When “Landman” fans think cartel danger, they don’t picture some shadowy mustache-twirler. Nope. They see Alex Meraz – cheekbones taut, eyes cold, always one decision away from violence. How did this Arizona kid, who once danced for royalty and won karate trophies, become Jimenez, Midland’s cartel nightmare? Hold my beer – or better yet, my bottle of Texas crude – and let’s rewind that wild tape.
Mesa Roots: Spray Cans, Spinning Heels, and Martial Arts Bruises
Let’s start with Meraz’s oddball origin story. Picture this: Mesa, Arizona. Not exactly cartel territory. Young Alex sits sketching superheroes or painting murals, dreaming of something bigger. His Purépecha roots in artsy Tempe environments shaped the way he sees the world. But art class soon led to break-dancing battles, where he stomped the floor under the name “Nomak.” Random? Not really. His dance gigs eventually landed him in front of Jordan’s royal family. Bet that doesn’t show up on most resumes in Hollywood.
And yet, dance was only half the story. While most teens fretted over math homework, Meraz chased adrenaline. He brawled his way through karate championships. Capoeira circles became his afterschool ritual. Tournament wins stacked up on the shelf. If a Marvel casting agent had wandered by, Meraz might’ve walked out in spandex.
From Stunt Falls to Studio Calls
But let’s not forget the collision with cinema. After carving muscles and learning how to twist out of danger, Meraz landed a spot with stunt legend Andy Cheng, famous for his Jackie Chan connection. Forget theory – this was real elbows and real bruises. The guy didn’t just learn to fall safely. He learned to do it on camera, again, and again, and again. And, occasionally, with fire.
His first true acting gig? Look back to 2005: Terrence Malick’s “The New World.” No tedious monologue here – just pure, gritty physicality as a Powhatan warrior. It was a whisper of what would come. A few short years later, however, Meraz swapped loincloth for wolf fur, landing the role of Paul Lahote in “The Twilight Saga.” That role put his werewolf snarl – and growling physicality – in front of millions. He was everywhere: fan conventions, magazine spreads, memes galore. The New Moon wave crashed over him, teaching Meraz how to steal a scene without getting lost in the sparkle.
He didn’t coast. Instead, Meraz grabbed more layered supporting parts. He joined Christian Bale in “Hostiles” and even tucked his name among the stunt credits on biggies like “Logan” and “Suicide Squad.” While other actors sipped herbal tea in trailers, Meraz doubled, ducked, got punched, and shed more than a few drops of (stage) blood.
Taylor Sheridan Flicks the Lighter
Fast forward. Summer 2023. Taylor Sheridan calls. The pitch? A brutal new oil drama, “Landman,” about Texas crude, fortune, and the kind of ruthlessness that floats to the top – sometimes with a gun. Paramount+ wanted authenticity, not caricature. Enter Varsity Team Jimenez.
Variety broke the news in August. Jimenez would be a “recurring but pivotal” role. Which, in Sheridan-speak, meant get ready to either steal every episode, or die horribly trying.
So, Meraz sunk himself into the part. We’re talking ten days in West Texas, tailing a real DEA liaison to catch the rhythm of cartel dialects. He crammed choppy Spanish with dialect coach Elisa Pérez, pushing his Arizona vowels into gravelly Michoacán growl. No mere classroom study. Meraz absorbed Netflix’s “Sicario” and Mexico’s cult favorite “El Infierno,” but stopped shy of copycatting. He needed something original. Enter two-a-day gym sessions: morning Muay Thai, evening weapons drill. Twenty pounds of muscle bulked onto his already cut frame. Sheridan famously told Entertainment Weekly, “We needed Jimenez to look as if he could rip steel pipe with his hands. Alex showed up ready to do it.”
Jimenez Arrives: Not Your Stereotypical Narco Villain
By the time November 2024 arrived, so did “Landman.” Jimenez exploded onto the screen in Episode One. His intro: firing his own driver for incompetence, then calmly lighting a cigarette as if this was routine HR business. This set the tone. The audience felt the chill. Social feeds blew up, with Twitter (well, X now) users ranking Jimenez’s debut as the “most shocking cold open since Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding.”
But here’s the kicker – Jimenez didn’t operate from a cliché hacienda. His command post squatted in the basement of a strip club, festooned with neon lights and dirty money. That’s not an Instagram brag; that’s straight off the Paramount+ location brief. Each movement he made felt measured – a predator’s economy. Credit Meraz’s dance background, because even critics like Chris Yeh (whose “Landman and Masculinity” blog post, Jan 2025, went viral) said, “Meraz weaponizes muscle memory. You can’t look away.”
Sword Feet, Speech and Strut: A Character Built From Bone To Bullet
Sheridan’s world isn’t kind to flashy bravado. Jimenez marched: direct, tightly wound, impossible to read. He barked orders in Spanglish, then flashed to violence like a switchblade. All season, viewers followed showdowns with Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris. The tension peaked in episode four’s strip-club basement showdown, which trended on TikTok for forty-eight hours and still makes the highlight reels.
Want more proof? Episode seven. Forget twisting mustaches; here, Meraz staged a cattle prod interrogation that earned the show’s stunt unit a coveted SAG nomination shortlist spot. His smoldering presence never felt forced – he moved like a fighter, but calculated like a chess master. Even Deadline’s “Scene-Stealers of 2024” ranked him at #6 – ahead of some Marvel heavyweights, mind you.
Chaos, Carnage and a Not-So-Forever Villain
Let’s talk about episode eight, the cherry on the scandalous sundae. Jimenez decides to get rid of Norris, stringing him over a saltwater disposal pit like it’s Tuesday. But before a bullet can fly, up steps Andy Garcia’s Gallino – the true cartel don – and Jimenez goes down, hard. The execution re-sets the cartel board for season two, while stunned viewers marathoned their way straight back to episode one. Cartel lieutenants in Sheridan’s world don’t get happy endings – they get executed in style.
Bits You Missed, and Nuggets to Chew On
Behind the scenes? Meraz earned the nickname “Black-Hat Baryshnikov.” Thornton caught him in Stage 12, running his own knife choreo long after wrap. And yes, that flick-of-the-lighter intimidation move? Meraz improvised it, channeling the real-life tic of his own uncle. Sometimes, good ideas don’t need a writer’s room.
And about those action scenes: on two separate days, Meraz benched the stunt double and took the falls himself. His Andy Cheng training saved the insurance execs from cardiac arrest – barely. According to insiders, production hiked the basement set’s insurance by two million dollars, just for Jimenez’s stunt sequences.
Critics didn’t miss a beat. Rotten Tomatoes had “Landman” racking up 88% by late April 2025, with Jimenez’s arc topping three of the site’s top five critical talking points. SoapCentral blogged up his finale, while the buzz on X, Reddit, and TikTok kept Jimenez memes alive even as season two filming began.
Not the End – Just the Next Disguise
So, what’s next for Meraz? “Dark Winds” season three, where he’ll flex as Ivan Muños – details hush-hush, but buzz high. As for “Landman,” Paramount+ inked him for season two, with an option to return in flashbacks. Sheridan loves a good ghost.
But Jimenez’s arc did more than electrify viewers. Meraz finally found the role where all his skills clicked – body, voice, and soul. And while “Landman” keeps pumping out Texas drama, somewhere in the neon-lit archives, Jimenez dances through our memories, a little dirtier, a lot more dangerous, and unforgettable. Because, honestly, in the oil patch, menace never quite stays dead.
