If you’re a parent, you’re no stranger to the financial fears surrounding the summertime. When your kids are home all day, every day, it can get expensive real quick. Thus, the “summer scaries” come into play — and that’s where iconic actress Ali Larter enters.
This summer, Larter is all about letting parents know about an insane DoorDash deal. For DashPass members only, from now until July 30, you can get thousands of member-exclusive discounts on groceries, electronics, summer essentials, and more. To promote the deal, Larter went back to her roots by doing a horror spin on it, co-starring with Freddie Prinze Jr. in a short film called Summer Scaries. And trust us: for parents everywhere, it’s way too accurate.
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When you sit down with Larter, it’s like catching up with an old friend. The Final Destination icon is as down-to-earth as you’d hope when meeting a celebrity you’ve laughed and cried with on screen for nearly 30 years. Whether it comes to breaking down her Scream Queen roles, or talking about raising her two kids, Theodore, 14, and Vivienne, 10, in Idaho, Larter will always share the reality of it all.
Below, see what Later had to say about her mom roles, how she stays present with her kids in the summertime, and more.
SheKnows: Can you tell me a bit about why you partner with DoorDash for their DashPass campaign and how the Summer Scaries short film came to be?
Ali Larter: As a mom of two, I deeply relate to this campaign. Summer is a magical time, but it can be anxiety-inducing for parents. When DoorDash came to me with the idea of Summer Scaries, it was that perfect wink, that nod to that anxiety we deal with the kids being home, and they need to be entertained and fed 24/7. When I was out for the day with Teddy and Vivienne, my kids, Vivienne ordered an acai bowl, and it was $18 — and then my son, who’s 14, ordered big tacos, and he was still hungry. So we ordered a second lunch, and I was literally having that moment where I was like, ‘The kids are going to kill us financially.’ I couldn’t believe how expensive everything had become. Then when I read this, I just thought it was really funny, and it was kind of really keyed into what so many parents feel during the summer.
When they’re going to camp with two hours, four hours, when you’re gonna feed them, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, who wants what! One of the things I liked was the Summer of DashPass, so you get all these deals, and my kids like to eat all different things. So if one kid wants this and another kid wants that, it makes it really easy.
SK: Speaking of, do you have any tips for parents working to keep that balance when their kids are home all day, every day?
AL: We play gin rummy tournaments. We play Scrabble. For me, as a working mom, it comes back to being present with my kids because then I have to go back to work, and that’s the reality for me. I don’t have the luxury of getting to spend every moment with them.
SK: I know you have to travel quite a bit, especially from Idaho to filming in Texas for Landman. What do you do to keep yourself grounded when you have to have that drastic change of scenery?
AL: It’s definitely one of the challenging parts of being away from my children. So everyone’s on a flight every two weeks; we kind of bounce back and forth. When I’m home with them, it’s just really being present. For me, it’s not about the amount of time. It’s the quality of time. And that’s something that we really try to lean into. Then, when it comes down to Texas, if I’m not working, they’re with me in the apartment. We take walks. We play games. You know? They forgot a toothbrush and toothpaste. So we’re Dashing that in so that I can just be with them and have the quality time. I don’t know if there is such thing as a balance. Each day I try to keep my priorities in line, my kids and my family come first and I try to be present with them, but also give the time and energy required to shoot my show.
SK: That’s wonderful. I know you’ve played a mom quite a few times on screen, including with Landman. Have any of those mom roles taught you anything about parenting in real life?
AL: Angela is definitely not the perfect example of a mother [laughs]. [But] she is all love; that’s my kind of little door into this character, is how much she loves her family. But with the other mothers, I don’t think so. I think that truthfully, it’s the other way around. I’ve been able to feed [my parenting] into my work, and there’s nothing like the love a mother has for her children and how it completely reprioritizes your whole life. It just gives it meaning in a different way. My kids are 10 and 14, so it’s really fun to start watching them kinda grow into the people they’re gonna be. With each year, it’s different experiences you get to have together. So it’s everything to me.
SK: That’s wonderful. I know that your kids made their first red carpet appearance in years back in December at the KIIS FM’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2024. How was that for them?
AL: That’s not my daughter. That’s my goddaughter!
SK: Are you serious?
AL: It’s so funny. She’s like twice the size because my kids are four years apart.
SK: [laughs] Oh my goodness. Well, how was it for your son and your goddaughter?
AL: It was amazing! I think that’s part of it too is that now I get to share different parts of my life with them. I would love to be able to get Teddy to the US Open this year. He’s a big tennis player. I think that he’s also really proud of me. He’s excited that I get to do what I love and that the show has really connected with so many people. That’s the hope. That if you’re gonna be away from your family, that’s something you’re doing that you love working on it and that people respond to it.
SK: Definitely. And I know you’ve done an amazing job protecting your children from the public eye, and just especially in the digital age. How is that evolving as they’re getting older in their teendom and tweendom?
AL: We’ve really held out. It’s incredibly hard. Our son’s 14, and we haven’t done the Instagram yet. But even with YouTube Kids, I mean, there’s no way to kind of get around it at this point. So we try to limit the amount of time. Our kids are really athletic and we live in nature, so we keep them busy doing other things, like playing tennis and football. They were just camping last weekend. Vivienne loves to horseback ride and play soccer. So I think it’s always finding the other activities and dragging them out of it … because they may not want to leave the screen, but once they’re away from it, they’re absolutely more relaxed and happy.
SK: That’s a really good way to put it, and absolute best of luck introducing social media to your kids. It’s a lot. But transitioning a bit, do your kids have a favorite role of yours?
AL: Legally Blonde. I think that’s one they can all watch. They haven’t watched all my stuff because some of it’s a little bit more provocative. So, I think that would be the one that really kinda lights them up.
SK: Totally fair. Have they seen your scary roles at all, or are you waiting till they’re a bit older?
AL: I think Teddy has seen the Final Destinations, which he thought were really cool, and some of them were Resident Evils. He definitely got moved to that world a bit.
SK: I was dying to know! And speaking of your horror roles, do you see yourself as a scream queen, or do you feel that that label potentially limits what you brought to those roles?
AL: I actually just feel incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to do this for 25, almost 30 years. I’ve had so many different moments in my career where I’ve gotten to work within different genres, from comedy to drama, sci-fi, and horror. I’ve been really blessed that I’ve been able to stretch myself in different ways. I personally don’t think I get put in one box, and I hope that with the projects that I choose to do and the characters that I connect with, it just kind of transcends all that.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity godparents.
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