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If she were so inclined, Ali Larter could play one hell of a game of Two Truths and a Lie. She’s portrayed a fictional model for a hoax magazine article, aimed a lampstand at Beyoncé’s head, worn a whipped-cream bikini onscreen, and screamed “liposuction!” at Reese Witherspoon. The lie? Her alter ego, Allegra Coleman.
In 1996, Esquire famously named Larter, a New Jersey native who’s been working since age 13, “Hollywood’s Next Dream Girl,” under the mysterious persona. The story and accompanying cover was entirely fabricated—intended as satire of the entertainment industry—but the then-model’s cheeky smirk nevertheless caught the attention of industry professionals. Within a year, she’d landed her first roles on TV. She followed that with an infamous performance in the 1999 sports dramedy Varsity Blues, in which the aforementioned whipped cream garment makes its appearance. It was followed by a decades-long string of jobs that included the Final Destination horror movies, Legally Blonde, the popular NBC sci-fi series Heroes, and the Resident Evil films. The consistent thread throughout such a filmography is Larter’s magnetism and undeniable energy, a give-it-200-percent commitment obvious in even the campiest vignettes.
Blazer: Adam Lippes. Bralette: Stylist’s own. Pants: Khaite. Cuff: Jenny Bird. Ring and earrings: Demarson. Shoes: Giuseppe Zanotti.
Twenty-five years after Varsity Blues, she is donning leopard print and bell-bottoms as Angela Norris, the wife of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris on the Taylor Sheridan-created Paramount+ series Landman. The drama follows the titular “landman,” Tommy, as he attempts to manage the conflicting aims of corporations and cartels in the money-printing oil fields of West Texas. Although Sheridan is best known for his supremely popular Yellowstone saga and its associated spin-offs, his other shows—including Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Lioness, and, most recently, Landman—have also garnered massive audiences, making the Sheridanverse one of the most coveted empires in modern television. To earn her own spot in the so-called patch (a.k.a. the oil fields), Larter auditioned three times, screen-testing against 10 other women to finally earn the role of Angela. Season 1 establishes her as Tommy’s ex-wife, having divorced him after an oil bust left her and her two children, Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), in desperate need of cash. Remarried and rebranded, unapologetically, as a trophy wife, Angela embraces the sort of no-holds-barred sexuality that’s earned the ardor, the ire, and the raised eyebrows of more than a few viewers.
“She’s a total spitfire,” Larter says of the character. “You see her going to the bar, and she wants the attention. She loves having fun. It’s not a dirty word to her. And then you see Tommy really love her for who she is.” She continues, “She thinks of her job as going to the gym and looking great. But you’re also watching the reverse engineering of a trophy wife, someone who’s had all this and is coming back to where she belongs.”
Sheridan’s approach to Angela—as well as other female characters—has come under fire for its tendencies toward “caricature.” Larter disagrees, and says that nothing in her experience on Landman has matched such a description. “Taylor writes incredible women,” she says, adding that Angela is “extraordinarily complex.”
“I want to show all sides of a woman, and how a woman feels about her body and her sexuality,” Larter adds. “So finding that, embracing that, has been a big deal—and very different from how I am in my everyday life. But I know women like [Angela]. And I kind of wish I was like her more in my early twenties.”
Larter is not a stranger to Hollywood backlash—her alleged treatment of Heroes co-star Leonard Roberts was the subject of a 2020 Variety essay, for which Larter said she was “deeply saddened” and “truly sorry.” But she has made a concerted effort to separate herself, and her identity, from what she calls the “deeply competitive and judgmental, though also inspiring” environment of Tinseltown. “There are peaks and valleys in a long career, and the valleys are hard, and you never think there’s going to be a peak again,” she says. “If you define yourself in that way, it will be a very challenging life. And I learned, after having my children, that I’m just not going to define myself by this industry.”
Bodysuit: Wolford. Skirt: Frame. Ring and earrings: Jenny Bird. Shoes: Jimmy Choo.
As part of that effort, in 2020, Larter moved to Idaho with her husband and two children. They still spend plenty of time in California and, particularly now, in Texas. But planting their family in a small town, Larter says, has offered them “an accountability that we believe in.” She continues, “I think to be able to have stability outside of the business, so I’m not constantly looking at a mirror of my life, has been very refreshing…You don’t beep your horn there. There’s a patience that comes with that, and I like that.”
Ahead, Larter digs into her perspective on Angela’s character, her relationship with co-star Michelle Randolph, her thoughts on her most memorable performances, and her hopes as she looks toward the Landman season finale—and a potential season 2.
You described Angela’s story arc this season as “the reverse engineering of the trophy wife.” How does getting back together with Tommy help bring her “back to where she belongs”?
What was essential for me, when I started to work on this character, was understanding how bad the bust had been for Angela. Here’s a woman who has two young children, and she needs to find a way to take care of her family. So you see her go on this journey [of marrying a wealthy man].
Tommy and Angela never stopped talking [after they got divorced]. They were always connected. There’s a moment in time where things settle in life. You get to a point where you’re willing to risk it all. I even feel that with myself as I’m getting older. You’re not willing to live a life that doesn’t feel authentic to you. So you see Angela—she’s not going toward the money and the security now. She’s going toward the real, true security, which is love.
Top and jeans: Frame. Belt: Anderson’s. Cuffs: Jenny Bird and stylist’s own. Necklace and earrings: Demarson. Shoes: Jimmy Choo.
Not all audiences have agreed that Taylor Sheridan’s female characters are “extraordinarily complex.” What is your perspective as the actress playing Angela? What drew you to the character, and do you feel as though her critics had (or still have) her wrong?
She’s actually a different kind of empowered woman. We want to put people in one lane. And her lane is very unique. She is empowered, and she’s free. She doesn’t think that being hot is a crime. She loves it. She’s unabashedly glamorous in that way. She’s like, “More is better.” The higher the heel, the tighter the jeans, the blonder the hair, that’s her lane. She’s living it, and she loves it. If you don’t…[pantomimes lifting a middle finger]. You know?
What’s interesting is that…Taylor introduced my character in Landman via FaceTime, which was enraging to people, and then he put me in a bikini. This man is calculated in the choices he makes and the way that he tells a story. He likes to cause a controversy. He likes to get eyes on it and people talking about it. And then he gets people invested. And then you get to see all the underbelly of the character.
So I have, now, incredible trust in him. Because it was only in the very beginning that people were a little tough on [Angela and Ainsley], and now it’s gone completely the other way. Now, these incredibly prestigious women that I have deep respect for, in the media and in my business, have fallen in love with Angela. So, again, I don’t allow too much weight into any of the criticism because there’s two sides of it.
All women are not the same. Everyone does not live in New York or L.A. You’ve got to just broaden your mind and go on the journey. And I think that Taylor has written someone who’s given me a chance to express myself in a very complex way.
Blazer: Adam Lippes. Bralette: Stylist’s own. Pants: Khaite. Cuff: Jenny Bird. Ring and earrings: Demarson.
Speaking of Ainsley, what was it like working with Michelle Randolph? You’ve developed quite a fascinating mother-daughter relationship together.
The first three months of shooting Landman were incredibly difficult. It was cold; we didn’t know anybody. We’re all trying to find these characters. There are so many wardrobe fittings, so many opinions. It was really challenging for us, and we hooked onto each other, because we are down in Texas, crew of 300, massive budget, three cameras going, you better know your material backwards. And you better be able to be free and relaxed and perform in the moment without letting any nerves come into your world.
You can definitely get a little shaken when you work in Taylor’s world with the pressure that is on these sets. Unquestionably, it’s the most pressure I’ve ever felt on a set before. And then [Randolph and I started] to have fun with it, that was something we found together. We lived in the same apartment complex; we had dinner together all the time; we worked out together. We cried together.
I talk to her, like, three to four days a week. We’re always texting. We have incredible trust, which I think is very difficult to find.
Have you shared any advice with Michelle as your relationship has deepened?
Don’t let this business define your value. I think that that’s been one of my greatest lessons. And when I saw Demi [Moore] go out there and give that extraordinary speech [at the Golden Globes], and talk about “here’s a ‘popcorn actress,’ everyone,” I think that in our industry, they want to limit you as an actress or make you want to stay in your lane. I come back to: I want to play complex characters. Women are complex, and there should be space for that.
I want to ask about the retirement community subplot in the final episodes: Angela and Ainsley make it their mission to take a group of senior citizens to a strip club. Was there a larger significance to that particular storyline?
I think it’s incredibly original. It is such an exciting pivot for these characters that you don’t expect. You get to see these sides of Angela and Ainsley that—really, it shows their heart. It shows that Angela has this calling in life….There are so many inappropriate things that happen in this show, but she does not see things that way. We were laughing while [filming scenes in the finale], and it was silly and it was ballsy. Maybe [taking seniors to a strip club] is not such a bad idea!
Blazer: Adam Lippes. Bralette: Stylist’s own. Earrings: Demarson.
Does production have a timeline set for the next season?
We do. [Silence.]
So, “soon.”
[Laughs.] I know. Exactly. I’m like, “Just announce it!”
What do you hope to see from Angela’s story in a potential season 2?
I love the relationship between Tommy and Angela. I’ll take more scenes where we are in bed together, where we’re really talking. I think that connection—that unlikely love story—is something really interesting. We’re going to see, as the [next] season unfolds, that Angela’s going to be in a different place in her life again. I think that her priorities have changed, so you’ll see some of that unfolding.
You’ve had a number of beloved roles over the years. Given the superhero boom we’ve experienced in the past couple of decades, do you think Heroes was ahead of its time?
Maybe! I mean, I’ve been doing this long enough that you see how shows hit at the right time, when people are yearning for them. And I think, [when Heroes premiered], people wanted to believe in something bigger than themselves; they wanted to believe that there was something special. The first season will forever be incredibly special to me. I thought the show started out so strong, and it kind of lost its footing over the years. But I loved playing Niki Sanders.
Noah Gray-Cabey as Micah Sanders and Ali Larter as Niki Sanders in Heroes.
You’ve said before that you’d return to play Brooke Taylor-Windham in a Legally Blonde 3. Is that still the case?
Of course. Reese [Witherspoon] is a gem. It would be so interesting to see Selma Blair and Reese and me come back together and see where our characters are in their lives.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it! I’ve seen clips. I don’t really watch my stuff. And especially with that, I…you know, it’s a character who’s not mentally stable. What she’s saying is not what she’s thinking. So that’s another role that I prepared for a lot. It was definitely more of a commercial film, but I try to always stand by my process and do the work to make sure you’re getting an eye into the complexity of the character’s world.
Was it intimidating to battle her?
It’s so absurd. It’s totally absurd. She was amazing. I mean, she was very professional on set and definitely a little bit more method. I’m not method, so as an actor, it’s different. But I think that we knew we were making entertainment. And she’s an incredible performer.
I’d be remiss not to ask about Varsity Blues. Your whipped cream bikini has become this indelible image from the turn of the millennium.
My first scene, my first movie.
There’s no way you could have known, but at any point while filming that scene did you consider, “This is going to spark a huge reaction?”
I was still very “Jersey” at that point. I was like, “Let’s go.” Very ballsy. I liked the shock value of it, and I wasn’t ever nervous about people’s reactions.
Now, yeah, it’s wild. I don’t think that anybody knew it was going to get that much attention. But I was a young actress. I’ve been put in a lot of situations that I wasn’t comfortable with in my life, and that was not one of them. I signed up, and I was definitely in for the ride.
Larter in Varsity Blues.
Decades into your career, how has your approach to on-set intimacy shifted? And what was your experience with intimacy scenes on Landman?
It’s really challenging. It’s very, very hard. I’ve had two children; I gained 50 pounds with both of them. I was like, “Okay, these scenes are coming up, and [Sheridan] hired me for this. What am I going to do to make myself feel the best?” I lived a very disciplined life to get myself to be comfortable [for intimate scenes in Landman]: If it’s 5 A.M., I’m doing a half-hour run so that I feel better about myself. I didn’t eat a lot of sugar. I didn’t eat a lot of gluten. Whether it’s an intimate scene or whether it’s a dinner scene, preparation meets where I can relax into it.
Also, we had an incredible intimacy coordinator [Mam Smith]. So it was just nice to have her there, but I felt incredibly comfortable on set. Meaning, [intimate scenes] are still so hard, but in no way did I feel objectified making this show. Not at all.
Bodysuit: Wolford. Skirt: Frame. Ring and earrings: Jenny Bird.
Looking back on the scope of your career, where do you hope to go next?
From very early on in my career, I knew that I wanted to be an artist. I knew that I wanted to express complexities and tell stories of women on the front lines. I had so many dreams. And then you start working, and you’re really just grateful for the opportunity to get to work.
It’s very rare that you get to a place in your career [in Hollywood] where you get the pick of the litter, and you get to make any movie you want. When something does connect with an audience, it’s this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and joy—because you never know when it’s going to. That’s something I will embrace, but I’m also happy to go work on the show and then go home to my children.
I love being a mom, and I love my children, and I love being there for them. I’m aware that childhood is fleeting, and then they’ll be in college, and I won’t ever regret making them the priority in my life. Sadly, the business does [punish women for becoming mothers]. So I’ve had to fight my way back every time I got pregnant. The business is tough, but you have to keep fighting if it’s something you love.
I know how special this show is. I can’t wait to go home with my kids tomorrow, and then I can’t wait to get back to Texas. It’s a special time. But I will not allow myself to give it too much weight.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Hair: David Von Cannon at A Frame Agency; makeup: Gita Bass at The Wall Group
Lead image: Top and jeans: Frame. Belt: Anderson’s. Cuffs: Jenny Bird and stylist’s own. Necklace and earrings: Demarson. Shoes: Jimmy Choo.