Michelle Randolph On Playing “Super Unlikable” Roles In ‘1923’ & ‘Landman’: “Challenged Me In A Lot Of Ways”

Michelle Randolph is just working with what the script provides her.

Taylor Sheridan’s latest hit, Landman, certainly grabbed the attention of the masses during its first season, and it continues to do much of the same with its sophomore run. A plethora of viral moments have undoubtedly helped with that, but the stellar cast of Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Demi Moore and Sam Elliott, among others, have also made it stand out as one of the most exciting shows on television.

And a young actress by the name of Michelle Randolph, who plays Ainsley, has had a ton of scene-stealing moments throughout the first two seasons of the show. Randolph was basically handpicked for her role in Landman after she starred in Sheridan’s other Yellowstone spinoff project: 1923.

Without a doubt, Randolph has held her own as she shares scenes with other well-known and experienced actors and actresses. She plays her role perfectly, and so well that the character of Ainsley actually has people divided. Some see the young woman as powerful and independent, while others think that she’s got some anti-feminism tendencies.

Randolph was asked how she handles her character’s criticism in an Interview Magazine profile, and here’s what she had to say:

“I’ve had to stop letting myself get defensive over my character because when you spend so much time in someone else’s head space, you start to understand their logic. For Ainsley, I couldn’t be more different than her, but I also adore her. I like to say she’s not dumb, she just has limited life experience, and we’re seeing her in her most formative years.

How lucky to play a character who is continually evolving. It’s challenged me in a lot of ways — what is on the page is so different than what you see on screen. I’ve tried to add in how genuine and sincere she is so there are more redeeming qualities.”

So basically, Randolph understands that some people can be easily upset with Ainsley, but she does her best to provide some redeeming qualities that aren’t exactly included in the script.

And it’s not like the actress is oblivious to the characters that she’s playing. Michelle Randolph fully understands that the roles she’s taken aren’t the most lovable:

“I didn’t realize this about myself, but two of the characters that I’ve played in Taylor’s shows — ‘1923’ and ‘Landman’ — have, on the page, been super unlikable. Maybe that’s just my perception.

I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, people are going to despise these characters. What can I do to make them likable and for people to be able to see them from my perspective?’ And so I worked really hard at it. That’s why I think with Ainsley, her being sweet is so important, or else she’s just this bratty teenage girl who has no redeeming qualities.”

Bingo… the redeeming qualities are important.

Randolph also touched on people either loving or hating the female characters on Taylor Sheridan shows. Ali Larter, who plays Angela in the show, even jumped to Sheridan’s defense when people were attacking how he writes female characters a couple of months ago.

He writes in a way that’s supposed to get a rise out of people, and he trusts that his actors and actresses are going to take the lines off the page and onto the screen in a way that’s authentic and genuine. There’s a lot of trust involved, and Randolph (like many others on the show) are just trying to present the characters as humanly as possible:

“Some of the things that Ainsley has to say are shocking and there were moments where I thought, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off.’ I want to find the most human version of this character that I can, and I work really hard at doing that.”

And you can continue watching Michelle Randolph navigate her Ainsley character as Landman’s Season 2 continues to air on Paramount+.

The post Michelle Randolph On Playing “Super Unlikable” Roles In ‘1923’ & ‘Landman’: “Challenged Me In A Lot Of Ways” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.