Before Landman, Jacob Lofland Had A Small Role In A Must-See Neo-Western Series

Cooper Norris on "Landman" is Jacob Lofland's biggest role to date. Prior to being cast in Taylor Sheridan's oil drama series, however, he appeared in another neo-Western show that's well worth a watch if you missed it: "Justified."

Before starring opposite the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Billy Bob Thornton, Lofland was an Arkansas kid who never once considered a career as an actor. But after an open casting call for Jeff Nichols' "Mud" saw him wow the director, however, Lofland found himself on a new path. The then-15-year-old was cast in the McConaughey-led drama and brought an undeniable authenticity to the role of wayward teen Neckbone. That ability to appear effortlessly genuine on screen has served him well since.

Lofland could have easily returned to his regular life after his brief flirtation with show business, but he didn't. Instead, he worked consistently in the years after Nichols' 2012 coming-of-age drama hit theaters. Lofland's second ever role was in the under-seen, heartbreaking drama "Little Accidents," after which he had a small part in the beloved "Maze Runner" movie trilogy. He's also appeared in Civil War dramas, sports biopics, and even played a minor but notable part in "Joker: Folie à Deux." 

As Cooper Norris, the grown son of Thornton's Tommy Norris on "Landman," Lofland's had the chance to showcase his talent on an even bigger platform. But the Paramount+ series doesn't mark his first experience acting in a neo-Western show. Indeed, back in 2014, Lofland played a young troublemaker named Kendal Crowe in the fifth season of FX's "Justified."

"Justified" is a satisfying neo-Western crime drama anchored by great performances. The show stars Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a deputy U.S. Marshal who, after shooting a mobster in Miami, is sent back to Eastern Kentucky, where he was raised, to mete out his personal form of unconventional justice. Across six seasons of the show, Givens faces off against all manner of Appalachian antagonists, from drug dealers to the Crowe crime family, who show up in season 5 to give Olyphant's lawman a hard time.

Said family is led by Michael Rapaport's Daryl Crowe Jr, a Florida hothead who has ambitions to take over the drug trade in Harlan County, Kentucky. He moves to the area alongside his paralegal sister Wendy Crowe (Alicia Witt), his dolt of a brother Danny Crowe (A. J. Buckley), and his teenage brother Kendal Crowe (Jacob Lofland). Or is that nephew? Kendal's lineage isn't exactly clear, at least at first, but Daryl essentially acts like an abusive father to the youngster, chiding him for showing any kind of sensitivity. This prompts Givens to try to rescue Kendal from his situation — a task that becomes even harder when the youngster takes the fall for a shooting his brother/father perpetrated.

Lofland snuck in just before "Justified" ended with purpose after its sixth season. He did a fine job as a troubled youth raised in an abusive family, and he even more than held his own opposite Olyphant in an interrogation scene, during which the gravity of the situation dawns on Kendal. It was yet another example of the actor's talent for strong yet understated performances. Of course, "Justified" is full of similarly impressive performances, making it well worth a watch regardless.