Growing up Jen Landon was never in one place for very long. Although California was home, her mom (who raised both her and her brother mostly on her own) skipped town with them in tow every chance she got. By the time she hit high school Jen had been to every continent besides Antarctica and Australia, and even lived in Europe for a year just for the ‘heck’ of it. “My mom has itchy feet. I think it’s where I got my more nomadic urges”.
When she was 29, and a decade into working as an actor, she work up one day and thought, I gotta go. “I had no idea where I was headed. I just knew I needed my car, my dogs, and I needed to drive”. She left a relationship, a house, and a career, and drove for six months. One of the places she landed was a cattle and sheep ranch in Paradise Valley, MT. It felt predestined when 7 years later work would put her back on a working cattle ranch in that very same valley where she plays Teeter on the hit-series Yellowstone.
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Even when she’s acting, travel plays a big part in the work she takes. “It helps that almost nothing films in California. I have an almost unhealthy desire for a sense of freedom, and an exhausting level of curiosity.”
“I find that I often feel most at home when I’m in places I don’t know, surrounded by people I’ve never met.”
“The experience of yourself in the unknown is what becomes the new familiar – there’s something comforting inside of that, because the truth is, none of us really know where we’re going.” Over the years the people she’s met on the road have deeply informed not only how she lives her life, but the character’s she plays onscreen.
Going into Yellowstone, she had barely ridden a horse. She was introduced to a world champion cutting horse trainer Lindy Burch, and the two became fast friends. “She basically taught me how to ride and how to live inside the world of Yellowstone. Her ranch is a second home to me now”.
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Working on a ranch and traveling on the road have some similarities “You can have a plan, but you gotta move with the land. If you try to force your agenda, whether that’s on the road or working a herd of cattle, you’re going to have some hiccups that have some pretty big consequences.”
Jen knows that traveling alone as a woman comes with certain risks, though it doesn’t feel risky to her. “I’m actually quite risk averse. I believe in troubleshooting yourself into a place of safety.
"Though the older I get the most dangerous thing to me seems to be living safely to the point of not living at all.”
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Fearless women who have trail-blazed ahead of her are a theme in Jen’s life. Along with Lindy Burch, Jen’s other mentor is a woman she refers to only as “Lauren”. “At 80, she’s still traveling the world and learning new things. We’ve gotten into a few hairy situations together, but man, we’ve laughed our asses off”.
Women who have inspired her from afar are Temple Grandin, Sylvia Earl, and Mary Oliver.
In terms of what’s next for her, Jen wants to take her camper all the way to South America. She wants to merge her passion for being on the road with her passion for the stories of the people she meets. She loves having purpose. And she knows the road provides it.
Jen Landon, @thejenlandon on instagram
