Landman Star Paulina Chavez Explains What Taylor Sheridan Is Like Behind-The-Scenes

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Landman Star Paulina Chavez Explains What Taylor Sheridan Is Like Behind-The-Scenes

Paulina Chávez as Ariana Medina stands at the door to her house in Landman

Paramount+

As Taylor Sheridan’s television empire continues to expand, fans of the wildly prolific writer-director may find themselves struggling to keep up. There are only so many hours in a day, and a well-rounded TV viewer cannot subsist on Sheridan’s soapy adult dramas alone. When do you cut bait on one of his series, or, as a new one premieres, simply say, “Nah, Taylor, I’m good”?

For many devout Sheridan worshippers, “Landman” had way too much going for it on the surface to resist. The notion of Billy Bob Thornton playing a gruff petroleum landman operating in West Texas sounded like wheelhouse Sheridan, and, sure enough, fans and many critics got sucked right into the oilfield intrigue. What with Thornton (a natural for Sheridan’s macho universe) doing his tough-talking thing alongside a stacked cast that includes Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, Ali Larter, and Colm Feore, even Sheridan’s occasionally clunky dialogue (this is what happens when a talented writer spreads themselves too thin) sings more often than not.

If “Landman” has a breakout performer and character, it has to be Paulina Chávez’s Ariana Medina, who loses her oil crewman husband to a fatal accident in the first episode of the series. While mourning the death of her hubby, Ariana seeks comfort and legal assistance from Cooper Norris, the roustabout son of Thornton’s Tommy Norris. As Ariana and Cooper start to fall in love, Tommy seems inclined to not get in the way. We’ll have to wait for season 2 to see how the relationship progresses, and if Tommy continues to let it flourish.

While Chávez had already acquired a bit of a fan following from playing the lead role on the short-lived Netflix series “The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia,” “Landman” reps her first time on a high-profile show where she’s surrounded by veteran, award-winning actors. Was she intimidated? Surprisingly, no. And she credits Sheridan for making her feel like an important part of the cast right off the bat.

Paulina Chávez praised the collaborative directing style of Taylor Sheridan

Paulina Chávez as Ariana Medina cries on the shoulder of Jacob Lofland as Cooper Norris in Landman

Paramount+

In a January 2025 interview with the FM radio station 98.1 KHAK, Chávez revealed that Sheridan was incredibly supportive and available as she connected with the character of Ariana. “From the time that I auditioned to the time that we actually shot was almost a year, and so I really got to live with Ariana and always finding new things about her,” she said.

She classifies her work with Sheridan as “a very collaborative thing,” which is amazing considering how many other irons the writer-director-producer (and, to the detriment of “Yellowstone,” sometimes actor) has in the fire at any given time. “[Sheridan] was always a phone call away if I ever had any questions about a certain scene, or how he wanted it executed,” said Chávez. “And I think that’s beautiful. and it just shows how much he really cares about the content that he’s putting out.”

As for where we can expect Ariana’s journey to go in season 2, Chávez couldn’t provide any details last January (though we do have some intel on Demi Moore’s Cami Miller). “Her story is so special, she’s so resilient, and I’m so excited for the audience to see that part of her,” she enthused. All we know for now is that Paramount+ renewed “Landman” for another season. There’s no season 2 premiere date set just yet, but we’ll keep you up to date as we get closer to the show’s return. Just don’t expect Jon Hamm’s Monty Miller to make a miraculous return.