Ali Larter may act deluded in her latest thriller Obsessed but she has no delusions about society’s obsession with celebrity.
“It’s part of what comes in our business,” admitted the actress recently. “The hardest part for most actors is having to deal with the paparazzi and kind of how fans can sometimes take a moment too far.
“But the other end of it is that we’ve chosen these careers and when you put yourself in the public eye, there’s a certain amount of responsibility that comes with it.”
While the 33-year-old star of TV’s Heroes has mostly avoided the tabloid trappings of many other young actresses, Larter still dislikes the paparazzi — but for a reason you might not expect.
“Just always having to be on is, for me, the most difficult part,” admitted Larter. “I don’t want to have to get ready before I leave my house … who wants to worry about that when they go to the grocery store? I just want to go peruse heirloom tomatoes and not worry about a paparazzi jumping out from the bananas.”
While Obsessed (in theatres next Friday) may not directly deal with celebrity stalking, it does take a look at one woman’s crazed obsession with a married man (Idris Elba) and how she sets out to sabotage his marriage to a less-than-complacent wife (Beyoncé Knowles).
“I didn’t play her as a stalker. I think of it as a woman who fell in love,” said Larter. “For me, it was important to understand the clues into her psychosis and what happened to her to make her believe the things that this man said are true so hopefully the audience is going to go on that journey with me.”
For those who do take the film’s journey, it means catching a predicament most paparazzi would kill to witness in person — an all-out catfight between Larter and Knowles.
“She’s stunningly beautiful,” said Larter of the pop star. “One of my favorite moments is having Beyoncé charge at me. How many people get to have that happen in their life?”
