WASHINGTON — When actor Andy Garcia first agreed to play a role in Taylor Sheridan’s wildly popular West Texas oil drama Landman, he thought he’d be getting his hands dirty in the oil patch.
Instead, Garcia’s character is a suit-and-tie-wearing Fort Worth-based executive with ties to all sorts of businesses.
The Hollywood veteran shared more behind-the-scenes stories during an appearance Tuesday at the American Petroleum Institute’s annual State of American Energy event, joining API president and CEO Mike Sommers for a wide-ranging fireside chat.
Sommers said API first became involved with Landman because it was concerned about how Hollywood would portray the industry. API ended up producing ads featuring real-life landmen that aired during the show on Paramount+.
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“After about two episodes, we figured out real fast that Landman was going to be positive for the American oil and gas industry, and a key part of that has been Andy’s participation in this,” Sommers said.
Turning to Garcia, Sommers asked what attracted him to the show.
American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Mike Sommers (left) talks with actor Andy Garcia (right) at API’s State of American Energy on Jan. 13, 2026, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.
Ian Wagreich / capitolhillphoto.com
“Well, it was Taylor,” Garcia said, adding he was a fan of Sheridan’s writing “even before Yellowstone” for movies like Hell or High Water and Sicario.
“It was Taylor’s work as a writer, director, producer and storyteller,” Garcia said. “He reached out to me, invited me to Fort Worth and said he was interested in writing this part for me.”
Garcia told Sheridan “I’m in,” and asked about the yet-to-be-written character.
“[Sheridan] said, ‘Well, he’s kind of like the head of the cartel.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I thought I was going to be a landman. I thought I was going to be in the oil business,’” Garcia laughed with the crowd. “Turns out it looks like I’m in the oil business now.”
Garcia’s character — Gallino, also known as Danny Morrell — was introduced in the last episode of the first season. He’s a drug cartel boss who runs an investment firm in Fort Worth interested in the oil and gas industry.
Sommers asked Garcia if there was a theme in Landman that resonated with him.
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“There’s the authenticity of Taylor [Sheridan’s] writing and how specific he is of all the characters in the shows,” Garcia said. He also nodded to the characters in the industry like Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) and the oil patch workers, as well as those surrounding him like his wife Angela (Ali Larter), daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), Norris’ father T.L. (Sam Elliot) and Cami Miller (Demi Moore).
“He voices his characters in such a specific way and then ties all those storylines together in the course of a season so beautifully,” Garcia said.
Garcia said because his character is more city-bound, a lot of his filming took place in Fort Worth.
His office in the show is a “practical office that a gentleman lent to the production,” he said. So the cast and crew had to film multiple scenes from different episodes within the same weekend, outside of the building’s regularly staffed hours.
Actor Andy Garcia spoke at the American Petroleum Institute’s State of American Energy on Jan. 13, 2026, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.
Ian Wagreich / capitolhillphoto.com
In one of those office scenes, Gallino is practicing on a putting green when Tommy storms into his office.
“It’s kind of an iconic scene in the show,” Sommers said. “ … Was that your Scotty Cameron putter?”
“It is now,” Garcia laughed.
In the scene, an irate Norris gives a speech telling Gallino, “You can go play golf at your country club but I know who you are. I saw you kill a man in front of me.”
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Garcia said when he read the script and saw the golf mention, he immediately called hand-crafted golf putter designer Scotty Cameron and told him he wanted to use one of his putters in the scene.
“He’s a big fan of the show and a big fan of Billy Bob’s and he said, ‘Oh, I’ll make you one right away,’” Garcia said.
The putter is a Napa modeled after the old Wilson 8802 made of gunmetal, Garcia said.
Garcia pitched the idea to Thornton and the director and they ran with it.
“It wasn’t written that I would be putting, but it was just an idea I had that was embraced,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the show has been educational for himself and viewers.
He said people know oil’s pumped out of the ground, refined, then used in a variety of products, “but because of watching the show, you get a deeper understanding and education about the industry itself, the use of petroleum and that it’s everywhere.”
Landman’s Season 2 finale airs Sunday, Jan. 18. The show was renewed for a third season, Paramount+ announced last month.
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This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
