‘Yellowstone’s Jen Landon Says She Didn’t Like ‘Chick Stuff’ Growing Up, Playing Teeter Is ‘Really Good Fit’
In a fantastic interview, Yellowstone fan-favorite Jen Landon dishes on how Teeter feels like a natural extension of herself – all the way from childhood.
If there’s one character on Yellowstone who doesn’t give a flying horseshoe about gender roles and stereotypes, it’s Teeter. The tough-as-nails Dutton ranch hand has been a stand-out from her raucous introduction in Season 3. No one saw her coming, and over the course of seasons 3 & 4, her bombastic presence has won over millions of fans.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Yellowstone‘s Jen Landon reveals that the “balancing” between feminine and masculine that Teeter embodies felt natural to her. So much so, in fact, that Landon was able to pull from her childhood and adulthood to bring the character to life.
“I was talking to somebody earlier about how gender isn’t even a thing for her. It’s just not,” Landon begins of her breakout character. “She’s like pre-societal anything. She’s so animal in that way.”
Writing a character as untypical as Teeter into Yellowstone was a stroke of “genius” on Taylor Sheridan’s part, too, Landon lauds. “This is how you know somebody’s just a frickin’ genius is that I had one scene to audition with and there was a character description and, y’know, you get stuff from the character description. But, in that one, two-page scene between the stage direction and how she listened and responded to the people she was talking to… For me, I knew,” she said.
‘Yellowstone’s Jen Landon: ‘There are a lot of similarities between Teeter and I’
“I tried that on and she became incredibly clear to me and that’s really good writing. And, I felt like it was just a really good match,” Landon continues.
For the actor, who’s becoming a household name thanks to Yellowstone‘s takeover of television, Teeter is a blessing in numerous ways. Many of them deeply personal.
“There’s a lot of parts of me that – like – there are a lot of similarities between Teeter and I. It’s just a really good fit,” she says. “I’ve always done dude stuff. I didn’t like that there were dude things to do and chick things to do. It made me feel weird growing up and I didn’t like a lot of the chick stuff.”
And surely, a real-world Teeter would’ve felt the exact same in her youth. For Jen Landon, Teeter isn’t interested in the gender norms of ranches that Yellowstone does, in some ways, enforce. Instead, “Teeter likes activities. She likes activities,” Landon said.
“And, the one thing that audience doesn’t know and I don’t even know if Taylor [Sheridan] knows this and I know it from the inside is that Teeter loves monster trucks.”
How’s that for a reveal? “Teeter loves monster trucks. Loves monster trucks,’ Landon doubles down. “She loves monster trucks and she likes to go to monster truck shows wherever they are. She wants to see the things go off the high things and land.”
If you didn’t think Jen Landon was a perfect fit for Teeter before, Yellowstone fans, certainly we all do now.
