a good moment to talk about just the, the women of Landman, the actresses of
17:37Landman.
17:38There, there was an event, I think a week ago in New York of all of sort of representatives of
17:44all of Taylor's shows.
17:45The, the, the, you had Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana from Lioness and other, just like it is, I think
17:51sometimes underappreciated how, um, many great actresses are giving great performances in, in the shows that he's created and have
18:00entrusted to, to you.
18:01Uh, and, you know, just of all sorts, again, the, um, in, in this show, not just, uh, Angela and
18:10Ainsley, uh, or Cammie, but, um, again, Paulina Chavez and Kayla Williams is the lawyer and it just goes on
18:19and on and on.
18:19So, um, I don't know if you want to talk about that.
18:23Yeah.
18:24I mean, I mean, there it's a, it's an interesting, I mean, and we've gotten, you know, since Yellowstone, we've
18:31gotten.
18:31Blowback and I think Taylor, as long as he's been writing has, you know, people have been saying, you know,
18:36he, he doesn't write women and I'm like, I don't understand.
18:40I think, I think his women are, are, are powerful and speak, uh, you know, behave on their own terms.
18:47And to me, that's, that's what these, that's what to me does.
18:53That's what all the women on this show do.
18:55That's what the women on Lioness and, you know, all, all of his, they're, they're individuals.
19:01I don't lump them into women or men.
19:06Um, I think, you know, he, he used to joke that, that, you know, Beth was the man he always
19:13wishes he could be.
19:14Um, and, and it's, it's, you know, I think they're just, um, I think they're passionate people.
19:24And I think he hires, there's a reason that really talented actors, uh, want to play these women.
19:32And, uh, uh, I think it's because they have great words to say.
19:36I was listening to that going, you know, my job in that scene, the words are great.
19:40Those actors are ballers.
19:42Just get the fuck out of the way.
19:43It's, it's cool.
19:45And I think that's, uh, to me with all those, with all of them, when we were doing Lioness,
19:52I was like, you know, let, let, let Nicole eat.
19:57Just like go play, you know?
20:00It's great.
20:00Well, last thing for me, uh, you alluded to season three, which has of course been, uh, ordered now.
20:09I mean, can't do much better in terms of ratings and reception.
20:13So this, any ballpark of when, when you guys go back to work and when we might see more Landman,
20:20not to rush you.
20:21Uh, I go back to work in about a month.
20:24Yeah.
20:25Yeah.
20:25And, and, uh, and then we'll, we'll, uh, we'll get cranking.
20:30Yeah.
20:31You know, uh, they, they, they, we, we sort of, we're, we're cutting while we're shooting.
20:37And so it'll, it'll hopefully be out soon.
20:40Awesome.
20:41Well, can't love it more.
20:43Thank you so much, Stephen Kay.
20:44Really appreciate it.
20:44Thank you guys.
20:45Yeah.
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