By Jaymi Firestone | March 11, 2019
If you’ve been in Portales long, you know Landall Goolsby, and most likely, his sweet mother, Peggy. The two have called Portales home for many, many years.
Landall was born in Portales, and despite his childhood being spent in the nearby town of Fort Sumner, he’s lived in Portales for most of his life. It is where he owns 2 businesses, Landall’s Box Office, and Sweetwater’s at Landall’s.
27 years ago, Landall opened the doors of Landall’s Box Office. Renting and selling movies was the only thing Landall knew he could do successfully at the time. At Portales Video, where he worked before purchasing the Box Office, he was able to increase sales by 700% in just 18 months. This was because of his incredible work ethic. He worked every day, alone in the store, for the first year and a half, and took only 3 days off out of those 534 days.
When he opened Landall’s Box Office, he did so as an act of desperation for his family. His parents went bankrupt at the time, and lost their farm and business. It was a hard time for the Goolsby family, so Landall quit his job at a local video store, and they invested in another store that was located in Earth, TX. Knowing Portales was home, he moved the video store, which he titled, “The Box Office” to the building across from Daylight Donuts here in Portales.
The store would still be called “The Box Office” if a customer hadn’t suggested to add his name to it, since people knew him from his previous job at Portales Video. That is where “Landall’s Box Office” came from, and it’s clearly stuck!
Landall still resides in Portales, for part of the year anyway. The other portion of his year is spent in Los Angeles, CA. How does a small town guy end up living in L.A. part of the year? Simple, he had a goal in mind.
Acting.
Since he was a child, he wanted to be an actor or writer. So, when he was able to pursue a career doing what he dreamed of, he jumped at the opportunity.
Landall began his double residency between Portales and Los Angeles around 18 years ago. It is since then that he has become known as our own hometown celebrity. His love for film started at a very young age though.
Living in Fort Sumner as a child, he recalled a video rental store that he was interested in visiting. He said after begging for quite some time, his mom (Peggy) finally broke down and let him rent Betamax tapes and a player for $22. For those of you who don’t know what a betamax player is, they are similar to a VCR.
The first 3 movies he rented were Romancing the Stone, Terms of Endearment, and finally, Halloween. He still wonders how they allowed such a young child to rent an R-rated horror movie! Regardless, those 3 movies hold a dear place in his heart, because they were the first rentals he ever purchased.
Back to the Future is Landall’s inspiration and favorite movie of all time. It’s even the password to the WiFi at his coffee shop and movie rental store. It’s the reason he dreamed of acting, and what gave him the boost to pursue doing just that!
He realized with movies like Back to the Future, Aliens, and The Color Purple, (his 3 favorite films to watch in the theater) that movies evoke a sense of emotion inside each of us.
Aliens caused him dread and he couldn’t imagine how he could sit through the entire movie. The Color Purple caused him sadness in such a deep way that his heart hurt.
“I loved Mr. Speilberg and I read the book, The Color Purple, before the movie came out. I remember feeling such a deep sense of sadness that I didn’t know how I would finish the movie. I do not watch it often, because it just always hurts. In a wonderful way.”
When asked what role has been his favorite, he was quick to assert that he is grateful for every role he’s had, but Longmire was one that he enjoyed thoroughly.
During filming of the Netflix Original, he was able to meet Katee Sackhoff, who is notably known for her role as Lieutenant Kara “Starbuck” Thrace on Battlestar Galactica. Landall said she was incredibly kind.
“There are lights and cords and equipment everywhere and lots of people are doing their job on set. I was so timid at that time, because I didn’t know where to stand when off camera, and Katee pushed me and whispered “get in there.” It suddenly made sense. It then seemed so basic to step over and around whatever you need. Katee apologized to me afterwards, which I thought was incredibly kind of her and I will always remember her generosity in trying to help me.”
The production of Longmire moved quickly, and all talent was expected to be off book per the producers’ orders, meaning they needed to have their parts memorized. That was an exciting process for the Portales-born Actor.
Another role Landall said was the “time of his life” was the one he had on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. During his audition, it was different than most. He said, “I had a dummy scene to use for the audition. [That is] because they [Marvel] keep everything with this brand top secret, I didn’t know what I was doing in the scene, I just had to say a lot of scientific words and just had to make it all make sense.” The process was interesting, and he was unsure as to how the audition went from the casting director’s perspective. He went on to say, “As is the case with all auditions, I try to do the audition, and then forget about it. Move on with life and be the happiest one can be. It is not always easy.”
So, after his Marvel audition, he attempted to focus on life outside of the part he was seeking. The audition was on a Friday, and on the following Monday morning, the week before Christmas in 2014, he received a call from his agent to verify his height. But why? The question would loom over him the rest of the day, until he received another call later that he had been chosen for the role as Selwyn in the episode, Love in the time of HYDRA.
“One part of the scene had me holding a sharp needle near the lead actresses eye while performing ‘surgery’. She got into place on the table and gently grabbed my hand and told me ‘I trust you completely with this near my eye, so do not worry. You are going to be great.’ And somehow that was exactly what I needed to hear.”
It was on that set that he learned to relax and enjoy the process.
The role on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is just one of the many Landall has performed. Some of the things he has been in include Longmire (as mentioned before), Art of Deception, CSI:Cyber, Godless, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Eye, and many others.
His roles have all been different, but none quite like one he had in his early acting years…
Landall was cast for a re-enactment show, and his part included portraying a reptile collector who housed snakes, reptiles, and spiders in his home. The story line (which is based on a true story) included the character being bitten by a black widow, and rather than going to the hospital, he chose to stay home and ‘ride out’ the symptoms. Before dying from the venomous bite, he turned up the heater in his home as high as it would go. The heat then cracked the glass of the reptile enclosures and they “ate” the man! Landall re-enacted a story of death by pets! Yikes!
During filming, he had to get a full face prosthetic put on that covered his eyes and mouth. He only had two small straws to use to breath through his nose. The process took two hours to put on his face. They then shot the scene of his “dead body” laying on the apartment floor. It was quiet as they were shooting, and he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his chest. Later he found out it was a Gila Monster! Then, they swapped that scary lizard out for a giant snake. The whole time, he was unable to talk or see what was going on because of the mask!
The prosthetic mask took so long to remove with no running water, that production had shut down and the trailers were being moved off the premises. The makeup person didn’t have enough solvent to remove the glue, and had to rip the mask off his face. When he got home from the horrendous experience, he had what looked like burn marks on his face from the glue.
So, needless to say, the world of show business isn’t always glam and glitz! Landall said it was this particular memory that convinced him to always be represented by a union in his following acting roles.
His most recent acting has included a pilot that was shot in Albuquerque for a show called Briarpatch, featuring Rosario Dawson. The series is based on a Ross Thomas novel, with a plot that involves an investigator returning home to solve the death of her sister from a car-bombing. She then unravels a system of corruption in her small border town (iMDb). The show is set to air on USA Network in 2020.
During his breaks from the “hurry up and wait” of filming Briarpatch, he spent his time reading comic books, or looking over his lines on his iPad. Staying where he films keeps his mind from too much anxiety about his performance or lines. And with the director, Ana Lily Amirpour, introducing herself, then patting him on the back, saying “I like you,” it gave him confidence throughout the filming process.
We could go on and on about Landall’s acting history, because he’s had amazing experiences with many different roles and talent.
What makes him tick though? Who is he behind the acting?
Is he an ice cream maker? Sure.
Is he a business owner? Of course.
Is he a resident of Roosevelt County? Yes.
But, those things don’t define Landall.
What defines him is the kind nature of his spirit.When asked what he wanted to be remembered by, Landall didn’t talk about his acting career or a character he played. He didn’t talk about leaving a legacy behind through his businesses in Portales. He responded simply with, “as a person? I try to always be kind.”
If you’ve ever spent 5 min. in the presence of Landall, you’ll know how kind he genuinely is.
He likes to “wear his nerd very clearly” everywhere he goes, and finds inspiration in the way people like Mr. Rogers and Dolly Parton carry themselves. They’re kind, they’re giving, and they are genuine.
That is what makes Landall a wonderful employer, friend, and person.
He has a passion for suicide awareness, animals, and being a friend to those who need it most. He has worked hard to create places of enjoyment for the families in Portales, and loves to see your smiling faces in his video store and coffee shop.
So, be sure to stop in and say hello. If he’s not there, he’s probably in L.A. working! Say hi to Peggy if you don’t see Landall!
They feature sandwiches, concession snacks, and delicious coffee, frappes, Italian sodas, and the best ice cream in the area that they make in-house.
The coolest part is that the money he earned from movies at Landall’s Box Office, and from his numerous acting experiences have funded the opening of Sweetwater’s. It is the culmination of a few dreams that Landall was able to make into a reality.
He is proof that kindness, hard work, and persistence will help you achieve anything you put your mind to!
Sweetwater’s at Landall’s is located at 421 S Avenue C Suite G in Portales.
Random Fun Fact:
Question – If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?
Landall’s Answer – No question about it. Krypto the Superdog. When Superman was created, he was the only survivor of his doomed planet. In the 1950’s, they started adding more rocket ships to the mythos, so superman had a cousin, then a pet dog, and then, I am not making this up, a monkey and a horse, and of course, a cat. (They created The Super Pets! Again, I am not kidding). So I would love to meet Krypto, because he is such a good boy. Most likely the question was geared toward a fictional person, and in that case I would like to meet Doctor Who in real life. And there is not enough digital space in the world to explain who The Doctor is, so please if you are reading this, look it up. And enjoy.
