‘Landman’ Star Ali Larter Details Intense Vibe on Taylor Sheridan Set

Ali Larter revealed there was no “handholding” on the “high-pressure” set of Paramount+’s Landman, and so she and her on-screen daughter, Michelle Randolph, leaned on each other.

Speaking with People, Larter, who plays Angela Norris on the hit Taylor Sheridan neo-Western drama, said she and Randolph, who plays her daughter Ainsley Norris, developed a strong bond across the first season due to the intense vibe on set.

“We spent a lot of time together, the first season, when there wasn’t handholding,” she explained. “There wasn’t, ‘You’re doing a great job.’”

Larter continued, “You kind of were thrown into the fire into a very high-pressure, high-octane set… It was really amazing that we had each other to lean on, and so I think that that really formed this bond [between us].”

Landman, which premiered in November 2024, is set within the world of oilfields in West Texas. The show stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, an abrasive landman for an oil company. Larter and Randolph play Tommy’s ex-wife and daughter, respectively.

Michelle Randolph and Ali Larter in Landman; Emerson Miller / Paramount+

Larter credited Sheridan’s “masterful” casting ability, telling People, “I don’t know how he knows who’s going to get along and what’s going to work and what doesn’t, but it just works.”

The Heroes alum also praised Randolph as “an amazing person” and a “talented actress,” adding, “she’s the best.”

Landman returned for its second season on November 16, 2025, and, earlier this month, was renewed for Season 3.

“It’s incredible how Taylor made oil fascinating, and the landscape,” Larter continued. “You would never know that — this is why he’s such a genius — you would never know on paper that this show would be so riveting or so many people would love it, different generations of people who live in different places. That they find a connection to it, I think, is super fascinating.”

She also spoke highly of Thornton, calling him “one of the best actors working in our business.”

“He brings out the best in me,” Larter added. “In our world, when we’re working together, there’s just never an inauthentic beat, and that is incredible. I love him so much.”