At 49, Ali Larter loves playing a woman 'so alive in her body' on 'Landman.' And, yes, she works hard for those bikini scenes.

Ali Larter has been many things to many people: a Y2K bombshell, a Final Destination survivor/scream queen . She's also been a symbol of what Hollywood wanted women to be: confident, sexy, a little dangerous. But the woman sitting here now isn’t chasing anyone’s idea of her as she approaches 50.

"I'm at this place where I'm old enough to know the mistakes I've made. I'm old enough to know how I want to carry myself through the world — and I'm old enough to know how lucky I am to be in this moment again," Larter tells me during our conversation for Yahoo’s Unapologetically series.

That moment — of being at the center of something no one can stop talking about — is courtesy of Landman , Taylor Sheridan’s hit series that dives into the high-stakes world of Texas oil. Larter plays Angela Norris, Billy Bob Thornton’s onscreen love interest and a woman who refuses to shrink herself to fit anyone’s expectations. She’s bold, sensual and complicated — a wife and mother who is as unafraid of desire as she is of confrontation.

“I love getting to play someone who’s that free," Larter. says. "She’s so alive in her body.”

That freedom, though, doesn’t come without vulnerability. Anyone who watched the first season knows Angela embraces her sexuality. Season 2, streaming now on Prime Video, picks up right where it left off. Angela loves a bikini moment, and while Larter brings that same assured energy to the role, she admits it still takes some work to feel that free.

“Of course, you don’t always want to put on a bathing suit and walk onto a set with 300 people there,” the actress admits. “But I’ve done so much preparation for this role that by the time we’re filming, it just rolls off me.”

While Larter says she’s always been confident — this is the woman from the iconic Varsity Blues whipped-cream bikini scene, after all — that kind of self-assuredness looks different at midlife. It’s less about performance now and more about peace.

“If there’s one thing I wish I knew in my 20s, it’s to love what makes you different and unique,” she says. “Go find yourself and know how beautiful that is.”

Finding herself meant getting out of the noise. Today she lives in Idaho with her husband of 16 years, actor Hayes MacArthur, and their two children, son Teddy, who turns 15 next month, and 10-year-old daughter Vivienne.

Here Larter opens up about midlife sensuality, the confidence that comes with age and the grounding force of motherhood.

How does this stage of your career compare with earlier eras of your life?

There's a complexity to my life and being a mother. With each decade, you go through many peaks and valleys within your career and your family life.

Working on a character I love with a crew and cast that’s exceptional and to have audiences respond to it ... you don’t always get that. Sometimes people love [your show], but it’s horrible to make. Other times, you’ve got the bad apples on set. So right now, I’m just living in an incredible amount of gratitude for all of it.

Are you as confident as Angela? What parts of her resonate with you most?

I’d say I’m a confident person. I started working at 13, and my mom would drive me up the New Jersey Turnpike to New York for auditions. Early on, I learned how much rejection comes with being in the public eye. That journey taught me that rejection actually builds confidence because your worth isn’t defined by someone else’s opinion.

Angela, though, lives life without rules. I’m a rule follower. I love cops, I love firemen; I do what I’m told. I’ll walk right up to the line, but I don’t cross it. There’s no line for Angela, and I love getting to play someone that free. She’s so alive in her body.

And we both love to cook. We both make a mean bolognese.

Some viewers have had strong opinions about how female characters are portrayed in the Sheridan-verse. As someone who lives with the material, what’s your perspective on that conversation?

I think there’s space for many different characters in film and television. What I get to do with Angela is bring an authentic version of a woman from West Texas and show her roots. She’s reverse-engineered as the trophy wife. She’s leaving that world behind to go back to the man and family she loves. You don’t always see that.

What’s essential is that Taylor’s writing for women in their prime. We don’t expire. We don't decide we can’t wear a sexy dress just because of our age. You should be able to show up however you feel. That’s empowering for me to play.

It might not be the version a certain viewer prefers, but most of the people who come up to me about the show are women — and they love her.

Often women are told they have to choose: be powerful or be desirable. Do you feel like that’s changing — or are we, as women, still fighting that double standard?

I think it’s fascinating that what’s often depicted on TV and in movies is that you stop being intimate when you reach your late 40s. That’s wild to me.

The conversation should be flipped, because what’s actually organic and normal — what makes relationships thrive — is maintaining that chemistry. You’re still a woman.

When you read a script and see a scene that requires nudity, how do you prepare mentally?

I always speak with my husband first. He’s my rock, and he’s also an actor, so he understands this business. For me, it comes down to whether the scene needs it.

In Season 1, I have a scene in Episode 3 where I’m bare, but it makes the moment more vulnerable. It’s a woman using her chemistry to try to win back her ex-husband — and then she finds out her daughter doesn’t want to live with her anymore. You see her crumble.

When nudity is done organically and truthfully, it has purpose. When it’s gratuitous, that’s a different story.

How about physically? Does your fitness and wellness routine change? When you posted that red bikini photo from set, it set the internet ablaze.

Honestly, it’s the least interesting thing about me! But, yes, I posted it because I work really hard. I’m not someone who's like: "Yeah, I wake up and do this, and I get to eat pizza and have bottles of red wine." I don't get to do that when I'm filming.

When I’m off, I enjoy life. I was just in Italy with my family, eating pasta and drinking wine. But when I’m working, I’m up an hour and a half before my call time, no matter what. I’ll work out for 20 to 30 minutes, and if I have a day off, I’ll do a 30-minute jog and 30 minutes of heavy strength training.

Strength training has changed my body the most. I’m so much stronger in my core now. And I eat a lot of protein: turkey bacon, egg whites, salmon, chicken, greens. Not fun but effective.

Before social media, you’d already created moments people couldn’t stop talking about — 1999's Varsity Blues scene, among them. Did that experience prepare you to embrace your sexuality later in life?

No, I think I’ve always loved wounded women. Women are complex. Sometimes our behavior stems from something we’re longing for.

For me, it’s about figuring out a character’s wants and desires and feeding that into the role. With Darcy [her character in Varsity Blues ], she thought using her sexuality could change her lot in life — it was a young, naive move. But as an actor, I saw a girl trying to win someone over and then breaking down afterward.

I’ve had the gift of playing women who put themselves out there and also the embarrassment that can come after. Not shame — just the desire to change your life. And that looks different for everyone.

I think all the women I play have fierce strength. Whether they’re making the right choices or not isn’t up to me, but they start with power and conviction.

I always make sure to show the vulnerability too — the insecurities — because that’s what makes a person whole. I’ve been so lucky that people still love these characters. That’s part of the joy of this industry.

You mentioned this new complexity in your life after becoming a mom. How has motherhood shaped your sense of self and the work you're drawn to?

My moral compass comes from my children. Before I left for this [press] trip, I told them, “You’re my number one. Everything else comes second.”

I think it’s put everything in perspective in my life … you can really get lost in the pressures of this industry and the ups and downs of it. My husband and our children ground me. They’re my dream come true — the thing I always wanted most.

Do you let your kids watch your shows or movies?

My little one’s 10 — she doesn’t get Landman yet. My son is almost 15, and we started to watch the first episode, but he said, “No, I don’t want to.” It’s probably harder for him because of the subject matter.

But he did tell me, “Mom, I’m really proud of you.” And I’ve talked to them about how lucky I am to be able to be a mother and to also live my dreams. I am a working mother, and there are definitely challenges that come with that. I can’t always be at every single thing, but when I’m available, I’m there 100%.

And I think that to be able to set that example for my children — to know that they can be a parent and they can also work — and also, people need to work. It’s not like this luxury where it’s just “I can just kick up my heels and never work again.” Like, we need to work.

You’ve built a life with your family in Idaho, far from the Hollywood hustle. How has that changed you as a woman, mom and artist?

Never in a million years did I think I’d live in Idaho, but life changes. We went for a couple of months, and it just kept unfolding. It felt like the right move for our family.

When we went back to L.A., my husband and I rolled the dice. We said, “We’ll get on planes when we need to.” We wanted to put our family first.

We love raising our kids there — they’re kind of free-range. My daughter can take the bus on her own. It’s small and safe, and it’s building the kind of character we want for them — patience, kindness, love of nature — and knowing that’s a place to return to when life gets hard.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.