If you’ve been watching Landman on Paramount+, chances are you’ve already picked your jaw off the floor more than once. The show dives deep into the raw, brutal, high-octane world of West Texas oil—black gold, broken bones, and all. It’s loud, it’s tense, and most of all, it looks real. Almost too real.
So how does a TV show make exploding oil rigs, cartel standoffs, and full-throttle roughneck brawls look this authentic without getting anyone genuinely torched or knocked out cold? Let’s peel back the curtain and see how Landman works its behind-the-scenes magic.
Filming in the Real World: Texas, Baby
First things first: the locations. One of the reasons Landman feels so legit? Because it is. While the storyline anchors itself in West Texas, most of the filming happens a few hundred miles east, right in and around Fort Worth.
No fakes here. The production used actual spots like:
- The Fort Worth Petroleum Club
- The American Association of Professional Landmen headquarters
That’s not just set dressing—that’s industry DNA built into the background. According to Visit Fort Worth, Sheridan and crew chose these spots to add grounded realism, and honestly, it works. These aren’t backlot builds—they’re places where real oil deals go down.
And the crew didn’t just breeze through. Locals spotted cast and production teams filming for months across North Texas, turning entire towns into living, breathing oil country.
Boom Goes the Oil Rig
Let’s talk about that explosion.
In one early episode, a blowout blasts an oil rig sky-high, killing three roughnecks in a gut-punch of a moment. The scene is brutal. It’s jarring. And it’s absolutely electric to watch.
But it’s not just CGI wizardry.
As Yahoo revealed, the Landman team brought in real fire departments and emergency personnel to help stage the explosion safely. The fireballs were real. The smoke was real. And the danger? Well, controlled—but very much felt.
Stunt coordinators and special effects experts planned everything down to the second. They rehearsed it again and again. Safety gear, sandbags, fire-resistant suits—you name it. They used it. The payoff? One of the most realistic and heart-stopping TV explosions in recent memory.
Training the Talent: No Slackers Allowed
To make this show sing, the actors needed to walk the walk. Especially Jacob Lofland, who plays Cooper Norris, a young roughneck thrown into the oil game’s deep end.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram , Lofland didn’t just show up and wing it. He went through a five-day oilfield training boot camp.
Five days of:
- Machinery operation
- Hands-on fieldwork
- Safety training
- Watching and learning from real-life roughnecks
So when Cooper fumbles with a drill bit or yells over the roar of a rig, it’s not just acting. It’s muscle memory. The realism in those scenes? It starts with the grind behind the scenes.
Let’s Talk About Those Fights
And then there’s Tommy Norris. Played by the incomparable Billy Bob Thornton, Tommy’s got a temper—and fists that do plenty of talking.
Whether he’s throwing down with oil field hotheads or trading blows with cartel thugs, the fights in Landman hit hard. And they look good doing it.
That’s because the fight scenes aren’t just thrown together. They’re carefully choreographed, timed, and rehearsed with stunt doubles and cast working together. You’ll spot some tight camera work and quick edits, sure, but there’s real contact, sweat, and grit behind every scuffle.
A few sources hinted Thornton himself stepped into the fray more than once—especially in slower, dialogue-heavy confrontations that escalate into brawls. Of course, the heavier stunts fall to the doubles (because let’s face it, nobody wants to break a hip over a dramatic shove).
When Cartels Crash the Party
Landman doesn’t sugarcoat the messier side of oil money. Cartel involvement adds another layer of tension—and risk—to nearly every move Tommy and crew make. So when cartel muscle shows up, things get ugly fast.
These scenes, full of loaded guns and twitchy standoffs, are some of the tensest in the series. The stunt team leans heavily into realism here, balancing suspense and action with precision.
Rather than going over-the-top with movie-style shootouts, Landman opts for grounded, hard-hitting realism. The tension lies in the stillness—the twitch of a trigger finger, the glint of a hidden pistol, the slow, simmering rage in a stare-down.
Not Just Flash—It’s a Tribute
Beneath the explosions, punches, and barrel rolls, there’s something deeper happening in Landman. The show isn’t just about making cool TV—it’s also a love letter to the people who live and work in this world.
These stunt scenes—however brutal or flashy—are rooted in reality. Real people risk real lives out there on the rigs. The series pulls back the curtain on those everyday dangers and gives them cinematic weight.
That kind of tribute takes effort. And it shows.
Let’s Hear It for the Crew
It’s easy to focus on the actors (and sure, Billy Bob’s mustache deserves its own Emmy). But the real MVPs? The stunt coordinators, safety supervisors, and effects teams who keep everyone safe while still making jaws drop.
They’re the ones coordinating flame bursts down to milliseconds. The ones mapping out fight choreography that looks nasty but avoids actual injury. And yes, the ones making sure no actor accidentally walks into a gas flare.
They don’t wear capes. But they do wear a lot of safety gear.
What’s Next on the Oil Horizon?
If Landman keeps up this level of intensity—and all signs say it will—we’re in for even more big, explosive, can-you-believe-they-did-that moments. And now that you’ve peeked behind the scenes, you’ll probably appreciate those stunts even more.
So next time Tommy squares up with a pipe wrench or a drill rig goes boom, just remember: somewhere off camera, there’s a whole team making that chaos look effortless—and making sure everyone walks away in one piece.
Now that’s oilfield magic.
