Billy Bob Thornton's 'Bad Santa' link to 'Landman' finally explained

If you've ever thought that you'd seen Billy Bob Thornton's Tommy Norris before, you're jolly right. The "Landman" central character is the spiritual cousin to Thornton's infamous role as Willie T. Soke in the "Bad Santa" franchise.

"Landman" creator Taylor Sheridan confirmed the "separated at birth" story while speaking on the June 29 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, telling Simmons that he pitched Thornton on a "Bad Santa" character for the now-hit series.

"I said, I want to make a drama with 'Bad Santa' running an oil company," said Sheridan. "He's like, 'That's the greatest f------ thing I've ever heard in my life. Yeah, let's do it!'"

Sheridan – who also admitted he will "rage-bait" critics and clueless TV execs on the podcast – wrote the "Landman" role and series, loosely based on the West Texas oil industry podcast, "Boomtown," for Oscar-winner Thornton. The two worked together on an "1883" cameo that remains one of the best moments on the epic "Yellowstone" precursor series.

"Taylor said, 'I'm writing this show around you about the oil business, and I'm going to write in your voice,'" Thornton told USA TODAY in 2025. "It sounds like a joke, but it's tailor-made for me."

Taylor Sheridan shares his inspiration behind 'Landman'

The show's origin came from Sheridan's high school friend, who was an oil company fixer.

"I'm watching TV and some wingnut drives through the streets of Odessa, shooting off a gun. He shoots like, seven or eight people before the police run him down and kill him," Sheridan told Simmons. "So I just called him and said, 'Hey, just making sure you're good. There's some lunatic running around Odessa shooting people and it's all over the news.' And he just starts laughing and says, 'That happens here every day. Every day. It just happens out in The Patch. You don't understand what this place is.'"

"He started telling me stories," Sheridan added, "and that's when I got the idea for 'Landman.'"

In 2019, Christian Wallace from Texas Monthly produced the Boomtown podcast. Sheridan convinced his own producing partner to buy the story rights. Wallace is now a show co-creator and executive producer.

"I mean, there are endless stories we can explore," Sheridan said. "So I talked to Christian. He had been a roughneck and is a very thoughtful, good writer. He didn't know how to write a screenplay. But I didn't need him to. I just needed someone to help me manage the authenticity and make sure that we tell the story."