Between the high-stakes drama of the Landman Season 2 finale and the viral TikToks of her dancing with Glen Powell at the 2026 Golden Globes afterparty, Michelle Randolph is officially the “It Girl” of the year. But before she was dodging dating rumors and preparing for her upcoming lead in Scream 7 (hitting theaters Feb 27), Randolph faced a grueling physical crisis that nearly silenced her breakout performance as Ainsley Norris.
While fans were captivated by Ainsley’s sharp West Texas drawl, the reality behind the scenes was far from effortless. To transition from her “old world” accent in 1923 to the gritty oil-field slang of Landman, Randolph worked with renowned dialect coach Jessica Drake. The process was so intensive—involving 12-hour recording sessions for Taylor Sheridan’s rapid-fire dialogue—that it led to a total vocal burnout.
“I was hopping between characters so fast that my voice just gave out,”
Randolph recently shared in an interview with InStyle.
“I had to learn how to find Ainsley’s voice without losing my own.”
As we look toward Landman Season 3, here is the untold story of the vocal “crisis” that defined Randolph’s career and why her relationship with Glen Powell is the talk of 2026.
The Landman accent Michelle Randolph couldn’t get rid of
The funniest thing about Michelle’s career right now is that she’s living in two different centuries at once. Before she was an oil-brat in West Texas, she was Elizabeth Strafford in the Yellowstone prequel, 1923. Bouncing between a 1920s debutante and a modern-day wild child sounds like a dream, but it actually led to a “disaster” when it came time to switch back.
After spending months in Fort Worth filming Landman, Michelle got so deep into Ainsley’s heavy Texas twang that she actually forgot how to talk normally. When it was time to prep for the second season of 1923, she found herself slipping into a drawl every time she read her lines as Elizabeth. She eventually called her acting coach in a total panic, saying,
“I think I have to have Ainsley’s accent in 1923 because I don’t know how to get rid of it right now!”
Thankfully, she managed to shake the cowboy boots off before the cameras rolled for the Duttons, but it just goes to show how much she pours herself into her roles.
Life on set with a “New Dad”
Working with a legend like Billy Bob Thornton would make anyone a nervous wreck, and Michelle admits she was a “bag of nerves” before meeting him. She actually dragged her co-star Ali Larter along for moral support the first time they sat down for dinner with him.
But the nerves didn’t last long. Billy Bob quickly became a real-life dad figure to her. In fact, their bond is so close that he’s jokingly said if his real-life daughter said the things Ainsley says to him in the script—like the viral, graphic talk about her dating life—he’d “have a seizure” on the spot.
The 2025 Romance: Michelle and Glen Powell
While fans have been obsessed with her on-screen dating life, her real-world romance is what’s taking over social media in late 2025. After months of speculation, it looks like Michelle and Glen Powell (of Top Gun: Maverick fame) are officially “having fun.”
The two were spotted dancing together in Austin, Texas, and most recently made a public appearance at an F1 event in Los Angeles this December. It’s still early days, but with Glen’s star power and Michelle’s meteoric rise, they are easily the “it” couple of the moment.
What’s next for the girl from Huntington Beach?
Aside from the oil fields, Michelle is about to tackle a whole new kind of terror. She’s officially joined the cast of Scream 7, which is set to hit theaters in February. She even made her Landman cast mates watch the previous six movies with her in the trailers while they were filming in Texas.
Whether she’s playing a 1920s rancher, a West Texas wild child, or a horror movie survivor, the 28-year-old California native is proving she’s way more than just “Cassie Randolph’s sister.” She’s a powerhouse in her own right, even if she still needs an acting coach to help her find her real voice every now and then.
This video features an exclusive interview where Michelle Randolph discusses the unique experience of filming Landman and the “pinch-me” moments of working alongside industry veterans like Billy Bob Thornton.
