‘The White Lotus’: Jennifer Coolidge Was ‘Bummed’ the Moment She Learned About the Season 2 Finale: ‘I Didn’t Have Any Say in It’
The thrilling finale of The White Lotus Season 2 reveals the fate of Jennifer Coolidge‘s Tanya McQuoid. Like many fans, the actor was “bummed” about her character’s story arc. She tried to change Tanya’s ending, but Coolidge noted that she ultimately had no say in it.
‘The White Lotus’ Season 2 finale reveals who died in the premiere
The White Lotus set up its season 2 mystery in the first moments of the premiere episode. When Daphne (Meghann Fahy) stumbles upon dead bodies in the water. Throughout the seasons, fans had dozens of different theories on who would die.
But in the finale, when Tanya and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) begin figuring out Quentin (Tom Hollander) and Jack’s (Leo Woodall) murderous intentions, it becomes clear that Tanya has the biggest target on her back.
However, Tanya doesn’t go without a fight. She intercepts her hired mafioso’s gun and kills Quentin and his cohorts.
But as the heiress frantically tries to jump off the yacht into a smaller boat below, she hits her head on a railing and drowns. Daphne finds Tanya’s body floating in the sea the next morning, along with what are presumed to be the bodies of Quentin and his buddies.
Jennifer Coolidge was ‘bummed’ about ‘The White Lotus’ Season 2 finale
Coolidge’s Tanya was a central figure in both seasons 1 and 2 of The White Lotus. And like fans, the actor hoped her character would make it to season 3. So when creator Mike White told her that Tanya would die this season, Coolidge wasn’t thrilled.
“I was, I have to say, I was kind of bummed,” Coolidge told Vanity Fair. “But…I got a very good part in White Lotus 2, and there’s so many brilliant actors in the world out there that would love to be on White Lotus. So I think it is awfully greedy of me to think that I should just keep going. There’s other people who would like to have their shot at it, so I think I have to give up my seat.”
‘The White Lotus’ star did try to change the ending, but ultimately had no say in it
Coolidge found out about Tanya’s fate before she started filming the season. So when it came time to film the finale, she tried to convince White to let her do a scene in which Tanya makes it out alive just in case he changed his mind.
“Whenever Mike was in a really good mood, and laughing about something, I’d go, like, ‘I don’t have to die, right?'” Coolidge said in a chat with White for The New York Times.
“Even when we were shooting the scene in the ocean where Daphne finds her body, [Coolidge] was like, ‘Should we just do one take where I pull myself up on the shore? Just one?'” White added, recalling Coolidge’s persistence.
Ultimately, The White Lotus star realized that the decision wasn’t hers to make. But she was happy that White gave Tanya some powerful moments before her death.
“I didn’t have any say in it,” Coolidge told Vanity Fair. She added, “I was just thrilled that although I was going to lose my life, I was going to take a lot of lives. I liked that there were gonna be some bad guys that were going to get their—they deserved it.
Coolidge continued. “I do like that I did get to have that sort of victory moment,” she added. “But I am one of those people where I’m all about justice. I’m very, very, in real life, just my own personal feelings about like, you know, rotten people getting away with stuff, and so I love that Mike gave me that sort of, he gave me the avenging angel moment. I was very happy about that.”
