Jennifer Coolidge is official coming back for ‘The White Lotus’ Season 2.
via People:
HBO confirmed Coolidge’s return to the series on Monday. “A world-class VIP. Jennifer Coolidge has joined the second installment of #TheWhiteLotus,” the network shared. Details on Coolidge’s role were not announced.
Production on season 2 started on Monday in Sicily, Italy. “Our next White Lotus property is under way. We look forward to welcoming guests in Sicily soon. #TheWhiteLotus,” the show shared on social media.
In season 1, the actress, 60, played Tanya McQuoid, one of the guests at the ritzy White Lotus resort in Hawaii, who was trying to find herself again after the death of her mother. Coolidge’s hilarious-yet-devastating work as Tanya made her a fan favorite on the hit HBO show.
The Legally Blonde star previously told PEOPLE that she almost turned down the role over concerns about her weight. In November, Coolidge recalled how creator Mike White contacted her, saying that “he’d written a part for me,” but, at the time, she felt uncomfortable in her body after gaining weight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I tried to get out of it because I was too fat,” she said. “During COVID, I just let everything go. I let everything go most of my life but I really let everything go during COVID.”
Luckily, Coolidge said “I had a smart girlfriend who talked me off the ledge,” and she agreed to take on the role anyway. Coolidge received nominations for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role.
In season 1, she starred alongside Sydney Sweeney, Alexandria Daddario, Connie Britton, Natasha Rothwell, Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn.
White, who wrote, directed and co-executive produced the first season, had initially intended for The White Lotus to be a limited series with one six-episode season. But after the show became a hit, HBO signed on for a second season which the network previously said will follow “a different group of vacationers as they jet to another White Lotus property and settle in temporarily amongst its inhabitants.”
In January, Michael Imperioli was cast in a leading role for the second season. The Sopranos alum, 55, will play Dominic Di Grasso, a dad who isn’t traveling alone.
F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, Tom Hollander, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, Will Sharpe, and Leo Woodall will also star in the second season, according to The Wrap.
Jennifer carried the entire first season, so we’re thrilled to see she’s making a return.
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