Billy Bob Thornton says “Landman” producers used an intimacy protocol for Season 2 scene that drew nudity chatter

Billy Bob Thornton, 70, addressed audience reaction to a Season 2 scene from Paramount+’s Landman that became a subject of online discussion after viewers appeared to interpret it as full-frontal nudity. Speaking at the Newport Beach TV Fest on Saturday, Thornton said he did not know what the reaction would be, but that before filming there were internal “whoa, yikes” concerns about the material and how it would be presented on screen.

According to the reporting, the scene centers on Tommy Norris accidentally exposing himself to a hotel worker while he is asleep, after which the employee reacts and the character portrayed by Ali Larter steps in with dialogue that reframes the moment. Thornton’s comments, provided in connection with his appearance at the festival, did not deny that the scene is startling, but indicated he approached it as a situation requiring careful preparation rather than a surprise element for the cast.

Thornton told Us Weekly that “before we filmed” the production had treated it as something that merited attention, and he said he was “obviously” aware it was “interesting” even before cameras rolled. He did not offer additional technical detail on set in his remarks beyond describing the early warning he said the cast received.

Landman co-creator Christian Wallace previously clarified to The Hollywood Reporter that the sequence was not what some audiences believed. Wallace said there was an on-set intimacy coordinator and that the original prosthetic brought in by the team made people laugh, leading producers to replace it with what he characterized as a more “humble” alternative to keep the scene realistic.

Wallace also described how the show used a full rig approach to make the prosthetic effect convincing for filming, including props support that he said made the outcome “extremely realistic.” His remarks emphasized that the intention was to manage the moment through an intimacy process and staged physical effects rather than leaving interpretation solely to actor performance.

The show’s handling of the scene comes as intimacy coordinators and structured protocols have become increasingly common in TV and film productions that involve nudity or simulated sex, particularly where performers, including older actors, may face heightened scrutiny from audiences. In this instance, the combination of Thornton’s comments and Wallace’s prior explanation places the production’s process, including pre-filming preparation and the prosthetic plan, at the center of the public discussion.

Paramount+ has not, in the reporting referenced here, issued a separate statement expanding on the scene beyond the creators’ descriptions. For viewers, the immediate next step remains watching Season 2 in its current form and following any additional clarifications that may accompany future press cycles for the series.

Either way, the exchange between Thornton’s festival remarks and Wallace’s earlier explanation frames the widely discussed moment as one that the production said it prepared for in advance, with intimacy coordination and a prosthetic substitute designed to achieve the intended on-screen result without relying on unsupervised improvisation from performers.