Michelle Randolph.
Ryan Green/Paramount+Michelle Randolph is aware of how polarizing she Landman character, Ainsley, is.
creator Taylor SheridanThe Paramount+ series premiered in November 2024 and featured Billy Bob Thornton as a corporate fixer for an oil titan (Jon Hamm). The West Texas drama had life-or-death stakes, but it was Thornton’s scenes with Randolph, 27, who plays his 17-year-old daughter, that went viral. The most talked about moments it included her talking to her father about sex as she walked around her home, which she shares with two men of the same age, in bikinis and underwear.
“Some of the things Ainsley has to say are shocking and there were times when I thought, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off,'” Randolph admitted. The Hollywood Reporter a month later “I want to find the most human version of this character that I can, and I work really hard to do that.”
Randolph he remembered doing work to bring Ainsley to life.
“I worked with a dialect coach, a movement coach and an acting coach and just studied like crazy. I had almost a year to prepare,” she explained of her approach to Ainsley. “It was incredibly helpful to sit down with this character. I worked really hard to find ways to justify his behavior and make him a person who is full of something that doesn’t always sound like what a 17-year-old would say, but people like that do exist.”
While reflecting on his on-screen collaborations with Sheridan, Randolph said Landman “it needs 10 times more preparation“than in 1923.
“I wanted to be very careful with the way Ainsley looks. There’s only so much I can control, but you can also control so much as an actor,” he continued. “And just being around Ali (later) and Billy and Jacob (Lofland) and being in Texas really helped create this full person that Ainsley is. She has this free spirit about her and she’s wild, and I love every second of it.”
Keep scrolling for Randolph’s candid quotes about playing a controversial character Landman:
Breaking his silence
“It’s hard not to be aware of it,” Randolph said The Hollywood Reporter about the negative response to Ainsley’s seasons. “But I digress and the thing is, I have the script. I read it. I had my moments, my thoughts.”
Randolph he reminded viewers which had nothing to do with what was written on the page.
“My job ended when I finished my last day on set, and then I opened it. The show came out,” he continued. “I can’t tell people how to play my character, but at least it’s sparking a conversation. And I’m very proud of the show we made.”
Give Ainsley a chance
Randolph urged viewers to do so give Ainsley the space evolve, explain The Hollywood Reporter“She’s 17 and growing up. I think she gets it more than the audience can see. There are moments where you realize she can be, not manipulative, but she knows how to play her father, and also her mother. She knows how to get what she wants. She loves her family.”
He concluded: “She’s finding out who she is and meeting different peers and going to school. She’s not just the young daughter, she’s a person. We get to see 5 percent of who Ainsley is. Hopefully, as the show goes on, we get to see who she is.”
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Making it Work
The actress admitted that she did a challenge that he correctly represents Ainsley in the early episodes.
“When you start a show, it’s really hard because you don’t know your whole character. Knowing who she is in episode 10 was really hard when episode 1 just came out. I thought, that’s not all she has to do!” Randolph said Deadline in January 2025. “You don’t want to meet the fully evolved version of a character. If you don’t see the growth, it’s not fun to watch. So I’m grateful that we met Ainsley at A, and hopefully when the show ends, for many seasons, we’ll meet her at Z.”
Character development
“When I first read (the scripts), I had to digest it. And then, it was like, this is who she was. She never surprised me in any way, once I met her,” Randolph recalled during a people interview that same month. “It was interesting to see the audience’s reaction because I had been sitting there for so long. It was like, ‘Oh, okay, we’re going to process it all together again.'”
Proud of the final version
Randolph I didn’t see the reason for the negativity aimed at his character.
“I think being comfortable with your sexuality is something that should be celebrated. If that’s what you feel as a human (and) it aligns with who you are, then be authentically yourself. And that’s what he’s doing,” Randolph said. people. “She’s 17 though, so I think as she gets older, she’ll set more boundaries and understand more about how the world works. But as far as she’s concerned, right now, that’s the way she’s been raised and she’ll figure out if she thinks that’s right or wrong or if she wants to change that.”
Randolph made it clear that he has no regrets about working there Landmansaying, “I’m very proud of the show that we did, and so I didn’t let myself have a perspective on what the audience was thinking. I think I’ve said before, (that) I disengaged (during certain scenes), but you have to do it. I did my job when I was filming and then I closed the door and we put it out there excitedly, and I hope I can do it all excitedly.”
See divided opinions
“I’ve had to stop being defensive about my character because when you spend so much time in someone else’s headspace, you start to understand their logic,” she explained to Interview magazine in January 2026. “For Ainsley (Landman), I couldn’t be more different than her, but I also adore her. I like to say that she and her life are no more stupid. Years of training.”
Randolph appreciated the challenge, adding, “What a blessing to play a character that’s constantly evolving. It’s challenged me in so many ways—what’s on the page is so different than what you see on screen. I’ve tried to add how genuine and sincere she is so that there are more redeeming qualities.”
While discussing his divisive character Landman, Randolph explained how he built the role.
“I think her mom kept her in a bubble for a reason, and that’s not necessarily her fault. If that continues into her 20s, then that starts to be her fault. But right now, she hasn’t had any independence,” she noted. “I didn’t realize this about myself, but two of the characters I’ve played in Taylor’s shows, 1923 and Landman, have been very unpleasant on the page. Maybe that’s just my perception.”
He continued: “I thought, ‘Oh my God, people are going to look down on these characters. What can I do to make them likable and so people can see them from my perspective?’ And so I worked really hard on it. That’s why I think with Ainsley, her being sweet is so important, or she’s just this spoiled teenager with no redeeming qualities.