Why star ditched Hollywood for country life

Legally Blonde and Heroes actor Ali Larter has revealed why she and her family quit LA in favour of a much quieter life.

Ali Larter’s family is flourishing in Idaho.

The Landman star told Fox News Digital that her family left for the Northwest from Los Angeles during the start of the pandemic, and they just never left.

“If it was a conscious choice, I would never have believed that it was, you know, it was during Covid and our kids’ schools were shut down, and so we just went for two months,” she explained this week. “We were like, OK, we’ll go ski.”

Larter and actor husband Hayes MacArthur share two children: daughter Vivienne, 9, and son Theodore, 3.

“My daughter was in kindergarten … It was just a complete – it was a terrible time,” she continued.

She said they went back to Los Angeles over the summer before deciding to make the move.

“We’re like, ‘Let’s give it a go,’ and we were really, really lucky to find an amazing community there,” the 48-year-old said. “And we really, really responded to the ethos of that town. It’s a simpler life with really generous people, and there’s an accountability when you live in a small town that we really loved raising our children in.”

Larter during the Landman Guild Screening in NYC earlier this month. Picture: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

The Obsessed actor, who married MacArthur in 2009, said she loves the small town feel.

“I think that the families that grew up there, that stayed there and the families that have moved there, so much of it is about family and nature,” she said. “There’s no big box stores, right? Like you’re not sitting on freeways. Like there’s just there’s more time in the day to, I think, to appreciate and acknowledge life and as a family with me and my husband who are now working so much.”

She added, “When we’re together, we’re there. And that’s a really, really beautiful place. And yeah, we just we love raising our children there. We didn’t know it was possible.”

Larter also told Fox News Digital that the move was a “complete surprise” to her and her husband.

“I don’t think Hayes and I ever thought that we would be able to leave Hollywood and then after the pandemic, you know, it really shook up our town and a lot of the work has moved anyway. So, my husband’s shooting The Runarounds in Wilmington, and I’m in Fort Worth doing ‘Landman’ and we wouldn’t be in LA anyway, so I think it’s been really exciting that we took the bold move to pivot, and we put our family first, and we’re really excited and proud of that decision.”

Larter said after the press tour finishes, she is looking forward to being “back with my family.”

“We’ve been doing – this is a two-week press tour – so just being without my kids that long is my maximum limit, so I just can’t wait to be grateful for that and also just shooting this show was challenging but incredibly rewarding, and I’m just so proud we were able to launch it. Paramount’s been amazing and I hope the people love it as much as we loved making it.”

In September, MacArthur told Rue magazine of their move, “The industry was at a total standstill and our kids were stuck on screens with remote schooling.”

Larter added, “So, after a year, we just packed up the car and bounced. We figured it was an opportunity to go on an adventure as a family. And we just started driving north.” She added, “We fell in love with the beauty of the mountains and their quiet grandness. Neither of us had ever lived in a small town before. People look out for each other. There’s a real sense of community here, and we’re so happy to be a part of it.”

The actor moved her family from LA to the mountains. Picture: Unique Nicole/AFP

Larter and MacArthur cemented their move away from LA by building a new 4,400-square-foot home in Sun Valley.

“Looking at the mountains relaxes and inspires me,” Larter explained of her new environment. “Most of the time in my life, I feel like I’m going 1,000 miles an hour and these giant rocks chill me out.”

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s new show Landman is about the oil business and also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Hamm and Demi Moore.

“It all starts with the script, but one of the things is we – I worked with my accent coach Jessica Drake twice a week and there’s a big thing with the ‘WH’s down in West Texas. What, where, why, when,” she demonstrated in the accent.

“They put a little air in their ‘WH’s, and so getting in the accent was something for me. Also, you know, Angela is a very glamorous woman, and she loves to like, you know, put on her leopard print bodysuits and her … jeans and so, putting on her wardrobe and her heels was a big thing for me, and the hair and makeup, and then it was a kind of moment of transforming into this character that is very provocative and very bold and comfortable in her body.”

This article originally appeared in Fox News and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Why star ditched Hollywood for country life