The Celebrity Face

Alison Elizabeth "Ali" Larter (born February 28, 1976) is a Saturn Awards-nominated American actress and former fashion model best known for her screen roles aimed at teenage audiences. Larter is currently starring on the hit television series Heroes. She has also had roles in successful Hollywood films including, Varsity Blues (1999), House on Haunted Hill (1999), Final Destination (2000), Legally Blonde (2001), and most recently Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).

Career

In November 1996, Larter portrayed the hoax model Allegra Coleman in Esquire magazine. The article published in the magazine told of the fictional model’s relationship with David Schwimmer, how Quentin Tarantino broke up with Mira Sorvino to date her, and Woody Allen’s overhaul of a film to have her star. Even after the hoax had been revealed, its effects lingered, and various talent agencies sought to represent the non-existent Coleman.

Larter landed her first professional roles in 1997, in which she appeared for one episode in the Brooke Shields’ television series, Suddenly Susan, and the short lived television series Chicago Sons. The roles were followed by a number of other appearances on Dawson’s Creek with James Van Der Beek, Chicago Hope and Just Shoot Me!

In 1999, Larter began her film career with an appearance in Varsity Blues which re-united her with Dawson’s Creek star Van Der Beek, and close friend Amy Smart. Varsity Blues drew a domestic box office gross of $53 million, making Larter’s first film a commercial success. Larters’ most infamous scene was one with her wearing nothing but whip cream (aka whip cream bikini) in attempts to seduce Van Der Beek’s character. Afterwards, Larter appeared in teen comedies, Giving It Up and Drive Me Crazy. That year as well, Larter starred in the horror remake House on Haunted Hill. Made for around $20 million, the movie was panned by the critics but grossed $15 million on its opening weekend and went on to earn over $40 million.

In 2000, Larter starred in the teenage audience aimed horror film Final Destination as the "final girl" Clear Rivers. The following year in 2001, she appeared in the comedy Legally Blonde with Reese Witherspoon, western American Outlaws with Colin Farrell and the Kevin Smith film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. That year as well, Larter performed in the stage play The Vagina Monologues in New York City. The next year in 2002, Larter was ranked #40 in Stuff magazine’s "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2003, Larter reprised her role as Clear Rivers in the sequel to Final Destination, Final Destination 2. In 2005, Larter appeared in the independent film Confess and the romantic comedy A Lot Like Love alongside Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher.

2006 saw Larter in the biographical film Crazy based on guitarist Hank Garland. As of September 2006, Larter has been portraying Niki Sanders on the NBC Emmy Award-nominated science fiction drama television series Heroes, created by Tim Kring. The show includes an ensemble cast including Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Leonard Roberts, Masi Oka and Greg Grunberg. Larter’s character Niki Sanders, who is a wife and mother, is a former internet stripper from Las Vegas who exhibits superhuman strength and an alternate personality who goes by the name of Jessica. After completing half its first season, Heroes had already collected an assortment of honors and accolades, and Larter had been nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" for the 33rd Saturn Awards.

In 2007, Larter starred in the Bollywood Marigold as the title character alongside Salman Khan, which was released in August. She also joined the cast of the popular film franchise Resident Evil: Extinction portraying the character Claire Redfield in the horror film with Milla Jovovich. Her role sent her to Mexicali, Mexico for filming from May to late July in which she also dyed her hair a light red for the film. Larter explains on her character Claire, "She became the leader of this convoy. She’s incredibly strong, patient. I think she serves a role for everyone within this convoy, let it be a mother to someone, a buddy, a best friend." Larter also attended the 2007 Comic Con International, her second appearance at the event, to promote the film, which was released in theaters on September 21, 2007. This year as well, she will appear in the comedy Homo Erectus. Larter was also featured as #6 in Maxim’s Hot 100 for 2007.

In an interview for Resident Evil: Extinction, Larter had expressed interest in producing films in the future, saying, "I definitely have many ideas and different avenues that I want to take as my career goes on."

Larter has been revealed to be part of the cast of When Angels Fall, a film where 7 demons, each representing one of the deadly sins, are unleashed upon the world and enact their biblical vengeance for being banished to a prison-like dimension, it has been revealed that she will play Lustacia, the queen of lust and seduction.

In March 2008, it was announced that Larter would star opposite Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba in the Screen Gems-produced film Obsessed, about an office worker (Elba) whose marriage to Knowles’ character is threatened by the aggressive interests of a co-worker, to be portrayed by Larter. Shooting is expected to begin Summer 2008.

Personal life

Ali Larter was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the daughter of Margaret, a homemaker, and Danforth Larter, a trucking executive. She attended Carusi Middle School and Cherry Hill High School West. She began modeling with Ford Models at the age of fourteen and traveled the world. At seventeen, Larter settled temporarily in Japan. A year later, in 1995, she accompanied her boyfriend in his move to Los Angeles, California. Soon after, she began taking acting classes, at a friend’s suggestion.

Larter is best friends with actress Amy Smart with whom she co-starred in Varsity Blues and Erick Alegria a Former Sam’s Kid. The two had previously been roommates before pursuing acting careers. Larter has also lived in Miami and then New York City after the spring of 2002. In January 2007, she moved to Los Angeles to take on the commitment of working on Heroes.

Larter is currently engaged to her longtime boyfriend, actor Hayes MacArthur.

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Ali Larter talks Heroes season 2

We’ll have to wait until September to find out what happens next on Heroes but the cast has been back at work throughout the summer for our entertainment. Many of them came to NBC’s annual summer press party to tease the upcoming episodes. Ali Larter looked more glamorous than any human being should with short shorts revealing most of her bronzed legs. Luckily you don’t have to be distracted by that while you read this interview.

CraveOnline: Where are you at in the season? How many have you read?

Ali Larter: We are shooting the third right now and they’re amazing. They’re introducing new characters. The writers on our show are so creative and they just are unleashed I feel like in the writer’s room, so it’s great.

CraveOnline: How are things between Nikki and D.L. now?

Ali Larter: They are interesting. They’re interesting. You’re going to find a lot out this year about their past and what happened.

CraveOnline: Will the Nikki/Jessica dynamic continue at all?

Ali Larter: They’re coming into one character. It’s only Nikki and I think the writers are so smart on this show that they really looked at what worked and what didn’t. To be able to focus on the one character is I think going to be the best move.

CraveOnline: How is the work different this year, only playing one character?

Ali Larter: I really am enjoying it. We went down a lot of different roads last year and it was really creative for me that I got to do those scenes where I was in jail and some of the stuff with my son. Playing Jessica, some of the stunt stuff, I feel like I actually jumped through genres at times within the season last year. So I think it was really fun. I think we took risks and chances. I think some worked. I think some didn’t. I think this year, the writers are going to look at all that and focus it. I think it’ll be great.

CraveOnline: How difficult was that to shift in mid scene?

Ali Larter: That was one of the fun challenges that I was talking about being scared of. It could have looked like a soap opera. Not that soap operas are bad but in my work, I try to go for a little bit more realism. So it was challenging but it was such a great year all around, honestly, I feel like most of the cast must be saying that. We were all pushed different ways creatively. The response that we had in the States and around the world is just incredible.

CraveOnline: What do you want to see happen for Nikki?

Ali Larter: You know what? What I love about the show is when they let the characters breathe. I love the action packed side of it but I like the dialogue. I’m an actor so I love the dialogue. I love just moments that you can have between actors so I just hope that there’s always room for that within all the

CraveOnline: Have they told you where the character will go?

Ali Larter: Yes. I’ve heard a little bit La Femme Nikita.

CraveOnline: Are you happy about that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I’m happy about most things they give me on the show. What’s different about television for me because it’s my first show, I’m used to a film where you have a beginning, middle and an end, and with this, once they get to know you, they kind of find your strengths, the things that maybe you’re not so great at and focus on it. So I’m excited to see where they’re going but I’m not past script three.

CraveOnline: What was your reaction to the final episode when Hiro went back in time?

Ali Larter: It was shocking an amazing but if we can do that stuff and push the envelope of what you can see right now on television, how great. Let’s keep doing it. I hope that the show keeps taking risks, risks that don’t always work but that’s going to be something fresh.

CraveOnline: What do you think worked and didn’t work last year?

Ali Larter: I don’t look at it as much in the realm of the show as I look at things that challenged me and that I feel like I was able to do to the best of my ability.

CraveOnline: Are more you confident playing the character now after a successful first year?

Ali Larter: Absolutely not. I think the day that happens, I’ll hand in my card. A part of for me, is not being sure and always trying to figure it out. That’s what I hope I always feel for a lifetime in this industry.

CraveOnline: Is this the role you’re the most proud of so far?

Ali Larter: I guess you could say that. They gave me some cool stuff to do and I didn’t work for a couple years and I really had some life experience and I’m a woman now, so I think that there’s more complicated things that I’ve been through in my life and I’m able to put that into my work. I think things just get more interesting as you get older.

CraveOnline: Do you do any training because of the show or for the show?

Ali Larter: I think we’re going to be getting into a little of that. I haven’t yet. That’s the hard thing about television too, you don’t have enough leeway. They don’t really have things locked until days before sometimes. On film you really have the chance to learn a different language if you need to or you have that couple months to really get in shape.

CraveOnline: How do you do it without a trainer?

Ali Larter: You go for it. Absolutely. I will jam it into three days if I have to, absolutely because coming from the film world, there’s a certain expectation I have of myself.

CraveOnline: What is different about being back this year?

Ali Larter: I just think everything’s on a grander scale. I think that’s most of all, we made it, we got it. Now let’s just try to hold onto the integrity of what made it so special.

CraveOnline: What seems grander? Tim said the budget isn’t bigger.

Ali Larter: Well, there are different actors coming on so they’re introducing different storylines. For me, it just feels that way. Everything feels just a little bit bigger.

CraveOnline: Does Nikki still have Jessica’s strength?

Ali Larter: That is something that is definitely being explored second season.

CraveOnline: What have you done over the summer?

Ali Larter: Well, we only had about four weeks off and I spent that time with my nephews outside of Indianapolis. That was amazing to see how fast the kids grow. I got a chance to go to Hawaii which was amazing and now we’re back at work. So it goes like this, bop, bop, bop.

CraveOnline: You didn’t want to do a movie? Just rest?

Ali Larter: You know what? We didn’t have enough time off to really get anything going. With films, you need really about two to three months and even if you’re doing small parts, they still want to hold you for a certain amount of time and it just didn’t work out this year with the show, but small, small price to pay.

CraveOnline: How do you keep your fantastic movie star body?

Ali Larter: Aw, please. You’re just being sweet. I’m at the gym. Nothing comes for free.

CraveOnline: You took a few years off before Heroes. Are you different now because of that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I feel really lucky that I did take a couple years to live in New York and just step away from the business to define myself without the pressures of this industry. It worked out for me. I’m so lucky in getting Heroes. I wasn’t sure I was going to get anything again so it was a time in my life that was filled with a lot of not insecurity and not indecision but instability maybe you could say within my career.

CraveOnline: Does Hollywood see you differently now that you’re back and in Heroes?

Ali Larter: I don’t know. You’d have to tell me that. I don’t know.

CraveOnline: Where are you going on the Heroes world tour?

Ali Larter: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

CraveOnline: Have you been there before?

Ali Larter: Yes, yes, yes, and I lived in Tokyo just before I turned 18 and it was amazing, so it will be very interesting to go back.

CraveOnline: Do you speak the language?

Ali Larter: Conichiwa, arigato. That’s about it.

CraveOnline: You can learn from Masi.

Ali Larter: Yes, I’m so excited to go with him. Masi, Sendhil, Greg and Tim.

CraveOnline: What does your family think of the show and the character?

Ali Larter: They love the show, they love my character. My sister calls it straight to me. She wants to see certain things but for her, I’ve been in the business for a while so she’s just excited that I’m happy. original

Filmography

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Actresses, Models. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.