Ali Larter Defends Taylor Sheridan amid Criticisms of Her Landman Character Ahead of Season 2 (Exclusive)
Calling Sheridan a “provocateur,” Larter tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue why she loves that the TV mogul’s stories “make people respond” the way they do
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Fans have their opinions about the firecracker character Ali Larter plays in Landman, but she’s not bothered.
On the series, the 49-year-old actress plays Angela Norris, the flirty ex-wife of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy, who reconciled with him in season 1. Her character — who is more often than not wearing a bikini or a skintight dress when she’s onscreen — was met with criticism when the series debuted last year, both for how sexual her storyline was and for her choice of attire.
Ahead of season 2, premiering on Nov. 16, Larter tells PEOPLE she has ultimate faith in creator Taylor Sheridan.
“Taylor is a provocateur,” she says in this week’s issue. “He loves to write characters that make people respond, that initiate a reaction, a feeling. And I think that what’s incredible about our show, and a lot of the shows that Taylor makes, is that they’re all wildly original and authentic to themselves.”
The boundary-pushing nature of his storytelling is “really exciting,” says Larter, who loves that Angela “beats to her own tune.”
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“It’s incredible how Taylor made oil fascinating, and the landscape,” she continues of the series, which is based on the 2019 Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown, and explores Tommy’s life as a landman navigating the tricky and dangerous real-life politics of oil.
Larter adds, “You would never know that — this is why he’s such a genius — you would never know on paper that this show would be so riveting or so many people would love it, different generations of people who live in different places. That they find a connection to it, I think, is super fascinating.”
For more on Ali Larter, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.
From the actress’ perspective, Angela’s story in season 1 was one of romance. “You’re watching this woman leave a life behind of luxury, leave a life of comfort behind, because she’s gotten to the age and to the point in her life where she wants to be with the person she loves. And she wants to laugh.”
“Being able to kind of create that arc and weave that into the first season was really interesting and fun to be able to do,” she says of her and Thornton’s less-than-traditional on-screen love story.
She also identifies with the “fierce mama bear” that Angela is. “That’s a through line. I would move heaven and earth for my children,” Larter says, referring to her own kids, Teddy, 14, and Vivienne, 10, whom she shares with husband Hayes MacArthur.
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Larter and Angela also share an “incredible love of cooking and food.” Larter says Sheridan, 55, ended up infusing her real-life skill into Angela — who is passionate about her nightly family dinners.
“Taylor started really pushing that after I was cast for the role,” Larter says. “I joked with him that during COVID, I was making Michelin-star Bento boxes for [my kids’] lunch.”
Like her on-screen family, Larter aims to have “family dinner three nights a week” with her kids. “It’s not fancy. It’s just the fact that I really feel like sitting down with people that you love and breaking bread and talking about your day. It can be 10 minutes. It’s that kind of grounding moment that I really believe in as a mother.”
For Angela, on the other hand, family dinner is “more about the antics that come with it,” says Larter. “Angela’s doing it to show her worth to her family.”
Landman season 2 premieres Nov. 16 on Paramount+
