What To Know
- Lioness and Landman star James Jordan is Taylor Sheridan’s most frequent collaborator.
- Here, the actor discusses his two current roles and more.
Of the many TV stars to appear across multiple Taylor Sheridan projects, none is more prolific than James Jordan. Over the last decade, he’s appeared in a majority of Sheridan’s projects, including Wind River, Yellowstone, 1883, and Mayor of Kingstown, and he currently stars in both Lioness and Landman.
The actor, who portrays Two Cups and Dale in these Paramount+ series, respectively, has gotten to the point of comfort with the creator that he only asks “how high” — in the proverbial sense — when Sheridan calls for him to “jump” on board a new project.
“He’s unmatched. He’s unrivaled as a writer in the talent department. I mean, his imagination,” Jordan told TV Insider of his now-legendary boss. “A, he’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. B, he’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. And C, his imagination is boundless. So, when he comes to me and says, ‘Hey, buddy, I’m writing a story, and I want you to be a part of it,’ I just don’t even ask for a plan — no when, where, or why — I just go, ‘Yes, sir. All right, great.’ [If he says], ‘I need you in Texas,’ [it’s], ‘Perfect. Be there tomorrow.’ It’s such a joy to go to work for him. He’s become a mentor to me and a friend, and boy, he’s a hell of a writer. I’ll tell you that. And no one tells a story like Taylor, so it’s always exciting.”
With both Lioness and Landman emerging as top-tier Sheridan shows with obvious staying power, Jordan is a busy guy … and having a ball with it.
“Playing these two characters is a real privilege. Going to work with these folks every day. I mean, Taylor casts just the best people, the best actors, and they’re great human beings and hard workers, and we just want to do our best for Taylor because he’s entrusted us to bring these characters to life, and it’s such a privilege,” Jordan said. “Even when I get a new episode of one of these shows, you just go, ‘What? Where did he come up with this? This is crazy. How are we going to do this? How are we going to pull this off?’ But we end up doing it. It’s great.”
While Lioness is reaching the second half of the season with Sunday’s (August 30) newest episode, Jordan’s now got his eye on the future as Landman production is set to commence in the coming weeks.
“We’re about to start Landman Season 3,” he confirmed. “So, we’re getting those scripts. We’re about to get to work, and we’re going to try to have that out as soon as we can. So, stick around for that.”
When asked if he had any personal theory about whether Dale’s boss in the series, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), is going to have any luck with launching his own company, CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle, Jordan was enthusiastically optimistic.
Emerson Miller / Paramount+
“You better believe it,” he said of his belief in their chances to strike liquid gold. “You’ve got Dale Bradley involved. You got Tommy. You got T.L. [Sam Elliott]. You got Cooper [Jacob Lofland]. You got Ariana [Paulina Chávez]. You’ve got Kayla Wallace‘s Rebecca. You’ve got Angela [Ali Larter]. You’ve got Ainsley [Michelle Randolph]. Hey, we’re all in it to win it, and I think there’s a good chance that CTT is going to go a long way. You never know. It’s a tough business. There’s a lot of risk involved, but I loved how that season ended, where we all say, ‘We’re gonna start from the beginning. We’re gonna start from the ground up and build this company, and we’re gonna try to beat the big boys here.’ And so it’s gonna be a heck of a ride.”
Lioness, Sundays, Paramount+
Landman, Season 3 Premiere, TBA, Paramount+