‘Landman’ Star Jacob Lofland on Cooper’s Risky Choices and Learning From ‘Polite and Humble’ Legends Like Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains light spoilers from Season 2, Episode 5 of “Landman,” “The Pirate Dinner,” which premiered Sunday, Dec. 14, on Paramount+.

Acting on “Landman” is a dream job for Jacob Lofland, but there was one unique challenge for him as an artist. He plays Cooper Norris, the son of Tommy, who is the center of the series’ universe. But while everyone else in his onscreen family is always dressed in their southern best, it is often remarked that Cooper — who is frequently toiling at the oil fields — smells bad or needs a shower and deodorant. It eventually made Lofland paranoid that show co-creator Taylor Sheridan, who also writes every episode, might be trying to say something about his hygiene.

“I got self-conscious of that at some point,” Lofland says, laughing. “I would walk around after about three times last season of hearing that, going, ‘You know, I don’t think I’m that bad. Have I just been around Taylor and something’s not smelling good?’ But I think it goes back to the character, and he just spends so much time out in the patch, and it’s 100 degrees out there at all times. There’s not enough deodorant in the world to keep these guys from smelling like they’re going to smell. Not to mention it, oil and gas don’t smell amazing anyway, so there’s always sulfur in the air. I’m really hoping that’s where it’s coming from.”

This season, Cooper is getting more scrutiny for his life choices than his scent. The ambitious young man is taking some big swings, perhaps without giving them enough thought. In this episode, Cooper and Tommy have a lunch filled with straight talk. By the end, Cooper is selling his lucky-strike oil sites to his father’s company, after Tommy makes it clear that his son’s new business partner, Gallino (Andy Garcia), will bleed him dry. Luckily, Tommy rewards his son’s instincts by also offering him a job at M-Tex.

Unfortunately, Tommy doesn’t have as much luck talking Cooper out of quickly marrying Ariana (Paulina Chavez), despite their fraught relationship.

Lofland says that while Cooper’s decisions might frustrate the audience, his impulsiveness is an important part of what makes the character tick.

“The reason I really fell in love with this character is that it is relatable for the age and for what he’s going through at that time,” he says. “I’m a little older than Cooper; I’m 29 now, so I would make a few different decisions. But I’ve also made those mistakes when I was younger. Different businesses, different things, but definitely jumped off in stuff when I didn’t know what I was doing. So I’ve learned that lesson over the years, and I think it’s important for him to go through that time in life, make these decisions, screw up, learn from the mistakes, don’t do it again.”

In terms of Lofland’s personal growth, he says working opposite Thornton shows him what it means to be a leader on a production.

“It’s so fun — he makes it easy,” Lofland says. “He shows up every day, and Billy is our Number One. So on any set, your Number One sets the pace and the attitude for everybody else. Billy shows up every day ready to work and excited about the job, which in turn makes everyone else excited. It just trickles down.”

This season also introduces Sam Elliott as Cooper’s grandfather, and gives Lofland another veteran actor he’s happy to model his on-set conduct after.

“The one thing I’ve learned is it’s never a conversation that you learn from,” he says. “It’s just being able to be around these men and women that have done this for so long, and watch the way they carry themselves, the way they work, their ethic and their attitude. I think that teaches more and speaks more than any piece of advice they could ever give. Sam and Billy, they’re so prepared, so professional. You never wait on them. They’re never the reason that we’re running three minutes behind. Everyone’s ready to go, and they’re so polite and humble, willing to work through and take the time. If there are questions or a scene’s not going the way we feel it should, let’s sit down and talk about it. It’s a team effort. Those guys are so good at that, that’s probably the most impactful thing for me.”

As for the rest of the season, Lofland encourages fans to expect the unexpected in Cooper’s storyline.

“There’s definitely going to be some growth, but I’ll tell you, there are a few things coming up that no one sees,” he says. “There are some twists and turns and surprises that I don’t think anyone’s predicted yet. I can’t wait for the world to see it.”