'Landman' star Sam Elliott now pays the price of being 'athlete' all his life

Sam Elliott recently lifted the lid on how his Landman character T.L. Norris' struggles are familiar to his own life.

For those unaware, the 81-year-old American actor’s character, Norris, in Landman struggled with physical decline and ageing. He reflected on one of the saddest storylines from season 2, in which his character, who is the father of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, struggles as his own body struggles to do daily activities.

In an interview with Variety, Elliott said, “The truth of it is, [that scene] is very true to where I am at this point in my life physically.”

“Not mentally, but physically. I’ve had a hard life. I’ve been an athlete all my life, and I’ve been a laborer all my life, and I’m paying for it now,” he admitted.

The Ghost Rider star went on to allude to a heart-wrenching scene in which Norris was trapped in a swimming pool after realizing he did not have the strength to pull himself out on his own in an episode aired on January 4, 2026.

“With my knees and my hip, I can’t f***** stand right now,” he told his son Tommy in the scene, who was helping him out of the pool.

It is pertinent to mention that the scene strengthened the father-son relationship as Tommy pushed his father to take physical therapy. Watch the iconic scene here.