Leo Woodall On That Insane Season 2 Finale Of ‘The White Lotus’

This article contains spoilers.

Landing a part in Mike White’s brilliantly insane Emmy-winning HBO anthology series The White Lotus is a career-high for any actor. For Leo Woodall, who portrayed Jack in the second season, landing this role was life-changing.

Woodall recalled the moment his agents called to tell him the good news. “I lost my mind. I couldn’t contain my emotions. I still can’t believe it to this day that Mike chose me to play Jack,” he said in an interview. “I realized something happened here, like a couple of stars were aligned up there. Every time that theme song comes on at the start of each episode, I get goosebumps, and I can’t believe I’m a part of this.”

He was in Pamplona, Spain, filming another project when his phone rang. He had been through a few rounds of Zoom auditions and had battled Covid more than once. “I was making a ragù,” he said, reflecting on the moment. “I left the phone on the counter and sprinted up and down my little apartment. I couldn’t believe it.”

Jack is a mystery, and though we don’t know much about his background, we know that Tom Hollander’s Quentin is not his wealthy uncle, and he’s mixed in with a very dangerous group.

To this day, Woodall says Jack is a bit of an enigma. In one scene, he told Haley Lu Richardson’s Portia that she was his “job.” It was terrifying for her; she even asked if she’d been kidnapped. He ends up letting her go. Woodall explained that Jack didn’t finish the job he was assigned. “Mike never told me outright, but I believe it was his job to kill her, and he chose not to. He does the right thing in the end.”

The fans don’t know much of his backstory other than Quentin helped him when he was in a dark place. “Mike and I didn’t talk about his backstory because, in a way, it was more my job to play what was on the page. When it got to that bit, I started to think about his backstory, but there’s something so genius about Mike’s writing that I didn’t want to compromise what he’d done.”

White doesn’t spoonfeed his audience, and though he answers many questions, he still leaves some things unsaid and undone. “Even when Jack talks about his past, it’s very vague. I had ideas in my head, but it wasn’t plotted out,” said Woodall. “Mike leaves a lot to the imagination, and I love the mystery of it. He gives you just enough so that you are fulfilled and satisfied.”

Though Jack decided not to kill Portia, he dropped her off in a deserted and dangerous area. He pointed toward the airport and warned her about just how menacing the people are that he works for, and he told her to leave and not ask any questions.

Though he left her in the middle of nowhere, Woodall explained he had no choice. “He did the right thing, but he’s not that nice of a guy. He doesn’t take her all the way because it’s very dangerous for him to let her go. So, he’s doing it in a quiet place where it can’t be seen that he’s done that as opposed to taking her to the airport where he could be found out.”

He has no idea at that point that Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid-Hunt shot and killed Quentin and his colleagues before her death as she tried to escape the yacht. We now know Tanya’s husband, Greg (Jon Gries), had her killed.

Woodall also explained that Jack’s decision not to kill Portia is about who he is as a person, more than his feelings for her. “I think he has a soft spot for her, but I don’t think he let her go because he cares about her so much. I think it’s that he’s not a murderer.”

Fans and critics alike have been obsessed with White’s social satire, which is set in a different White Lotus locale each season and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week. Season one was set in Hawaii, and this season took place at an exclusive Sicilian resort. The series will return for a third installment following a new group of guests at another White Lotus property.

The first season, which premiered in July 2021, received 20 Emmy nominations across 13 categories and landed ten wins, the most of any program that year, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Season two was an immediate hit following its October 30 premiere, with episodes averaging 9.5 million viewers across platforms. As the series grew in popularity, it became the biggest show in the history of the HBO Max streaming service.

Today, The White Lotus was nominated for four Golden Globes, with the series overall and Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, and F. Murray Abraham garnering awards attention.

Since Jack survives Italy, perhaps he’ll make an appearance at another White Lotus resort. In the meantime, Woodall has several projects lined up, including Netflix’sNFLX
One Day, a 15-episode tragi-comic romantic drama, which is an adaptation of David Nicholls’ bestselling novel. He is also set to star in a recurring role in Amazon’s upcoming Citadel opposite Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra, and Stanley Tucci.