“The Hardest for Me” (Exclusive)

Ali Larter looks great in Landman, but she doesn’t always have fun while doing it.

She says the bikini scenes are “difficult in a weird way,” but playing Angela, a confident housewife to Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton), requires quite a few bikini moments.

“I don’t think there’s an actress alive who’s like, ‘Wow, there’s a bikini scene!'” Larter, 49, told People. “Nobody wants to do it.”

“Those are the hardest things for me. I don’t enjoy them. It’s just part of the story I tell, and I’m a part of it because I’m an actress. But they’re definitely my least favorite.”

Larter says that Angela is a character who is “very physical, loves spray tans and blondes,” so she goes to great lengths to “stay in shape for this role and everything that comes with it.”

“But I feel like no matter what, I have to spend all this time fighting my own insecurities, my own insecurities, in order to put on a bikini and go into a scene like this,” she says candidly.

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Ahead of the Season 2 premiere in November, Larter opened up to PEOPLE about how hard she’s been working to stay in shape for the series. “I work really hard, okay? I’m not pretending I’m not working,” she said.

“On Mondays, I wake up at 4:30 a.m. and go for a run, just for 30 minutes,” she said, adding that she also continues to do strength training.

“I try to eat clean, but I do eat. I’m one of those protein moms. I eat a lot of protein throughout the day. That’s what works for me.”

No matter how hard you work, the Legally Blonde alum said, “At the end of the day, any time you have to walk in front of someone in a swimsuit, it’s really hard.”

“When I look around, the sexiest women I know are women who own themselves,” she continued. “So part of getting there with Angela is owning it.”

But when she expresses her character, “there’s no room for insecurity in my heart.” “When I play Angela, I can’t bring things like that into my space. I can’t do that if I allow anxiety to creep in.”

Larter’s favorite Landman scenes look a little different than her bikini moments.

“My favorite part is when we get to have these really honest, quiet conversations between Tommy and Angela,” she says. “I love it. And I love older people!”
Landman seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Paramount+