Taylor Sheridan’s Landman has achieved a massive fan following since its premiere in November 2024. The show tells the story of roughnecks working on oil rigs in West Texas, while billionaires take advantage of the oil boom.
Actor Jacob Lofland plays one of the roughnecks in the show, Cooper Norris. He is the son of the lead character, Tommy, and his wife, Angela. Lofland is an established actor who has been seen in films like 12 Mighty Orphans, Mud, and The Maze Runner franchise.
Jacob Lofland has a difficult character to play as Cooper Norris. Apart from getting into the skin of the character, he has to sweat it out on the sets due to Cooper’s intense physical work in the oil rigs. To prepare for the challenging role, Lofland attended a roughneck camp before the shoot of Landman.
Jacob Lofland underwent training at a roughneck camp to play Cooper Norris in Landman
For his role as Cooper Norris in Landman, Jacob Lofland had to learn how to carry out actual work in the oil fields. In an interview with ScreenRant, the actor revealed that the show’s producers set up a five-day roughneck camp before the shoot.
The camp was organized for the cast to learn the ins and outs of working on the rigs and bring authenticity to their performances. Lofland said:
“I think they taught me more in the five-day roughneck camp that we did that they set up. When it comes down to that stuff, it's more just knowing what you're doing, and what you're grabbing, because it's a lot of danger mixed in.”
The actor also highlighted the camp taught him what not to do while filming in the oil rigs as they feature dangerous equipment like gigantic hydraulics and motors. He added that the makers made him learn the functioning of the rigs from real-life roughnecks:
“That was probably the most helpful was just them putting us on a rig and giving us people who run it all day and going, 'Don't do that. Don't do that. Watch this. This is going to move.' Once you get it all collectively going, it's like a dance, and you just make sure you don't step in the wrong place.”
Lofland further revealed how the team almost had severe accidents during the camp, which were fortunately prevented:
“I'm not going to say we didn't get close to maybe smashing a finger a time or two, but luckily, we were safe and nothing crazy happened. But that is the reason is those five days that we had. If it hadn't been for that, the chances of getting hurt goes up drastically.”
Jacob Lofland’s journey as Cooper Norris in Landman
Along with the physical part of the character, Jacob Lofland also plays the emotional aspects of Cooper Norris with perfection. Cooper is Tommy’s eldest child, who decides to skip college against his parents’ wish and begins working on the oil patch under his father.
Cooper’s co-workers try to bully him while he tries to fit in. They force him to climb towers, eat spicy food, and adjust to the rough life on the patch. Things take a dark turn when an oil rig explodes in the first episode, and Cooper becomes the only witness of the tragedy.
He then connects with Ariana, the widow of his co-worker Elvio, and starts helping her with bills and household chores. As they spend more time together, they develop romantic feelings for each other, which does not sit well with Elvio’s cousin, Manuel.
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Manuel initially threatens Cooper to stay away from Ariana. After the two do not stop seeing each other, Manuel and his gang attack Cooper, leaving him gravely injured. Cooper continues to be one of the most important characters in Landman, and his significance might grow further in future episodes.
Landman airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Sundays.
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