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Ali Larter is reminiscing about one of her first acting jobs ever — as Capeside High’s most popular girl on Dawson’s Creek.
Speaking to PEOPLE for an exclusive interview ahead of the second season of Paramount+ series Landman, Larter, 49, said she was a fan of the show even prior to joining the cast.
“That was one of my first jobs with Josh [Jackson],” Larter, who portrayed cheerleader Kristy Livingstone on the show’s second season (a role that was later recast), told PEOPLE.
She continued: “I was a fan when I went on it. I was really excited. I was also really green. My first job.”
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Larter added that she was still learning the ropes even while filming one of her most notable roles — as Darcy in the hit teen 1999 sports drama, Varsity Blues.
“Even going into Varsity Blues, I was just learning this industry,” Larter told PEOPLE. “I spent so much in my twenties in different acting studios with different acting coaches, learning the different processes, and taking little bits of each thing to put into my toolbox that as I got more and more experience, I knew where to draw from. It was just sweet. It was a great kickoff.”
Varsity Blues saw Larter star alongside another Dawson’s Creek alum — James Van Der Beek, who played high school quarterback Mox. In one of the most famous scenes, Larter’s character tries to seduce Van Der Beek’s wearing nothing but a whipped cream bikini.
Elsewhere in her interview with PEOPLE, Larter noted that the film “is what began it all, and it was a really feel good movie.”
“I think it was a simpler time in a way and I think that, again, it was a feel good movie, but I love that even for Darcy, I was able to show her vulnerability,” Larter said of her character in the movie. “This was a girl who was trying to find her way out and then you see her deeply embarrassed and crying over the choices that she’s made for herself as a young girl.”
Larter currently stars as Angela Norris in Landman – created by Taylor Sheridan – which exploded on Paramount+ in November 2024, becoming the platform’s biggest premiere in two years. The TV drama dives deep into the gritty, high-stakes world of the Texas oil industry, drawing inspiration from the acclaimed Boomtown podcast.
