Ali Larter says Taylor Sheridan’s Landman has pushed her to the next level, and the timing could hardly be better. The Paramount+ drama is now poised for its first Emmy nominations, with best drama series and best supporting actress in a drama series among the possible nods for Larter and the show.
Larter is the guest on the 650th episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, where she talked about playing Angela Norris and about how the role changed the way she sees her career. The recognition follows an earlier best ensemble in a drama series Actor Award nomination for the show’s second season, a sign that Landman has moved into the kind of awards conversation that can turn a hit into a career marker.
That matters for Larter because she said Landman arrived after she and her family relocated from L.A. to Idaho, just before the series came along. She described the moment as a lift after a career that has stretched across 30 years, two Final Destination films, three Resident Evil films, House on Haunted Hill, Varsity Blues, Legally Blonde, Heroes and Obsessed. Larter said the series raised her to the next level, and that is not the kind of line an actor uses lightly when she has already spent so long working.
Her own account of that career still carries a hard edge. Larter said, “I always will think of myself as a working actor who’s had extraordinary triumphs and a lot of dry spells.” That kind of candor matters because it cuts against the easy story of a clean rise. Landman may be her breakout turn, but it is landing in a life that has had more turns than a comeback montage.
She also looked back at the November 1996 Esquire cover that made her famous as Allegra Coleman, a hoax that she said opened the door to her manager. Larter said the joke was that people believed it because nobody read the longform piece, and she has spent the years since building a resume that kept her in the game long enough for a role like Angela Norris to matter this much.
There was also personal grief in the conversation. Larter spoke about James Van Der Beek, calling him unbelievably talented and saying she is devastated by his loss. But the industry story now is Landman, and the next step is straightforward: if Emmy voters follow the momentum, Sheridan’s series could turn a strong awards run into first nominations for both the show and Larter herself.
