‘Landman’ Star Billy Bob Thornton Once Shared the Screen With Charlize Theron and Patrick Swayze in This Forgotten, Raunchy Rom-Com

If you’ve been keeping up with Taylor Sheridan’s Landman on Paramount+, you know Billy Bob Thornton is in his element. The show, which has captivated audiences for its Succession-like drama, dipped into oil fields and Western grime, centers Thornton as the grizzled and morally gray frontman leading the day-to-day running of the Texas oil industry. Thornton’s worn-in charm and sense of unpredictable ruggedness are as suited to Sheridan's frontier vision as Costner was to Yellowstone. But before this explosive venture as a weathered, alpha loner with a few gritty detours along the way, Thornton once took on a role that was totally and tonally different. In 2002, the Oscar winner joined Charlize Theron, Patrick Swayze, and Natasha Richardson for a road trip in Waking Up in Reno, a raunchy rom-com about a disastrous group vacation to Reno, Nevada. It’s a weird, messy, sometimes sweet snapshot of early-2000s ensemble comedies where an A-list cast cuts loose in ways you rarely see anymore.