[This story contains major spoilers from the season finale of Landman.]
After watching the season finale of Landman, Jon Hamm‘s fate wasn’t certain.
Not until Christian Wallace, who co-created the hit Paramount+ series with Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan, began giving post-finale interviews was it confirmed that Hamm’s oil tycoon, Monty Miller, had indeed died, his heart too weak to survive another heart attack and third bypass surgery.
When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his confirmed fate on Tuesday, Hamm was grateful for the one-season role in the oil industry drama starring Billy Bob Thornton, which is based on the Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown that Wallace hosted.
“I’m just so mystified about how great the show is. It’s truly a spectacular thing to be a part of,” said the Fargo and Morning Show actor who, with Landman, now adds another memorable character to his collection. “I’m glad that you guys are liking it. I’m glad that everybody is on board.”
With Monty’s death, the stress of managing his oil company M-Tex is now handed down to his oldest pal, landman Tommy Norris (played by Thornton) who, after surviving a brutal attack by the cartel and making a deal with the devil (played by guest star Andy Garcia) to co-exist in the oil patch with the cartel, Tommy ends the series sizing up a baby coyote in his front yard.
Thornton, when speaking to THR after the finale, unpacked the symbolism in that scene and what it means for a potential second season, which seems likely given the ratings success and plans shared from the co-creators, as well as Thornton’s interest in the longevity of the series.
Below, Hamm now shares his take on the “delightful ambiguity” and “metaphoric resonance” to that ending, while also revealing his thoughts on how Monty’s absence will elevate both Tommy and Monty’s widow Cami (played by Demi Moore) when the show probably returns.
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First, are you doing OK amid the wildfires? [Note: Hamm resides in Los Angeles.]
We are, fortunately, fine. The fires didn’t really come this far east to us, and the ones in the east didn’t come this far west to us. We’re kind of right in the middle, which is very fortunate.
After watching Landman, which deals with the elements as well as constant fires, did playing this character of Monty give you any new perspective on what’s going on right now in L.A.?
Yes and no. Certainly, it’s specific and it’s quite different to have something like [the wildfires happening now] because it’s so devastating, honestly. The way that the fires happen in the show are a little more specific and contained; this is a whole different thing. I have lived in Los Angeles pretty long and I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just a devastating kind of situation that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, and unfortunately here we are going through it. I wish everybody good health. We’ve had so many people lose their home who are close to us. Fortunately, they didn’t lose their lives, and all that stuff can be replaced, but it’s going to take a long time to come back from it and it’s not going to be an easy road. It very much puts it all in perspective.
What initially made you want to take on this role of Monty? And now that we know, was the one-season commitment part appealing?
Well, yes and no. Part of it is that my other commitments don’t really allow me to be a series regular on another show. I’m very happy that they asked me to do this, but I’ll tell you exactly what it was — it was the ability to work with Taylor [Sheridan] and Billy Bob [Thornton]. Those are guys whose careers I’ve been really paying attention to. They’re just working at the top of their game. I knew the show was going to be good; I didn’t know it was really going to spark in the culture the way it has, and that part of it is even better. It’s always fun to be a part of the conversation when you’re in something that people really respond to. I’ve had that on a couple of occasions.
Your fate was left somewhat ambiguous in the finale, but your co-creator Christian Wallace has since confirmed that Monty has indeed passed. What was it like filming your final scenes in the hospital?
Those kinds of scenes are particularly difficult because you’re on your way out, basically, and that’s not fun. But honestly, being with the caliber of actors that I was with — Demi [Moore] and Billy Bob and everybody involved — it was just truly outstanding. You go, “This is a spectacular group of people,” and I just can’t imagine it being any more exciting or fun. Obviously, the particulars of the job in that case are a little difficult given that you’ve got tubes and a bunch of gunk all up in you, but the rest of it is fun. Who gets to be present at their own death, you know? (Laughs)
I’m now trying to think if you’ve died in any previous roles.
You know, I can’t remember it either. My sister texted me and she said, “I can’t believe I had to watch you die on screen.” And I was like, “Haven’t you seen that before?” And she was like, “No!”
Monty’s death sets Billy Bob Thornton’s character Tommy up for big things in a potential season two. Thornton unpacked for THR the symbolism of Tommy sizing up the coyote at the end of the finale — he said Tommy is trying to figure out if he’s the coyote or if the coyote is coming for him now, and possibly staring death in the eye. Which way do you envision Tommy going as he takes over Monty’s job and runs M-Tex Oil?
That’s another one of the things that I think makes the show so truly wonderful on so many levels: There’s a delightful ambiguity to a lot of it and there’s also a metaphoric resonance to it. The writing works on several levels. Part of what I really like about the relationship between Billy Bob’s character and my own is that we both started in kind of the same place, and those two roads pretty seriously diverged. That happens sometimes, and that’s a real difficult thing to manage. It’s a hard thing to see a friend that you know go a different way. It’s a challenge to navigate.
That’s going to be Billy Bob’s thing [ahead] — heavy is the head that wears the crown, so to speak. That stuff is true and I think his journey through not only the time on the show but the rest of his life is: careful what you wish for. I think he’s definitely found that with his relationship with Angela [his reconciled ex-wife played by Ali Larter], and I think his relationship with his son [Cooper, played by Jacob Lofland] and daughter [Aynsley, played by Michelle Randolph] are really going to be burdens for him to manage as well.
We didn’t get to hear Monty give Tommy advice from his deathbed. Instead, we got to hear it from Jerry Jones in a now viral scene, which I understand was unscripted and came about because of Taylor Sheridan’s relationship with the Dallas Cowboys owner. What was it like filming that scene?
It was a lot of takes. It was a lot of work, and it was fun. Jerry is a man who has led quite a life, as he told in the story there. I think that was the directive for him: Basically, tell your story and we’ll make it resonate, and that’s what happened. It was a very cool way to go about getting that story out there.
It’s tragic that Monty is taking in Jones’ advice from his hospital bed — to prioritize family — and never gets the chance to make changes in his life before he dies.
For sure. It’s always too little too late, isn’t it? Sometimes. So you go, geez, what if…? The saddest words are what could have been.
What would Monty’s advice have been to Tommy?
That’s a good question. Monty’s life is making money. I think the story that Jerry tells resonates with him. I think he probably would have imparted similar wisdom to Tommy, but they probably had a version of this conversation over and over again. I think the reason that Tommy works for Monty is because he probably didn’t heed that advice. For whatever reason, he wasn’t able to hear that advice. And that’s a tragedy, too. When you see someone being an agent of their own destruction and they can’t get out of their own way.
Was that the final scene you filmed with Billy Bob Thornton?
I can’t really remember the last scene I shot; that was back in February of last year. But it was an interesting experience for me, because my time on the show was so condensed because of scheduling and whatnot, so a lot of my stuff was on phone calls. I remember not even meeting Billy Bob until three or four weeks into my shooting schedule. Our time together was brief, but it was certainly fun.
Were there any exchanges between you, Billy Bob Thornton and Jerry Jones after that scene?
We had a nice conversation afterward. It was a long day and Jerry Jones is probably not used to the schedule on a TV shoot, so he was probably pretty impatient with our pace. But we got him in and out as quick as we could.
Some viewers have wondered why Demi Moore has had a small role in season one; Monty’s death now sets her up to have a bigger role, and Wallace has said he and Sheridan has big plans for her ahead. How do you envision Cami (Moore) stepping up in Monty’s absence?
I think she probably has a lot of thoughts going through her head right now, and a lot of them have to do with how this life really hurt her family. You’ll get a grudge from things like that, for sure; you’ll hold a real grudge. I think that’s probably going to be what happens for her, but I’m not the guy who writes this. I think she’s probably pretty pissed that her husband is gone and that her family is devastated. Speaking from experience, those are difficult things to come back from. It’s not a fun thing to lose a parent or to lose somebody close to you, so there’s going to be a lot of wreckage to clean up come season two.
Viewers will be sad to not see you in a likely season two, but Sheridan tends to keep his stars around. Are there any other worlds in the Sheridan-verse you would like to play around in?
I really have nothing geared up for that answer, but I do love Taylor and working for him. It was a great experience. We truly had a great group of people working on the show and that extends to the crew and everyone else. Just a spectacular group of people, and we made a great show. People really like it. That’s pretty much all you can hope for in the world of stuff like this. You think, well this is a once in a lifetime kind of deal but even so, you pinch yourself when you get the opportunity to do something like that.
Another one of your beloved roles, and one that is very of-the-moment, is your character on Apple’s The Morning Show, whose ending was also left ambiguous going into the next season. Can you say anything about your involvement in season four?
(Laughs) Probably not. First of all, because I don’t know. I don’t really know what the schedule is on that or what’s happening, other than, again, that I had the best time I could imagine working on that show. It was truly fun and spectacular and a great experience. Again, getting to work with people on that level — that cast is stacked with home-run hitters — was just a great experience and I’m looking forward to hopefully doing some more.
What are you working on next that you can talk about?
I do have a show coming out this April on Apple called Your Friends and Neighbors, and that was already picked up for a season two. So we will get that going in due time. There will be plenty of Hamm onscreen.
You’ve been playing some intense, timely and powerful guys lately. What excites you about the roles you’ve been taking on?
I’ve been lucky enough to be in this business for long enough where people know and can trust me with whatever they want to write. I’m a versatile enough of an actor to get a wide range of stuff, and that’s been great. I’m glad it’s not just a reiteration of [Mad Men‘s] Don Draper or whatever people see. I like the diversity that I’m able to portray. That’s the fun stuff.
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Landman season one is now streaming on Paramount+. Read Billy Bob Thornton’s finale interview.
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