Ahead of this weekend’s Season 1 finale of Landman, series star Ali Larter stopped by TVLine’s New York studios for a chat. Topic Number 1? #Justice4Angela, the brash, brassy, call-’em-as-she-sees-’em broad Larter plays on the Paramount+ drama.
Angela was introduced in the series premiere as the ex-wife of Tommy Norris (played by Billy Bob Thornton), seen only in haranguing FaceTime calls. But as the season progressed, and she showed up in person at Tommy’s place in Midland, Texas, she was revealed to be a very flawed yet deeply loving woman looking for a second chance with her former husband.
She went about that do-over with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball, though, redecorating Tommy’s rental home (that he shares with two roommates) and demanding that everyone partake of her elaborate family dinners. In the season’s penultimate episode, Tommy basically told her that she could do whatever she likes, as long as she doesn’t expect to be appreciated for it. (Go here for a full recap.)
I didn’t love Tommy’s take on Angela’s contributions, so that’s where we picked up as soon as Larter was seated.
“You know what is so wild?” she says in the video above. “When you go into a series and you have a character that is this complicated, she is complex, she’s an emotional tornado, and when she’s introduced on a show, you don’t really know where it’s going. Because Taylor [Sheridan, series creator] has this magical way of bringing something in and then catching you. And so, he kept me on the FaceTimes, and then you see her emerge in all her glory in the third episode, but then you really watch her break.”
Indeed, beneath Angela’s bluster and bustiers lies a woman who’s estranged from her son and longing for something real — even though she knows full well that life with Tommy isn’t the easiest road.
“It’s been really great to have all these episodes air and have the response from so many women, which has been incredible that they see it,” she adds. “They love the clothes and jewelry, but they also really understand that this woman is almost, like, she’s the reverse-engineer of a trophy wife. She’s going back to her roots and the man that she loves — and still she likes to be sexy and she likes a good meal, you know?”
Landman‘s Season 1 finale streams Sunday on Paramount+ and includes an Angela/Tommy moment that Larter calls “one of my favorite scenes in the whole show.” Until then, press PLAY on the video above to hear everything Larter has to say about Angela, Tommy, their kids, paella and more.