Ali Larter Fires Back At Taylor Sheridan Critics With Five Simple Words

Paramount+'s "Landman" has no shortage of fans, and consequently, its showrunner Taylor Sheridan has quite a few admirers, too. And yet, over the years, the "Yellowstone" co-creator has received a lot of criticism for the way he writes. Much of that objection is a result of the female characters in his shows. Sheridan is a master when it comes to creating storylines for people who remember sitting in front of their analog TV in a cowboy hat when they were 6 years old to watch a western movie. But for many the development of the leading ladies, or lack thereof, in his work leaves a lot to be desired. 

Ali Larter is the actor behind one of Sheridan's most famous leading ladies: "Landman's" Angela Norris. Now, she's opening up about the way her boss writes women, and she's not exactly onboard with some of the harshest takes. "It's just a false narrative," the actor reasoned on the June 15, 2026 episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast. Larter believes that criticism of Sheridan's female characters actually stems from viewers' surprise at their tendency to be freely sexual, which is misinterpreted. "You just don't see a lot of women in film and television that embrace their sexuality," she pointed out, confessing, "I'm always amazed at how shocked people are by it."

Whether Taylor Sheridan portrays women well in his work is up for debate. But the cast of "Landman" has been outspoken about just how important women are to bringing the hit series to life. During a panel at the Newport Beach TV Festival earlier this month, Ali Larter told fans, "Secretly, women run the show," per People. Then, her scandal-prone co-star Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Tommy Norris on the show, chimed in to concur. 

"You wouldn't believe how many women Taylor hires on these crews," he claimed. "We have three camera operators. Two of them are women." Thornton suggested that the super popular western drama's subject matter may give viewers a skewed perspective of what things are really like on set, noting, "People assume it's all cowboys because we're in Texas, but that's not true. I've never seen that many female crew members on a set in my life." Larter heartily agreed, sharing, "I've worked on many sets, but ours just feels different." 

Ali Larter and Billy Bob Thornton, who reportedly have a close relationship in real life, also made it clear that real women have inspired storylines on the series — or at least one woman has, anyway. When Larter's character spent time in a retirement home, this was based on Sheridan's wife Nicole Muirbrook's real-life visits to a retirement home. "She really does go to these homes and spend time with the residents," the actor confirmed. Evidently, behind the scenes, women make "Landman" what it is in more ways than one.