Television

Way before ‘Legally Blond’ and ‘Varsity Blues’: Ali Larter reveals how she got started in show biz

Before her breakout roles, Larter says an unexpected modeling gig for the Phillies opened the door to her entire acting career.

Lisi Niesner

Roddy Cons

Scottish sports journalist and content creator. After running his own soccer-related projects, in 2022 he joined Diario AS, where he mainly reports on the biggest news from around Europe’s leading soccer clubs, Liga MX and MLS, and covers live games in a not-too-serious tone. Likes to mix things up by dipping into the world of American sports.

Update: Nov 16th, 2025 12:11 EST

The second season of “Landman” premieres on Sunday, November 16, which means Ali Larter, along with Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore, will be thrust back into the limelight. Larter is already more than used to that, of course, thanks to her roles in high-profile movies and TV series.

From an Esquire hoax to Hollywood

Larter’s 1996 casting as fictional model Allegra Coleman in an Esquire magazine hoax eventually catapulted her onto both the small and big screens. Her professional acting debut came the following year, starting with a minor role in “Suddenly Susan,” starring Brooke Shields.

Larter’s film breakthrough in “Varsity Blues” will forever be remembered for her whipped cream “bikini” scene, although she later established herself as a scream queen thanks to her performances in “House on Haunted Hill” and, in particular, the “Final Destination” franchise.

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Comedy, thrillers and “Heroes”

In the 2000s, the New Jersey native appeared in several movies, including comedies “Legally Blonde,” “A Lot Like Love,” and “Marigold,” as well as the political thriller “Obsessed.” By the time she appeared in the latter two, Larter had achieved wider recognition thanks to NBC drama “Heroes,” which she starred in from 2006 to 2010.

A step back and a TV return

After taking a break from the spotlight, during which she and her husband, Hayes MacArthur, welcomed two children in 2010 and 2015, Larter’s main roles came in short-lived Fox drama “Pitch” and as a recurring character in ABC’s “The Rookie.”

The Phillies commercial that changed everything

But her career may have taken a completely different path had fate not intervened. In a recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Larter revealed she had been hired to model in a commercial for the Philadelphia Phillies after a scout spotted her in the street.

“Someone came up to me, I was with my mom. I grew up in Cherry Hill, which is 10 minutes from Philly. Someone came up to me and they asked me to be in a Philadelphia Phillies commercial. I got there, I had to be in a bikini. I was very young. I was 13, maybe 14. I had to go up to a lifeguard and give him a couple of tickets to see if he’d be my date for a Phillies game.”

“It pretty much started there. Then I got a rep in Philly doing small things and then that led to me going to New York and starting to work in New York. It kind of led me into everything, my whole destiny and future. It started with the Phillies.”

As “Landman” season 2 arrives, Larter’s story is a reminder that sometimes all it takes is one unexpected moment to spark a career that had never been on the horizon.