Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones delivered a surprising cameo appearance in the Paramount Plus streaming series Landman last weekend.
Jones appeared in the recently released episode of the series in a scene where he visits the hospital room of oil investor Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), who was stricken with a heart attack. In the scene, Jones delivers a long, heartfelt monologue about the virtues of being close with your family during personal trials.
Where most stunt cameos like this are usually somewhat obvious and even offputting, Jones’ turn on the show fits perfectly in the episode, does not seem forced, and could easily be mistaken as being delivered by a veteran actor instead of a real-life NFL team owner and billionaire.
The 82-year-old Cowboys owner delivered a trenchant soliloquy about family that required him to get emotional in spots and also elicited an equally emotional response from actors Hamm and Billy Bob Thornton, who stars in the series as Tommy Norris, oil industry fixer and an executive in the company run by Hamm’s Monty Miller character.
Sitting at the foot of Monty Miller’s bed, Jones opens up about his life, work, and love of family.
“Now, I’m not saying I’ve done anything right, but I made my mind up a long time ago I was gonna work with my kids. And they’re involved in everything. They’re involved in my leasing, oil and gas, real estate,” Jones says in the scene. He goes on to talk about his early oil investments and his purchase of the Cowboys, all so he could work with his children.
“And so, when I got the Cowboys, I got it so that we could all work together. I thought I was doing it for them, but the one that got the most out of it was me,” he continued.,
“I’m pretty proud of them Cowboys, I’m pretty proud of the stuff we’ve done in oil and gas,” Jones adds as he wrapped up his monologue. “It pales in comparison to how proud I am to have lived my life working with my kids.”
The scene ends as he tells Miller to get better and walks out of the room. However, the emotional weight of Jones’ segment does not dissipate. Hamm’s character nearly bursts into tears at his own lack of close ties to his children and takes Jones’ words as not only good advice but an admonishment for the time he has wasted with his children.
It is a powerful scene, and Jones earned some well-deserved praise for his TV spot:
This is not the first time the billionaire oil man has appeared in a cameo role in a TV series. He was first spotlighted in a 1996 episode of the TV sitcom Coach. He has also appeared in Arli$$, Entourage, Cubed, and The League.
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