‘The White Lotus’: Jennifer Coolidge Had a ‘Private Date’ While She Watched the Season 2 Finale
Jennifer Coolidge is one of the two actors who reprised their roles in the second season of The White Lotus. The star delivered an excellent final performance as Tanya McQuoid, going out in the most Tanya way.
As viewers watched Tanya meet her end on The White Lotus, Coolidge revealed she had a “private date” while watching the Season 2 finale of HBO’s comedy drama.
[Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of The White Lotus.]
Jennifer Coolidge plays a wealthy heiress in ‘The White Lotus’ Seasons 1 and 2
When viewers first meet Coolidge’s character Tanya McQuoid in the first season of The White Lotus, she visits the eponymous resort to spread her mother’s ashes and to relax. She meets a mysterious man during the vacation and falls for him even though they barely know each other. Their first meeting is awkward as he forgets his room and unsuccessfully tries to enter hers.
However, by the end of the series, she and Greg have gotten close, and she volunteers to pay his medical bills. The two return for Season 2, this time vacationing in Sicily. As the show progresses, viewers learn Greg insisted they visit Sicily, Italy, perhaps to meet up with his lover Quentin.
Quentin and his party of gays invite Tanya and her depressed assistant for a fun-filled weekend of sex and cocaine. But she learns Quentin and Greg know each other and want to steal her money. Tanya ends up shooting those on the yacht on their way back to the hotel. The clumsy heiress dies after hitting her head on the boat she was supposed to escape from.
Jennifer Coolidge watched the Season 2 finale with ‘The White Lotus’ showrunner Mike White
Coolidge sat down with Vanity Fair on December 14, 2022, to discuss the shocking ending. When asked if she watched it along with the rest of the world, Coolidge said, “I had a private date with Mike White. I hadn’t seen it, and he came over to my house, and we watched it together.”
The Legally Blonde star revealed that after they finished watching, they went to another cast member’s house, where some of the other actors were watching it, to say hi. The party then moved to Steven Levy’s house, where they surprised him after he finished watching the episode.
Coolidge revealed she knew before they began shooting that her character would die. White delivered the news while asking her to return. She recalled him telling her how beautiful Sicily was and informing her that they would only shoot in Sicily and do a few shots in Rome.
“He kept saying stuff like that, and then he goes, ‘And Jennifer?’ I go ‘Yeah?’ And he goes, ‘And you’re gonna die.'” Coolidge said the news surprised her: “I was like, ‘No! Mike! Mike! Why?'” The star said White told her it was necessary for her character to die because “Tanya’s a tragic figure, and we need to keep it real.”
Jennifer Coolidge was sad about her death but happy about taking down bad guys
Coolidge revealed she was “bummed” by the news about her character’s death, but she saw a silver lining. “I was just thrilled that although I was going to lose my life, I was going to take a lot of lives,” the Two Broke Girls actor shared.
The show never makes it clear if the gays were really going to murder her and if Greg was going to take her money. However, Coolidge said that the “high-end gays” were “definitely murdering” Tanya. Although Greg did end up with Tanya’s money, Coolidge could relax knowing her onscreen husband wasn’t going to share it with Quentin.
Season 3, which HBO already greenlit, may give us more clues about Greg’s future and Tanya’s money.
