While writer-director Taylor Sheridan is best known for his work on “Yellowstone” and its various prequels and spin-offs, he’s also produced a number of unconnected dramas that have dazzled audiences. “Lioness” brought Zoe Saldana to the small screen, and “Mayor of Kingstown” did the same for Jeremy Renner, but it’s arguably Billy Bob Thornton’s standout turn in “Landman” that has been his best work outside of the Yellowstone-Dutton ranch. The upcoming second season adds Western icon and “Tombstone” star Sam Elliott to the cast, as the father of Billy Bob Thornton’s lead character, Tommy Norris. From the sound of it, Sheridan is having the time of his life working with the legendary actor.
“Sam Elliott has this effortless ability to stress the perfect syllable, to impact the meaning of a sentence and completely fill it with emotion,” Sheridan said in an interview with Gold Derby in 2025. Speaking amid production on “Landman” season 2, the showrunner enthused, “I was just with him on set two hours ago. It’s so great to be back with him. I’ve been blessed to work with some phenomenal actors, and I’ve had some wonderful experiences.”
Taylor Sheridan put Sam Elliot through hell making 1883
As production on “Landman” Season 2 continues, Sheridan is surrounded by huge stars, but that doesn’t mean he coddles them. Quite the contrary, the “Yellowstone” creator seems determined to put his actors through their paces, and will be doing so once again with Sam Elliott. Of course, it’s not the first time he’s worked with Elliott, who famously starred in his “Yellowstone” prequel, “1883,” just a few years ago. On that production, things got so tough that Elliott thought he would die, and from the sounds of it, he may have it just as rough on “Landman.”
“You know, I dragged Sam through a very similar hell that we just went through in ‘1883,’” Sheridan told Gold Derby. Almost the entirety of “1883” was filmed outdoors, in the elements, far away from artificially cooled soundstages. “We were in 108-degree heat, dressed in wool, and then we were in minus-6 in the same wool. It was a state of misery,” Sheridan recalled. There were only a handful of standing sets at all, and more often than not, Elliott and co-stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Isabel May, and LaMonica Garrett were forced to endure the elements, something McGraw says was the most challenging part of filming.
Thankfully, Sam Elliot seems to be up for the challenge once more: “For Sam to take that abuse and embrace it, and really feel like he was doing something special.”
Sam Elliott isn’t the only Tombstone star to join a Taylor Sheridan series
Elliott is well known for his Western roles. One of his biggest was in “Tombstone” — one of the most iconic ’90s Westerns — the 1993 film about Wyatt Earp, in which Elliott starred as older brother Virgil Earp. It seems Sheridan has a particular affinity for the film, because he keeps plucking actors from “Tombstone” for his shows, even 30 years later.
In addition to Elliott, “Tombstone” star Kurt Russell was recently cast in the “Yellowstone” universe series “The Madison.” He’ll star alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox in a series about a prominent New York family who relocate to the wilds of Montana, not far from the Yellowstone-Dutton ranch. Of course, many may forget, but “Landman” star Billy Bob Thornton also had a role in “Tombstone,” playing crooked card player Johnny Tyler. Thornton has shown up in a pair of Sheridan productions, leading “Landman” and playing Jim Courtright in “1883.”
“Tombstone” leading lady Dana Delany is also a Sheridan star, playing Margaret Devereaux, horse trainer to the elite and love interest of Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi, in “Tulsa King.” With so many “Tombstone” stars in his stable, it can’t be long before the likes of Michael Biehn, Powers Boothe, or Michael Rooker join Elliott in a Sheridan production.