‘Varsity Blues’ Star Ali Larter Returning to World of Cheerleading for New Show ‘The Sidelines’

Ali Later is getting her pom-poms out of the closet and getting ready to return to the world of cheerleading. According to Deadline, the Varsity Blues actress is starring in a new single-camera half-hour comedy series called The Sidelines. The show will air on Fox and Larter will also be an executive producer. She will team up with writer Kate Gersten and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Productions.

“Written by Gersten, The Sidelines follows a newly separated mother of two (Larter), who, at age 40, decides to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a professional cheerleader,” Deadline reports. “Against all odds, she makes the squad for a local Detroit football team and becomes the accidental den mother to this group of scrappy, resilient young women — and rediscovers herself in the process.”

Larter has done a number of projects in the last 20-plus years, but her most recognizable role is Darcy in Varsity Blues. Darcy was a cheerleader who was dating the star quarterback of the high school football team that was played by the late Paul Walker. The movie released in 1999 and she reflected on the film earlier this year.

“I loved playing Darcy,” she said on Good Morning America back in January. “I loved that she was trying to find her way out and kind of owned up to the mistakes that she made,” she said. “And I loved that the movie represented a place in time for a lot of people, in that small town football mentality.”

Amy Smart also starred in the film and Larter revealed she still keeps in touch with her. “I was just with Amy Smart yesterday,” Larter said. “She’s still a dear friend of mine.”

“You know, you see the cycles of life, and the people that come into your life — the different kind of things that you work on that really change the trajectory of it,” she added. “That was my first movie, and it kind of sent me on this journey in this business.”

Larter is also known for her role on the NBC show Heroes and she was recently seen in the ABC show The Rookie. Larter has also starred in the films Legally Blonde, Final Destination, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, American Outlaws and Obsessed.