Catching up with Paramount+'s Landman star Kayla Wallace

Over its first two days of streaming, the Paramount+ series Landman notched a record-breaking 9.2 million global streaming views.

The statistic makes it the most-watched premiere in the streaming platform’s history, outdoing Season 1 by 262 per cent. That opening bettered other Paramount+ shows including Yellowstone, Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown.

Co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, Landman stars Oscar-winner Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Andy Garcia, Ali Larter, Sam Elliott and Vancouver actor Kayla Wallace.

Landman is based on the hit 11-part podcast Boomtown, and focuses on landman Tommy Norris (Thornton) as he straddles the worlds between roughnecks and billionaires who are at the centre of the American oil industry.

Wallace plays Rebecca Falcone, a big-city lawyer sent to West Texas to represent the oil company that Thorton’s character works for.

Postmedia News caught up with Wallace and asked her to share five things about shooting Landman in an around Fort Worth, Tex:

When I have a day off from shooting I … would usually start it off with an iced Americano to cool down in the Texas heat. In Fort Worth, summertime feels like a constant sauna. I would spend my days off exploring different dog parks with my dog Darla, hitting a spin class to work up a sweat or visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards for a bite to eat. All between studying my scripts, running lines along the river walk and researching everything and anything I could about legal terms and oil-and-gas.

The best part about playing a lawyer is … learning so much about a career path I never would have taken. I’m not a very confrontational person, so law was my last thought when picking a career. That is also what makes it so much fun to play a character who is so different from who I am and to learn the ins-and-outs of being an attorney. I fell in love watching real trials in my prep for Season 1 of Landman, and I find the art of law incredibly fascinating.

The best thing about working with Thornton is … he will always keep you on your toes. He’s always playing around with his delivery of lines, always staying so live in his performance, all the while being a total professional and legend. Above all, he’s always so kind and thoughtful. We are so lucky to have him.

The biggest lesson I have learned from being on this show is … teamwork truly makes the dream work. Every single person in our cast, crew and creative team gives it their all, every single hour of every single day. And it’s very inspiring and motivating. I believe the success of our show is due to Taylor Sheridan’s brilliant writing paired with a very hard-working and caring group of people that bring the script to life.

A restaurant I loved discovering in Texas is … Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar! Believe it or not, it is truly the best sushi I have ever had. And it’s in the middle of Fort Worth!

dgee@postmedia.com

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