Ali Larter Admits She Hates Shooting Landman Bikini Scenes: ‘The Hardest for Me’ (Exclusive)
“Nobody wants to do it,” Larter, 49, tells PEOPLE of the vulnerable on-screen moments
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NEED TO KNOW
- Ali Larter’s Landman character Angela is a confident housewife — and one who is more often than not either in a skin-tight outfit or a swimsuit
- Larter, 49, isn’t afraid to admit that it’s “tough, in a weird way” filming those swimsuit scenes
- “I don’t think there’s an actress alive that’s like, ‘Woo! Got a bikini scene!’ ” she tells PEOPLE
Ali Larter looks incredible on Landman, but she doesn’t always have fun while doing it.
Scenes that involve her wearing a bikini are “tough, in a weird way,” she says, and playing Angela, the confident housewife to Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton), requires quite a lot of those bikini moments.
“I don’t think there’s an actress alive that’s like, ‘Woo! Got a bikini scene!’ ” Larter, 49, tells PEOPLE. “Nobody wants to do it.”
“Those are the hardest for me. I don’t enjoy them. It’s just part of the story that I’m telling, and I’m an actress, so I get on board. But those are definitely my least favorite.”
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Angela is a character that Larter says is “so physical and loves the spray tans, and the blonde,” which leads to a lot of work on her end “staying in shape for this role and all that comes with it.”
“But no matter what, it’s like, I’ve got to spend all this time fighting off my own insecurities, my own anxiety, to be able to put on that bikini and walk into these scenes,” she says candidly.
Ahead of the premiere of season 2 in November, Larter opened up to PEOPLE about how hard she works to stay in shape for the series. “I work really hard, okay? I’m not pretending that I don’t,” she said.
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“I’m up at 4:30 [a.m.] on Mondays. I go for a run. It’s only 30 minutes,” she said, as well as “a lot of strength training.”
“I try to eat very clean, but I eat. I’m one of those protein mommies. I eat so much protein, all day long. It works for me.”
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No matter how hard she works, the Legally Blonde alum said, “In the end, anytime you have to put on a bathing suit and walk in front of anybody, it’s really difficult.”
“When I look around, the sexiest women I know are the women that own it,” she continued. “So part of getting there with Angela is owning it.”
But there’s “no space in my mind for insecurity” when she’s channeling her character. “I’m not allowing any of that into my space when I play Angela. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I allowed insecurity to creep in.”
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Larter’s favorite Landman scenes look a little different than her bikini moments.
“My favorite is when I get to have a real, honest quiet exchange between Tommy and Angela,” she says. “I just love that. And I love the old folks!”
Landman seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Paramount+
