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Actress Falls in Love With Small-Town Life After Leaving Hollywood

Actress Falls in Love With Small-Town Life After Leaving Hollywood

By Movieguide® Contributor 

LEGALLY BLONDE actress Ali Larter and her husband, actor Hayes MacArthur, are loving the change of scenery they have found in Sun Valley, Idaho. 

“We fell in love with the beauty of the mountains and their quiet grandness,” Larter said. “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 New Jersey native and MacArthur decided to relocate with their two kids, Theodore and Vivienne, from L.A. to Sun Valley during Covid lockdowns and while Hollywood was at a “total standstill,” according to Hayes. 

“Our kids were stuck on screens with remote schooling,” he stated. “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.” 

The couple started building their 4,400-square-foot dream home in 2022 which was recently completed last year. With the help of interior designer Amanda Masters, who helped design their original home in L.A., they created a look that “fit into the natural geography of Sun Valley but didn’t have that traditional ‘cabiny’ feel,” Larter told Rue magazine. 

Larter and MacArthur both appreciate the slower pace of rural life.  

“Looking at the mountains relaxes and inspires me,” Larter revealed. “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.”   

“The mountains have a way of grounding you and slowing you down — especially…when you’re stuck in traffic because there’s a herd of elk blocking the road,” MacArthur added. 

Larter recently posted a picture of herself fully embracing the country life, donning a cowgirl hat and sitting on a horse.  

“If anyone told me 3 years ago that I would be living in the mountains, raising myself and my family, rediscovering my marriage, and that would lead to this new life I would never have believed it,” Larter wrote. 

She went on to share how she has enjoyed making new friends, while overcoming the fear of the unknown. 

“I hope everyone who reads this believes that everything they need is truly within reach if they dare to dream,” she added. 

The couple is part of the exodus of Californians fleeing the state. Movieguide® recently reported on Teddy Bear Award® winner Kirk Cameron’s move from The Golden State to Tennessee and why other celebrities are relocating there too: 

“Certainly there’s the concerns of politics and crime and the economy, but…I’m finding California refugees all over Tennessee and Texas and Florida and places like this,” the GROWING PAINS actor said on Fox News on July 6. “There’s been a flood of talent and creatives who have left California. They’re frustrated that their values are not being represented in the projects that they’re working on.”

“So they’re going out and independently creating projects that do represent their values,” Cameron explained. “In fact, Tennessee has seen an 82% increase in motion picture and television production jobs, making it the Hollywood of the South, and Nashville has become a hub for Christian projects like the ones that I’m working on with other fellow California escapees.”

The actor also told Fox11 that he didn’t feel his family was “safe” in California. His sister, actress Candace Cameron Bure, also moved to Nashville for this reason.

Fox11 reported, “Bure recalled that her family had ‘quite a few problems over the years’ with fans taking photos, hiding on their property and coming up to their door.”

Cameron hasn’t discarded California completely. But for now, he knows it’s not the place to be.


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