Landman | Kayla Wallace on Law, Oil, and Navigating the Masculine World

Kayla Wallace in Landman

Taylor Sheridan is a master storyteller of modern westerns today.

Sheridan’s series Yellowstone, along with films like Wind River and Hell or High Water, captures the essence of American Western life through its glamour and conflicts on the tamed frontier.

Now, an intriguing new series, Landman, based on the podcast Boomtown, captures the life of the Western oil boom and the dangers and risks for businesses, workers, and families.

Here is the official description:

Starring Billy Bob Thornton and the co-creators Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and is a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs. Based on the notable 11-party podcast Boomtown from Imperative Entertainment and Texas Monthly, the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big that it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.

The series also stars Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, Paulina Chávez, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie, James Jordan, and Demi Moore. Jon Hamm is a recurring guest, and Andy Garcia and Michael Pẽna are guest stars.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Billy Bob Thornton Talks About Luck In Landman | EXCLUSIVE

New episodes of the 10-episode first season are available to stream every Sunday on Paramount+.

LRM Online’s Gig Patta spoke with actress Kayla Wallace, who plays Rebecca Falcone, a young, take-no-prisoners attorney from the big city.

Read the full transcript of the interview below.

Gig Patta: Kayla, congratulations on being in this new series, Landman.

Kayla Wallace: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Gig Patta: I have seen a few episodes already. It is so highly addictive. You are amazing so far. I must ask the obligatory question. What initially drew you to want to be part of this project?

Kayla Wallace: When I first read the script, I thought it was a Taylor Sheridan script. I know it is going to be incredible. It had a little bit of everything. It had the heartwarming family dynamic that we get to see with the Norris family, the danger of the oil rigs, and the accidents we have seen so far. I could see it appealing to so many people. The story is just so compelling. People are in for a wild ride this season.

Gig Patta: What do you think, in your opinion, is the big draw to Taylor’s storytelling to you?

Kayla Wallace: I think he is great at showing the humanity in all his characters. He shows not just one side of people. He shows all the different sides, the vulnerabilities, the ups and downs that people in power are dealing with, and people in the low points of their lives. He shows many sides of each character that make people connect. I see that part of me and that person. That’s his genius, as he shows the human in all his characters.

Gig Patta: So, in your words, how do you describe your character, Rebecca?

Kayla Wallace: Rebecca is an incredibly driven and successful corporate attorney for her age. She is up for any challenge.

Gig Patta: Well said. As you mentioned before, Taylor likes to show vulnerabilities in these characters. What do you suppose are Rebecca’s vulnerabilities?

Kayla Wallace:
She, with any strong presenting character, there is another side to it. Building that with Taylor and going into her backstory was helpful and wonderful in figuring out why this person is working so hard. Why is she going in with forced blinders in her career? We get to see more of those vulnerabilities in her and maybe a softer side. Any strong presenting person has another side to it, so I hope we get to see that.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Paramount+’s Landman Premiere Carpet Interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, and More!


Gig Patta: As an attorney, she has a very strong no-prisoner approach. Does she show a little bit of empathy out there? Does that change, possibly change over time?

Kayla Wallace: Her goal at the end of the day is to win her cases. I’ve learned with litigating. And I researched a lot of real cases. You see, people need to turn away from certain things to get their job done and push things to the other side, which affects people. You are human. How can you not react to something terrible going on around you? That is not her job. Her job is to win her cases. We will see where that part of Rebecca goes in the season. I can’t wait for people to see.

Gig Patta: As Kayla yourself, how did you research into the world of legality? Did you pick up a few law books or watch a few TV shows to get into this character?

Kayla Wallace: No, I did not. I did not want to watch too many TV shows because people were playing lawyers. Many great TV shows are out there, but I watched real trials. You can watch on YouTube for the full six-hour day. Everything is out there. So, I did that. I watched some live trials. I went back and watched any celebrity trials that I could. Maybe they would be a little more heightened. As a student of law, picking up to see how these attorneys think, how they manipulate and shift storylines and ask questions to get a certain answer. It is an art. I fell in love with it and got addicted to watching trials.

Gig Patta: I am amazed that you did that research into law, but oil is the other side of things. I cannot even grasp my head around that world. How did you approach that side of things? Have you listened to that podcast, Boomtown?


Kayla Wallace: Boomtown was super helpful. I listened to that on my flight to my audition. That was so helpful. Christian Wallace goes into what life is like for these people. When it came to the actual technical aspects of how things are run on the rigs and what certain parts of the machines are, I made sure I knew what was happening in the storyline. I was interested in these accidents in the first couple of episodes. And I was interested in how often that happens in real life. So, I started looking at YouTube again, and I realized that it is so helpful. There are a lot of documentaries of these real explosions and old news articles of real people dealing with these explosions with their families. These accidents happen, and it is heartbreaking. It is an incredibly risky world where people are going to work and risking their lives every day. YouTube helped me so much in the prep for this role.

Gig Patta: YouTube is such an educational tool. Kayla, what did you learn about this world itself? The oil business in Texas is portrayed as a very masculine world. Taylor wrote you a very strong female character. There are a lot of remarks and quips that could be seen as offensive nowadays.

Kayla Wallace: You mean like remarks that Rebecca’s dealing with? It only fuels her more. It only fires her up even more to become stronger, and she can deal with the comments that are the least of her worries. She is strong enough to know that she can put these people in her place. She does not believe that it should happen, but I do not think she loses sleep over it at night. These offensive comments that she is dealing with only make her stronger, which is one of my favorite things about Rebecca.

Gig Patta: Now as, as a fish out of water, Rebecca comes from an urban city going out to West Texas. Please tell us how you relate. Obviously, you are from Canada, and you must relocate to West Texas for this job. What was that journey like for you?

Kayla Wallace: I grew up in a small town. So, I am not super unfamiliar with living in a country setting. The small town where I grew up has no oil rigs and is much smaller. It still felt a little bit like coming home. People are more friendly in small towns than in cities. People get caught up in their own things with their heads down and go to work. It was nice to go to Fort Worth with that welcome Southern charm. People are very friendly there. That was nice to come home to. It was nice to have a lot of space, too. Everything is truly bigger in Texas, from the dog parks to the condos. Everything is bigger. So that was nice.

Gig Patta: Well, you’re a wonderful conversationalist. I could get into the nitty-gritty of Landman’s twists and turns, as I have already watched a few episodes, but people are going to watch it for themselves.

Kayla Wallace: They do a lot more coming this season.

Gig Patta: Kayla, thank you very much for carrying this conversation. Really appreciate it.

Kayla Wallace: Thank you.

New episodes of the 10-episode first season are available to stream every Sunday on Paramount+.

For news and interviews, contact Gig Patta at [email protected]. Follow https://x.com/GigPatta, https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGigPatta, https://www.instagram.com/gigpatta, or https://www.tiktok.com/gigpatta for all his postings and musings in entertainment.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Paramount+

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