Why Billy Bob Thorton's College Daughter Made It Easy to Channel Landman Character: 'I'm Very Protective'

Mar. 15, 2025

Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Landman.'.Photo:Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Billy Bob Thorntondidn’t have to look far for inspiration to play his character inTaylor Sheridan’s new high-stakes dramaLandman.

During a screening of the Paramount+ series in Nashville, Tenn. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, the actor shared how his daughterBella Thornton, helped him in his portrayal of Tommy Norris, an oilman who is always looking out for his daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph). (Thornton shares Bella, 20, with wifeConnie Angland; he also shares daughter Amanda Brooke Brumfield, 45, with ex Melissa Lee Gatlin, and sons William Langston Thornton, 31, andHarry James Thornton, 30, with exPietra Dawn Cherniak.)

“I have a daughter who just turned 20 and just started CalPoly out in San Luis-Obispo,” Billy explained, adding, “I’m very protective and it was not hard for me and Michelle Randolph to be protective of her.”

When Bella was 9, Billy gave PEOPLEa rare glimpseinto family life, sharing his daughter’s passions at the time.

Bella Thornton, Billy Bob Thornton and Connie Angland in Los Angeles, California in October 2019.Michael Tullberg/Getty

Michael Tullberg/Getty

“My daughter wants to be an entomologist, so everything is about insects like butterflies and caterpillars,” he shared. “Last Halloween she went as a monarch butterfly and I went as a ladybug. That doesn’t really look like me, but I did it. I strapped on the wings and everything.”

While Bella has largely stayed out of the limelight, she’s made several appearances with her parents over the years. She performed with Billy onstage in 2008 with his bandThe Boxmastersin L.A. and joined her parents at an event forSteven Universecreator Rebecca Sugar’s bookThe Tale of Stevenin October 2019.

WithLandman,Billy explained during the Nashvillescreening on Oct. 23 that “you always have to play yourself.”

“I’m known for playing characters that are all very different. They look different. They act differently,” he acknowledged. “So, you always have to play yourself … Because your strongest work is going to be yourself.”

Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Landman.'.Emerson Miller/Paramount+

While Billy found the creative wherewithal once again to portray Tommy, the actor also explained to PEOPLE at theLandmanpremiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 12 how Sheridan wrote the complex role with him in mind.

“Taylor wrote it specifically for me, so he wrote it in my voice, which really helped a lot, and anytime a writer does that, when they know who they’re writing for, it really helps them,” he says. “There were challenges, and obviously, because I knew some about the oil business, but not everything. I’m learning as I go along.”

The actor ultimately hopes viewerswalk away a little more enlightened about the nuances of the oil industry and maybe even life, in general.

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Landmanpremieres on Sunday, Nov. 17 on Paramount+.

source: people.com