‘Landman’: Guy Burnet Reveals How His Suave New Character Was Inspired by Indiana Jones, What’s Next for Charlie & Rebecca

[Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Landman Season 2 Episode 6, “Dark Night of the Soul.”]

The latest episode of Landman saw Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) hit the road, with T.L. (Sam Elliott) tagging along for a trip to see Gallino (Andy Garcia) and Cami (Demi Moore), while Cooper (Jacob Lofland) returned to Ariana’s (Paulina Chávez) side with her father’s approval, only to get put through another test with her late husband’s mother.

Also burning rubber to get the job done was Rebecca (Kayla Wallace), who decided to consult with an expert about her monumental task of getting an ocean rig running in a month and a half, and whaddya know?! That expert just so happened to be Charlie (Guy Burnet), her drunken hookup buddy with the great shower setup. At first, Rebecca was mortified at the unexpected reunion, while Charlie seized the opportunity to sweet-talk her between all the professional exchanges. Eventually, she returned his advances as the two shared yet another steamy kiss.

So who is this mystery man that can see and crack through her tough exterior, and what can we expect from this sizzling new romantic storyline? TV Insider caught up with Guy Burnet to find out all of that and more!

First, can we hear about your Taylor Sheridan origin story? Everybody seems to have their own history with this guy.

Guy Burnet: They do? I didn’t know that, but that makes sense. My story’s nuts. I’ll give you the shorter version … I met Taylor, I was at a boxing gym, and this guy comes up to me, this handsome, muscled-out, tanned guy, and we talk to each other, and I didn’t know it was him initially, and then by the end of the conversation I did, obviously, and then I get a phone call the next day, saying, “Hey, like Taylor would like to work with you,” and I was incredibly flattered. And then I didn’t hear anything, and then he wrote this role, with, I guess, me in mind. I’m saying this to you, and it doesn’t seem real to me.

And then, I didn’t know if I was doing it or what, and then I watched the show — I hadn’t seen it, and I was like, “Oh, it’s really good, and that would be cool to be in something that I would watch, and I like.” And then I bumped into him again in a bizarre circumstance, and he said, “Oh, there he is! There’s my new employee.” That’s literally what he said, and I was like, “What?” And he’s like, “Sit down, sit over here.” And he just tells me, he’s like, “OK, wait, no one’s told you?” And I was like, “No, what’s going on?” And he’s like, “You’re coming to Texas, you’re gonna do this role. You’re Indiana Jones, OK? ” And I go, “Wait, hold on a second, am I American?” He goes, “No.… You’re you. And you’ve come from the U.K…. don’t worry!”

That’s kind of my Taylor origin story, and the extended version of this is even more bizarre, but this just happens to be what it is, and I’m very flattered, and I’m very appreciative to be part of it. He’s just a really cool guy. He seems to be surrounded like with magic. Like, sh*t happens in and around him, and sometimes it’s inexplicable, but I think the basic fundamental of him being an excellent writer allows for all of those possibilities to happen.

And he’s an actor’s writer, too, so that’s exciting. 

It’s amazing. The dialogue is so fluid and so easy, and he just writes characters really, really well. It’s maybe the best I’ve ever experienced.

About Charlie. You said you watched Landman before you joined, so you probably knew Rebecca and how she’s kind of no-nonsense. But your character brings out so much fun in her. Can you just talk about how he knew that that side of her existed and how fun it was to kind of bring that out? 

Well, yeah, I mean, I hadn’t seen the show before I got there — or at least I knew they were interested, and then I watched it — and I didn’t know where I was going to fit into the show. And then when I was told it, I was like, “OK, I see!” And I think the idea here was to introduce a character with the objective — I mean, it’s her story, really — and it’s, “How do we bring another aspect or another dimension to her character? How can we soften her up? OK, let’s throw this guy in there!” And somehow my objective within it is to soften her up and get that stick out of her, and I think that’s where he fits into that world. And then if it expands beyond that, we’ll see, because there’s a possibility that that can occur within the occupation that he has in that world, too.

Well, so that answer, it kind of alludes to a question that I also had, which was just, is Charlie an opportunist in the sense of, is he trying to get into this M-Tex world, or does he really want to take this new job that seems impossible to get back into her pants, essentially? 

I think, look, genuinely for him, I think there’s two elements there. Number one, there’s no preconceived idea with him that he’s ambitious in some kind of like that he wants to — no, I don’t think that. For him, he genuinely is this kind of happy-go-lucky character that’s good at what he does, that happens across this really beautiful woman who’s way out of his league, and comes from a different world, a different society… For him, he’s just got so lucky and somehow has ended up sleeping with her, and I’m sure for him, he would love it if he could have something more with her, but he never even would dream, I think, that that would be a possibility. And so that’s the first thing. So, for him, he doesn’t expect that she would even be interested in him, and I think, does he want to get into her pants again? Sure, but I think for him, he doesn’t really expect to. He would love to, but he’s just so different to her. There’s this yin-and-yang situation happening, and sometimes there’s just a natural chemistry in those situations that all of us in life we happen upon, and we can’t necessarily explain it; it’s kind of animalistic. But within that, he is very good at what he does, and he is the kind of person who’s — he is a gambling man, he is an optimist, he is a man that you know lives for the moment, and so he’s also the kind of guy that when presented with an opportunity, he believes in himself enough that he wants to go on that adventure. He’s an adventurer. And if it’s not this adventure, he’ll be onto the next adventure. That’s the key with him.

Like Indiana Jones.

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Exactly. It’s: He’s Indiana Jones, and that’s how Taylor described him. That’s the first thing he said to me, he’s like, “You’re coming in as Indiana Jones. That’s who you are.”

Well, I like that dichotomy that you’re talking about because there is that sense of he’ll back off when she says, but then also he kind of knows when he should push, so that’s kind of fun. Can you just talk about building that dynamic with Kayla in those scenes?

Well, look, Kayla, in real life, is not like Rebecca. She’s just very sweet and kind and gentle and and lovely and open, and when I first started, before we were gonna shoot our scenes,  requested her phone number, I called her up, we had lunch together. We talked about life mostly. And Kayla also really wanted… She saw this as an opportunity for her character to really grow in the show as well. And for me ,I really wanted to come in and serve that, but also, “We have something really great on the page here. How can we elevate it even more? What do we do? Let’s not just turn up, but let’s do something.” And she was so game and down for that. And so that made it easy, and so we kind of brought the chemistry that we built together onto the screen — I think.

Definitely. This episode finds them agreeing to work on this project, which seems kind of impossible. How is that going to affect these characters and their dynamic?

Well, firstly, I haven’t seen that, so I’m gonna, I’ll be watching it this week, but I remember it being as though, look, we meet this guy, they have this one-night stand. He’s not in [Episode] 5, Charlie’s not there. We just assume, “Hey, he’s gone, this guy’s moved on with his life, and she has no interest,” and then the circumstances come about that they need someone who’s an expert in this specific area, and she opens the door to him there, and it’s him. And she’s like, “F**k,” and he’s like, “Yes, we did!” And I think she’s like, “No, I am not allowing for this. Forget about it,” and he’s like, “All right. What a shame. You’re gonna keep a stick in your arse”… If I’m not mistaken, there’s a line in there where he’s just like, “Hey, you know you can do your job, be good at your job, and still enjoy yourself.” I think, in essence, that’s what he brings into her life, the idea of like, “Hey, have fun too. We can enjoy ourselves, too. We don’t just have to be so serious about everything all the time.” And I think him bringing that dynamic into it changes a lot for her.

But by the way, both of them will keep falling into who they are at their baseline, she’s this tough lady who’s not gonna allow a guy to change things for her, and he’s like, “Well, you know what? Even if I like you, I don’t give a sh*t. I don’t wanna be hurt either, so let me carry on in my adventurous life and not allow for something like this to get in my way, either.” But I think there’s an inevitability when two people who have a chemistry, an animalistic chemistry, that it doesn’t matter what you do in life, you can’t pull them apart.

Landman, Sundays, Paramount+

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