Ali Larter Reveals What Taylor Sheridan Texts Her About While Writing “Landman ”(Exclusive)

Deirdre DurkanFri, April 17, 2026 at 8:28 PM UTC

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Ali Larter; Taylor SheridanCredit: Kayla Oaddams/WireImage; Brian Friedman/Shutterstock -

Ali Larter says Taylor Sheridan texts her while working on Landman

The actress spoke with PEOPLE about her work on the series, which airs on Paramount+

Larter also teased deeper moments ahead for Angela, including more insight into her past in Big Spring, Texas

Ali Larter is giving fans a peek behind the curtain of Landman, including the hilarious way creator Taylor Sheridan lets her in on his writing process.

Speaking with PEOPLE during a Landman screening event at the Saban Media Center in Hollywood on Thursday, April 16, the actress revealed the moments when Sheridan is likely to send her a text.

“I just know I’ll get a text from him, like, when he’s writing… if he’s laughing at his own writing… I’ll get a text,” Larter says.

The Paramount+ drama, which debuted in 2024, follows the high-stakes world of the oil industry through the eyes of powerful figures navigating business, family and personal conflict. Larter stars as Angela Norris, the fiercely independent wife of Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, a character who refuses to conform to expectations.

“I love it,” Larter, 50, says of playing Angela. “Because I think, I think most moms feel that way… Angela does not like, you know, she doesn’t do societal norms. She’s going to do whatever she wants.”

Ali Larter in 'Landman'Credit: Emerson Miller/Paramount+

That unpredictability is something viewers got an immediate taste of this season. “I love that we opened on a wild, crazy family dinner that’s unpredictable and terribly fun for the audience to watch,” she says of season 2. “And then we really started to dig into the heart of what the season was going to be about.”

Part of what makes the series resonate, Larter explains, is the natural chemistry among the cast — something she and Thornton built from the very beginning.

“You know, I think that we built our house the first season… we just started really digging in… we all spent time together, and we found it,” she says. “And we just kind of bleed that into our characters in certain moments.”

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As the story continues to evolve, she's eager to go even deeper into Angela and Tommy’s relationship. Larter shares that she "loved the finale so much" and hopes she has "some of those kind of real deep moments between Tommy and Angela" moving forward.

While Sheridan has a famously clear vision for the series, Larter says there’s still room for actors to explore within that framework, even if the scripts themselves remain largely unchanged.

“I mean, you know, the first season, I spent a ton of time with Taylor,” she said during the panel discussion on Thursday. “He has a very clear vision of what he wants… and he is a visionary because when he is writing the scripts, he knows how he’s going to edit them.”

“And so it’s always understanding. You want to advocate for your character… but then there’s the world of where that fits in the story that he wants to tell,” she added. “I think he’s brilliant at it.”

That balance between structure and freedom is what allows Larter to fully inhabit Angela. “There’s space on set,” she added. “There’s times where I sometimes read something and I think… we often are thinking about something different than what we’re saying. I think there’s so many ways to add these feelings and moments to a character you’re playing when you’re living in this kind of free environment that we feel as actors on our set.”

Still, she said with a laugh, there are limits. “No, I don’t get to change the lines.”

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All episodes of Landman are streaming on Paramount+.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”