‘The White Lotus’ Stars Reveal The Advice They Would Tell Their Troubled Characters

We are now reaching the halfway point of this seven episode arc in season two of The White Lotus and if you are all caught up (no spoilers), you are quickly realizing that this romantic trip to beautiful Sicily is not exactly going as planned for many of its American couples.

For starters, we have newlyweds Tanya and Greg (played by 2022 Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries) having a less than perfect Italian adventure together. On the opposite end, we have the fiery young married couple Cameron and Daphne (played by Theo James and Meghann Fahy) who seem rather perfect together on the surface, but by the end of episode three, we see the cracks in their relationship starting to show.

So with trouble in paradise, I sat down with the actors behind these conflicted characters and asked them what advice or message they would tell their on-screen personas, if only they could.

“Oh god, I actually really don’t know,” says Fahy. “That’s a fantastic question.”

At the very start of The White Lotus season two, we are introduced to Daphne, a friendly, confident and very wealthy woman. As a dedicated mom, she strives to check-in on her kids often back at home while she is away, while still seeming to find the time to indulge on vacation beside her affectionate husband. As the story unfolds, however, we begin to realize that there might be more of a quiet understanding within the dynamic of their marriage.

Cameron is a confident, charismatic and rich businessman who we notice very early on to have quite the wandering eye for the local Sicilian women. So far this season, he seems to have little to no limits nor any feelings of guilt in pursuing his sexual desires beyond his marriage to Daphne. So, I asked James what advice he would say to his playboy of a character, as his story continues to unfold.

“Mine would be you can’t have everything and everyone,” says James. “That’s dangerous. That sounds really f****** weird (laughs).”

Fahy quickly responds beside him, “I like it! I think that’s good.”

Coolidge’s Tanya and Gries’s Greg first met at The White Lotus Resort in Hawaii in season one and they are the only characters that have had their storyline continue into season two’s Sicilian backdrop. No longer grieving the death of her mother, Tanya seems eager to now please her husband during their Italian getaway, while also determined to experience the playful excursions she has in mind.

With this being his fourth marriage, Greg soon springs on Tanya that he unexpectedly needs to head back home to America briefly to supposedly fix some business issues that have come up. Tanya gets upset, not feeling prioritized by her husband and Greg expresses his agitation towards his new wife’s high expectations for their marriage. At the end of episode two, Tanya overhears a phone conversation Greg is having that makes her question his fidelity.

I asked Coolidge and Gries the same question that I asked Fahy and James – What message would you tell your The White Lotus characters after seeing how their troubled storylines continue to play out on-screen in season two?

“I know what I’d say,” says Coolidge. “I would say to Greg, you’ve made a terrible mistake!”

Gries follows up immediately with, “I would say I wish I had known how this person is so much stronger than I thought, because Tanya really does take control of her life.”

With four new episodes remaining Sundays on HBO and HBO Max, only time will tell if any or all of these The White Lotus characters ultimately get somewhat of a happy ending or not. Either way, it was just announced by HBO that a third season will in fact be happening, with show creator, writer and director Mike White releasing the following statement:

“There’s no place I’d rather work than HBO and there’s no people I’d rather partner with than Casey Bloys, Francesca Orsi, Nora Skinner and their incredible team. I feel so lucky to get this opportunity again and am excited to reunite with my amazingly talented collaborators on The White Lotus.”