Tragic Details About The Cast Of Landman

Based on the "Boomtown" podcast hosted by its co-creator Christian Wallace, "Landman" has quickly become another hugely successful part of Taylor Sheridan's ever-expanding Western universe. Indeed, its second season finale posted remarkable worldwide viewing figures of 14.8 million to become one of Paramount+'s biggest hits, while its leading man, Billy Bob Thornton, has picked up multiple award nominations, including at the Golden Globes.

Described by its producers as "a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs," the streaming sensation has managed to attract quite the cast, too. Alongside Thornton, Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, Andy Garcia, and Sam Elliott are just some of the household names who have helped to heighten the drama of the West Texas saga. But while its major players might currently be on a high, they've nearly all faced their fair share of lows over the years. From drug addictions and deaths of loved ones to health issues and hasty retreats, here's a look at 13 of the most tragic examples.

Billy Bob Thornton, who plays the leading man, M-Tex Oil's president Tommy Norris, in "Landman," has suffered his fair share of health problems over the years, from the heart condition known as myocarditis to various eating disorders. But it was a crippling drug addiction in his early 20s that left the actor facing near-death.

During an appearance on the "After Dinner Thinks with Ann Wilson" podcast, Thornton recalled the moment he knew that things had become life-threatening: "I'm glad I quit when I did," he said. "Because I was this skinny little long-haired hippie, working as a roadie, and I looked in the mirror on an Airstream trailer one day and said, 'You're gonna die. You have to stop.'"

Luckily, the candid star, who's never been afraid to voice his political views, either, did just that, but not by the usual celebrity way of heading to rehab. Indeed, Thornton, who admitted to taking everything from psychedelics to morphine during his years of substance abuse, went completely cold turkey on his own. "Back then, they didn't have programs and support groups and things like that," he added. "I sweated it out for about four days."

Billy Bob Thornton has lost two close family members in untimely circumstances. In 1974, his father, William Raymond Thornton, died from lung cancer when the future Oscar winner was only in his late teens. And then in 1988, he lost his younger brother Jimmy Thornton to a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

The latter, in particular, greatly affected the "Landman" star. In fact, as he explained on "Oprah's Master Class" (via HuffPost), more than 25 years later, he said he has "never trusted happiness since." Billy Bob went on to add, "I have to really force myself to think that things are going to be OK in terms of worrying about my family, myself or one of my friends. I've never been the same since my brother died. There's a melancholy in me that never goes away. I'm 50 percent happy and 50 percent sad at any given moment."

However, Billy Bob, who later recorded several songs penned by his late sibling, has also been able to find comfort through his grief. "I don't want to forget what it felt like when he died, because he deserves [that remembrance]," he continued. "That's how important he was to me. So, if I have to suffer and I have to be sad for the rest of my life, and if I have to be lonely without him ... then that's the way I honor him."

Mark Collie, who plays Midland County Sheriff Walt Joeberg in "Landman," learned he had type 1 diabetes at the age of 17. And since making his name in the country music world roughly two decades later, the multi-talent has made it his mission to help find a cure.

Indeed, the star has helped to fundraise millions of dollars over the years thanks to various charitable events, including benefit concerts and the Mark Collie Celebrity Race for Diabetes Cure, a star-studded NASCAR competition that has become a staple of the Nashville calendar and, over the years, has invited everyone from Billy Ray Cyrus and Loretta Lynn to Faith Hill and Hollywood legend Paul Newman to get behind the wheel.

Collie's efforts haven't gone unnoticed, either. In 2001, Vanderbilt University appointed him a research chair. And the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center's Dr. Daryl K. Granner told VUMC News that he couldn't be prouder: "Mark has really brought diabetes awareness to the Nashville community. His efforts have not only helped us continue our research but also have helped many people in the community get control of their own disease."

As she revealed in her candid memoir "Inside Out," Demi Moore's early years were plagued by hardship. At the age of 15, she discovered that the man who'd raised her, Danny Guynes, wasn't her biological father. Her world imploded further three years later when he died by suicide, sending her mother, Virginia King, spiraling into a pit of despair.

"You could either be trapped by what was going on around you, or you could find a way out," Moore later told the Guardian about how she helped look after her mom in the wake of the tragedy. "I think that everything, even if it is scary or good, comes into our life to help elevate and expand us as human beings."

Sadly, this wasn't the first time that Moore — who plays M-Tex Oil's owner Tami Miller in "Landman" — had been forced to play the parent. As a 12-year-old, she had to physically intervene when her mother made the first of several suicide attempts. "The next thing I remember is using my fingers, the small fingers of a child, to dig the pills my mother had tried to swallow out of her mouth while my father held it open and told me what to do," she wrote in her New York Times bestseller (via Us Weekly). "Something very deep inside me shifted then, and it never shifted back. My childhood was over."

Another startling revelation from Demi Moore's memoir "Inside Out" centered on the sexual assault she endured at the age of just 15. The "Landman" star wrote about how she was raped by a man who'd been waiting in her apartment when she returned home. To make matters even more traumatic, the assailant claimed that her mother had facilitated it.

"It was rape," Moore wrote (via The Guardian) about the incident. "And a devastating betrayal, revealed by the man's cruel question: 'How does it feel to be whored by your mother for $500?'" The future Academy Award nominee was often taken to bars while underage by Virginia King in attempts to attract male attention. And she instantly recognized the intruder who had subjected her to such a horrific ordeal.

During an appearance on "Good Morning America" to promote the book, Moore, who's also spoken about how her own addiction issues have impacted her daughter, Rumer Willis, was asked whether she believed the man's claims. "I think, in my deep heart, no," she responded. "I don't think it was a straightforward transaction. But she still did give him the access, and put me in harm's way."

Jon Hamm, who played M-Tex's owner Monty Miller in the first season of "Landman," tragically lost his mother to colon cancer when he was only ten years old. And he was made an orphan a decade later when his father died from complications related to diabetes.

Luckily, the future Hollywood star had a strong support network around him at such difficult times. "I was quasi-adopted by my friends' families," Hamm explained to Elle. "And even today I get emails or cards from these women who, for lack of a better word, were my mom. We talk about what it means to be a family. Mostly it's about showing up. And being aware enough to check in and say, 'How are you doing?'"

Hamm was also able to take comfort from the therapy sessions he attended following the death of his father, a man he admits helped him to get into character as "Mad Men" favorite Don Draper. "After I'd lost my dad, I had this horrible paralyzing inertia — and no one in my family was capable of dealing with it," he told Mr. Porter's The Journal. "So what do you do? Go and see a professional."

The oft-tragic Jon Hamm shot to worldwide fame playing the hard-drinking antihero Don Draper in AMC's advertising drama "Mad Men." But shortly before the opening episode of its final season aired, news emerged that art might have been imitating life. It turned out that the actor had just attended rehab for an addiction to alcohol.

Hamm's publicist Annett Wolf confirmed that the star had sought treatment with the support of his then-girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt. And the man himself was more than happy to talk about his experiences in his interview with Mr. Porter's The Journal: "People go for all sorts of reasons, not all of which are chemically related. But there's something to be said for pulling yourself out of the grind for a period of time and concentrating on recalibrating the system. And it works. It's great."

Hamm didn't entirely give up alcohol, as he later explained to the Irish Times: "I've never claimed to be a sober person." However, high school friend Robert Lawson told the same newspaper, "Drinking with Jon Hamm during those days was different from having a drink with Jon Hamm now." And co-star John Slattery also concurred, adding, "He just makes sound decisions, despite whatever pressures may have been applied externally and internally. I'm just happy that he's in the place he's in."

In 2005, Andy Garcia made his narrative directorial debut with "The Lost City," an emotional drama about a family forced to leave their Havana hometown in the midst of the Cuban revolution. It was a story that the star, who also served as co-producer and played the leading man, was all too familiar with.

Indeed, at the age of five, Garcia fled the very same city with his mom, dad, and two older siblings following the Bay of Pigs invasion, an unsuccessful attempt by the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front and the United States to overthrow leader Fidel Castro. "There was a law passed where you lost control over the rights to your children," the Oscar nominee explained to ABC News about what inspired his parents to make such a drastic move.

"I think my mother tells the story where they saw me marching," continued Garcia, who plays investor and drug cartel leader Danny "Gallino" Morrell in the show. "My house was directly in front of an old police headquarters that had been taken over by the new rebel army and I was marching and humming the 'Internationale.' And my mother says to my father, 'Look at your son. We have got to get out of here.'" The family subsequently relocated to Miami with only a box of cigars and $300 in their possessions.

Sam Elliott, who plays Tommy's father T.L. Norris in "Landman," first worked with showrunner Taylor Sheridan on "1883." And it was while filming the "Yellowstone" prequel that the famously gruff-voiced actor started to realize he wasn't as young as he used to be.

"That show beat the [expletive] out of me," Elliott revealed in an interview with Deadline: "I had a fall. I've got two torn tendons in my hip that are aren't going to heal up." The star also disclosed that his hearing has suffered, too, because of the show's constant gunfire. So what exactly inspired the Hollywood veteran to hitch his mast to another Sheridan show?

Well, in an interview with Woman's World, Elliott cited its leading man as a major factor: "I've known Billy [Bob Thornton] for a long, long time. We worked briefly a couple of times. Having an opportunity to come and see him on a daily basis and try to do something special with Taylor's work together — it's just a great opportunity. A real gift." Here's a look at the "Landman" cast and their real-life partners.

Sam Elliott got the acting bug when he appeared in a "Guys and Dolls" production while attending Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, in the mid-1960s. But it's safe to say that his father, Nelson Elliott, didn't share his enthusiasm.

"He gave me that proverbial line, 'You've got a snowball's chance in hell of having a career in (Hollywood),'" Elliott remembered in an interview with the Register-Guard. "He was a realist, my dad. He was a hard worker. He had a work ethic that I've fashioned mine after, and I thank him for that every day."

Of course, Sam would go on to prove his pop wrong, picking up nominations from the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Oscars for performances in the likes of "A Star Is Born," "Conagher," and "Buffalo Girls." But having died of a heart attack when the star was only 18, several years before he established himself in Hollywood, Nelson never got to see his son hit the big time. "That was a bummer," Sam told "The Off Camera Show," adding, "My dad died thinking I was a total idiot for wanting to be an actor."

In 2020, Leonard Roberts made an eye-opening claim about Ali Larter in an essay for Variety which referenced the time they played husband and wife Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkins on "Heroes." The Black actor recalled filming a particular sex scene in which his co-star expressed discomfort with baring her shoulders when she'd been more than happy to do so with a white character. He also argued that her behavior was responsible for getting him prematurely fired from the hit sci-fi series.

In response, Larter, who went on to play Tommy's no-nonsense ex-wife Angela Norris in "Landman," told TVLine that she was left devastated by the allegations: "I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts' experience on "Heroes" and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn't match my memory nor experience on the show."

"I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform," Larter went on to add. "I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best."

In 2025, Jacob Lofland reconnected with Matthew McConaughey for an Interview piece 13 years after they'd appeared together in the Southern Gothic drama "Mud." And he had some sad news to share: the previous year, his father, Billy Lofland, had died.

"Do you feel like I felt? I remember feeling like, 'There's a certain safety net that I've always had behind me that's gone,'" McConaughey asked after ensuring that his former castmate was happy to talk about the subject. "You've always had that person that, no matter what, you could call," Jacob responded. "You had that man who gave whatever information or whatever advice — whether it helped or not, at least it was something. And once that's gone, there's just a lonely feeling. That's it."

Jacob, who plays the Norris' geology student-turned-M-Tex roustabout son Cooper in "Landman," also revealed that his dad's profession has helped him get into character. "Man, I really connected with the oil field in general. My dad used to do it ... He told me all these stories. I really love showing this world we've never gotten to see inside of. No one understands how dangerous it really is and how much we rely on it, so I wanted to be a part of bringing that to the forefront."

Paulina Chavez, who plays Cooper's romantic interest Ariana Medina in "Landman," was certainly put through the emotional wringer while filming the penultimate episode of the show's second season. In one particularly traumatic scene, her bartender character is sexually assaulted by a customer whose advances she had earlier rejected. And the actor told The Hollywood Reporter that she found it difficult to separate fact from fiction.

"That first take was the scariest thing ever," Chavez admitted. "It felt so real, even though it wasn't. It felt very real and I needed a good amount of time to prepare for the next take. After that first take, it was a little bit easier for me to be able to differentiate what's real, what's fake. But that first take really stuck with me."

Chavez knew she'd find filming the attack a harrowing experience, having burst into tears upon reading the script: "I've been acting for so long; since I was seven in training," she explained. "I feel like empathy is my superpower to be able to jump into a situation. But I'm a very sensitive soul, and now I can't really watch heavy stuff because it'll put me in a very terrible place. That's why that was the reaction I had, so I took my reaction and I kept it in my pocket for when I had to do it on the day."