Teeter first appeared on Season 3 of Yellowstone as part of what Men’s Health referred to as the ‘hive of scum and villainy known as the Dutton Ranch bunkhouse.’ And she has been a standout in the series for three things: her pink hair, her thick accent, and her unfiltered, no-bullshit attitude. Her fun and entertaining character provide a comic flavor to the otherwise dramatic and violent show.
And now that Teeter’s finally got the infamous Yellowstone brand, fans can expect to see more of her on the show. So, let’s get to know the actress who gave life to her.
Meet Jennifer Landon.
She may be familiar to most because of her surname Landon and if you’re thinking: Is she related in any way to Michael Landon, the actor and filmmaker behind hit shows like Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza? You’re in the right direction. Yes, she is.
Jennifer Landon is the late Michael Landon’s daughter from the actor’s third wife, Cindy Clerico. The actor, unfortunately, passed away in 1991 due to pancreatic cancer.
The actress came from Malibu, California – unlike her Texan-breed character – and was born into a family of Hollywood royalty. Yes, she and her father are not the only ones. She has one brother and eight half-siblings from his father’s other two marriages. And most of them are also in show business, including Christopher Landon, who has made a name as a filmmaker in the horror genre, director Michael Landon Jr., and actor Mark Landon.
As for Jen, she’s a soap opera staple. You might’ve watched her as Gwen Norbeck Munson in As the World Turns, which won her three consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. She also appeared in The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives and landed roles in Banshee and The Orville. She also got into Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner. But probably one of her most memorable and sentimental roles would be her first acting job at age five. Her father cast her in one of the final episodes of his TV series Highway to Heaven.
And now, aside from playing Teeter in Yellowstone, she also has a recurring role in FBI: Most Wanted as Sarah, the girlfriend of the lead Jess, portrayed by Julian McMahon.
How did she land her role in Yellowstone?
Despite being an established actress with multiple Emmys, Jennifer didn’t think she’d ‘have a shot in hell’ to land Teeter on the popular Western drama. She just went and planned to portray the character in the way she saw her as she thought that would be the only way she would feel good walking away from the audition.
One big challenge for the role was Teeter’s unique speech pattern. When Jen first read the script, she thought, “What? One of these languages is not English.” In an episode of the Yellowstone podcast, Jen shared that there were signs on the paper as creator Taylor Sheridan spelled out the lines phonetically so that she could understand Teeter’s dialect. But the audition didn’t feel good afterward, and in a story she shared with IMDB, Jen confessed that her head went completely blank. She even said “I love you” to the casting director when she meant to say “Thank you.”
Surprisingly, after eight months of waiting, she finally got a callback!
Jennifer Landon as Teeter
To say that Jen has been doing a good job playing Teeter would be an understatement. She is definitely nailing the role. In fact, Jen and Teeter share some things in common.
First, Jen does most of her riding stunts on the show but has a double for the rougher scenes. Even outside the set, she enjoys riding horses. She even did that during one of her trips to Mexico, where she drank wine and indulged in local cuisine.
Second, it didn’t take long for her to figure out Teeter. And she was tickled by the fact that her character’s speech made sense to her. She explained that she always knew what Teeter was saying, which was not the case for many people who would read her dialogues.
Jen loves her character. In Paramount’s video of Teeter’s journey, she shared that one thing about Teeter is how she’s fully alive. “You know, as grumpy as she could seem sometimes, she really likes people, which is what’s so relieving. And she gives us all permission to be just a little weirder in our own lives.”
Hopefully, we will see more of Teeter (and Jennifer Landon) in the next season. And there’s no more scare like S04E06 “I Want To Be Him,” where she got fired from the ranch and almost didn’t make it back.
