Jennifer Coolidge

I didn't realize it until yesterday, but now I am sad,” said White, who watched the season finale with Coolidge on Sunday night.

And Jennifer’s the reason I did “White Lotus” in the first place. In that moment, I was like, Oh, this is the end for me and Jennifer. Because I just wanted to write something for her and I just adore her. At one point, I was kind of laughing and I looked over at her, and she was so sad for Tanya. I just wanted to leave the possibilities open. WHITE It reminds me a little of Jennifer, because Jennifer, like, she’ll come and do this incredible performance and then lock herself in a bathroom. I wanted to be practical in case Mike had a change of heart. In Italian opera, the women are supposed to cry and die, and I just imagined that that could be an appropriate story for the site of Sicily and this battle of the sexes, and Tanya is a victim of that. - Michael Imperioli: The “Sopranos” star is enjoying a professional renaissance after years of procedurals and indies. In a filmed post-episode interview, White described the death as purposefully “derpy.” MIKE WHITE In the first season, Tanya’s last line is, like, “I’ve had so many treatments in my life. Months before the shoot began for the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” which ended in a murderous finale on Sunday night (and if you have not yet seen that finale, now would be a fine time to stop reading), he called the actress Jennifer Coolidge, his friend and a longtime collaborator.

Jennifer Coolidge breaks down the shocking 'White Lotus' Season 2 finale and weighs in on those Tanya memes.

Read a recap of the season finale [here](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/white-lotus-finale-recap-who-dies-1235457287/), and its series-high ratings [here](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/white-lotus-finale-ratings-season-2-1235457986/)! “White Lotus” has opened a world of opportunities, and Mike White will be my friend forever, of course. I know Mike White’s a genius and all that, but I never had the thought that “White Lotus” was going to be a huge deal. And staying on “White Lotus” Season 2 — it was a life-changing thing. I remember thinking, “This is good,” but there’s a lot of good stuff on television that never gets any recognition. That was one of the last scenes I filmed for the show, and I was seasick and stuff. It was sort of the beginning of good times for me, coming out of COVID and making “White Lotus” Season 1. One of my favorite lines, which Mike came up with, is “These are some high-end gays.” I liked when Tanya was excited about something, because she was so depressed for most of Season 1 and the beginning of 2. I improvised a lot of things, some made it in and some didn’t. It’s that sort of inability to believe something until you’re in way too deep, because the possibility of it is too hard for people to admit to themselves that there’s that type of evil in the world. There’s one line that I told Mike about that he put in the script. I was kind of bummed, but Mike knows how to tell a story better than anyone I know, so I knew I just had to trust it.

How long did you know Tanya would die? I knew very early on. Even before he was planning for Italy, Mike told me he wanted me in White Lotus two. And then I don ...

I don’t think everyone gets to be the hero in the end or everyone gets to live in the end. I was one of the few people that knew the finale. The story that fascinated me the most is the story that I witness the most, and am fascinated by it, and my girlfriends and I talk about it over and over: The story line of the two couples. It was a long shooting day; I was delirious. We shot that a couple different ways, but I don’t think we ever shot it without the heels. The thing that was interesting when I was arguing with Mike — well, not arguing, but talking about the way she loses her life — is he was saying it has to be at the fault of herself and not anyone else. I’m not sure what was me and what was the stunt double. I had this experience on the Serengeti where the animals were outside the tent, so you have to have a chaperone take you from the tent to the mess hall where you eat. I would guess you know that “These gays, they’re trying to murder me” has already taken over the internet. He did say Greg was going to be behind a plot that was not good for Tanya and that Tanya was going to go out with a bang. I wanted it to be me. I wanted it to be me falling off the boat.

Jennifer Coolidge has caught up with Deadline to offer her thoughts on 'The White Lotus' Season 2 finale.

The actress was joined in the Globes’ category of Actress in a Supporting Role on Television by Season 2 cast member Aubrey Plaza, with co-star F. From the beginning, he saw a woman with a lot of money and wanted to take it from her, and take her life. Coolidge is fairly certain, though, that Greg will get his hands on “all” of Tanya’s money, with Quentin (Tom Hollander) and his friends out of the picture. One of only two original White Lotus characters to return for Season 2, Tanya dies accidentally following a clumsy fall from the side of a yacht to a tethered motorboat. Coolidge this morning landed her second consecutive Golden Globe nomination for her turn as Tanya, having won her first Emmy for the part in September. “I have to say, I liked my part,” said Coolidge.

The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge interview on the death in the season 2 finale, Tanya's ending and idea for season 3 of Mike White's HBO show.

Here we were, and I was just as sick, and I had two different boats and had to do two different days of filming on these boats, and it was just horrendous. [winning an Emmy](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jennifer-coolidge-emmy-played-off-1235218831/) (for White Lotus) and coming off of Netflix hit The Watcher — another part that was written specifically for you, by creator Ryan Murphy. To write it all and direct it all, and then be involved in the editing. I guess I didn’t like that I was so close to prevailing. My initial reaction was just, “Oh my God, Tanya was so close to having a victory.” And an unlikely victory for someone like her, that she would have been able to manage a gun and save herself. But it was so entertaining, and some of the stuff people were saying was so funny. I think Mike must have had all the scripts done, and I guess I did have the whole thing. oh and also, you die.” I was like, “I what?!” He was like, “You die.” I said, “Oh, really? We didn’t know we were going to have to feel weird at the end of the night.” So I’m glad that people didn’t know; I’m glad. But last year, maybe a few months before this one, I got this phone call from him, and we were having sort of a social call, and he said, “I just want to let you know something about season two.” He said, “We found these great locations in Sicily, and you’re going to love it here … But Mike White planted too many distracting seeds, and I think we were all fooled because, how could Tanya not be a part of The White Lotus? But Greg, who was overtly miserable and possibly having a secret affair, left Tanya mid-vacation for business, which led her to spend out the rest of her days with a group of “high-end gays,” led by Quentin (Tom Hollander).

Jennifer Coolidge made headlines (and broke hearts) during her time as Tanya McQuoid, lovelorn heiress, on "The White Lotus." An Emmy win and many "White ...

[The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/aug/08/jennifer-coolidge-the-white-lotus-interview), saw a "lesson" in what happened. "I mean I'm thrilled, but wow, what an unexpected moment in my life, really." "I was too vain, I didn't want to go on camera because I sort of destroyed myself during COVID and didn't feel like I was in shape for it." one night and it just said: 'Are you afraid?' It was like he could read my mind and sensed that I was trying to get out of it. So when the show's creator, Mike White, told Coolidge about the role, she said she would do it — if they could start filming at a later date. "The number kept increasing," she continued.

Jennifer Coolidge recently revealed that Ariana Grande is to thank for revamping her career while it was "flatlining" before appearing in the 2018 music ...

The robots answer the DMs, and we will never ever get to her,’" Coolidge shared. I know you're a very humble person, you wouldn't admit to it, but I'm just going to thank you." Coolidge continued: "I mean, from there I got ‘Promising Young Woman,’ and this whole thing. "No, I really think that! And I think it's pretty cool," Coolidge said. Coolidge, 61, appeared in Grande’s "Thank U, Next" music video in 2018.

Saying goodbye is never easy to do, but when the person you have to say goodbye to is The White Lotus' lovably doofy Tanya, played by Jennifer Coolidge, it's ...

And then the real cast walked in and surprised him. And then Mike and some of the actors, you know, half of us or something, we went up to this guy Steven’s house. When did you find out that Tanya was going to be killed off? I thought people were faking it with me when they’re like, you know, I’m really nervous about tomorrow. You know, no one told anybody about the ending I guess. But somehow, you know, when we were on that boat shooting that scene, no one told their wives or their husbands, or their brothers or sisters or their lovers.

Fresh off her Golden Globe-nominated performance in The White Lotus season 2, Coolidge admits to The Advocate that the gays are not trying to kill her.

“Some of my friends want to go to Italy and see some of the places that were in the series,” she said. I’m not used to being asked a question like this, so I have to think,” Coolidge said with a hint of modesty. “So that’s on my list, to go back to Italy when I’m not on the job and explore on my own terms.” It was just the people I ended up being attracted to, we have a lot in common and we become best buds, and the movies I’ve been in helped too. Finally, now that she has risen to the top, I asked Coolidge if there’s anyone in Hollywood she’d like to work with. Was she surprised, and disappointed, that Tanya’s death was the climactic moment of the White Lotus season 2 finale? And her line from the series finale “The gays are trying to kill me” lit up social media Sunday night. “Sure, I’m disappointed, and I’m more surprised that everyone on the set was able to keep the secret that Tanya dies in the end. There was that, and the expectation of what Coolidge would be like. She had a starring role in this summer’s Netflix sensation The Watcher and was the only returning cast member to the second iteration of HBO’s Emmy-winning The White Lotus. I was trying to figure out a unique way to begin this column, but I don’t think anything I could say would match the uniqueness of Jennifer Coolidge. Her career has exploded in the last few years, and particularly this year.

Jennifer Coolidge revealed how her role as the fan-favorite Tanya McQuiod in “The White Lotus” was actually based on her life.

“This was an episode about women and all that they have to put up with and all their survival techniques that are revealed in this,” she said. “Even though Tanya was a very flawed person and in many ways, you could say she was not nice and self-centered and all that, but some people are in this lifetime get surrounded by a group of people and it’s very hard sometimes to know who the good guys are and the bad guys are in this world. “They thought it was a dream even though I was in a body bag. She continued, “And my obliviousness, my oblivious nature of not seeing the writing on the wall and actually denying any sort of sign that something was amiss, I was denying it. “It’s just people that are putting on a really good show, but they don’t like you, really, deep down,” she added. Season 2, which is set in Sicily, [ended with the shocking death](https://nypost.com/2022/12/12/white-lotus-creator-mike-white-explains-shocking-finale-death/) of the lovable character.

Warning: spoilers ahead! Jennifer Coolidge breaks down 'The White Lotus' season 2 finale ending and Tanya's shocking death.

And then you have signals from the cameramen to stay and you have to stay down there. I was just glad I wasn't going to have to reshoot the drowning. Mike took me a couple of steps ahead, that I was putting a few pieces together but there is this weird thing sometimes where you get this bad feeling and you cannot figure out where it fits. I don't think a lot of people want to think negatively like that, because it's too overwhelming, it's too creepy. And my obliviousness, my oblivious nature of not seeing the writing on the wall and actually denying any sort of sign that something was amiss, I was denying it. There was a lot of women in this show having to survive a lot of different aspects of being a woman and all of it is intentional. Sometimes it's good because, certainly I'm not discriminating of anyone in any way, but I sort of open the door and sometimes my realization of who someone was and what their intentions are are very slow. He was observing my naivete with a lot of my male relationships and saw how I just believed people in a very naive way. Even though Tanya was a very flawed person and in many ways, you could say she was not nice and self-centered and all that, but some people are in this lifetime get surrounded by a group of people and it's very hard sometimes to know who the good guys are and the bad guys are in this world. God, it was so funny because I have all these smart friends and neighbors that go back and look early on at the episodes, and one of my neighbors in New Orleans said, "Oh my God, I went back to episode 1 and there was this line that Greg says where you realize he had this planned all along." It's so funny because I don't really know Mike's writing process, but it's like all these pieces to a puzzle and so when he comes up with something like Tanya has to die, I mean, she really did. "I actually had a couple people say to me today they are so glad that I didn't die," Coolidge tells EW with a laugh.

"The White Lotus" star Jennifer Coolidge recalled in an interview with Ariana Grande an "awkward" moment she had after sleeping with a younger man.

“I did say that jokingly [in a previous interview] and, God, you really can’t make jokes in our town, because I did make the terrible mistake of saying, ‘Thank God for that movie, I got to sleep with 200 men’ or whatever. So he was so young, we called his mother to see where I could get a blow dry.” “This one guy was particularly young — legal, of course, it was all very legal — but it was funny because we had to …

It was Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya blasting the high-end gays (and their big-donged Italian friend) with a gun before they could do the same to her, only for her ...

[season three](https://uproxx.com/tv/the-white-lotus-prediction-season-three/). “I don’t know if I would have the guts to do that now but at the time it really was sort of a great decision.” [The White Lotus season two finale](https://uproxx.com/tv/white-lotus-misery-index-finale-tanya-boat-ethan-daphne/) wasn’t Portia’s grandma-core outfit; she’s been dressing that way all season.

Jennifer Coolidge is riding high in Hollywood right now, thanks to her starring role on "The White Lotus," and she credits Ariana Grande for helping her get ...

I know you’re a very humble person, you wouldn’t admit to it, but I’m just going to thank you.” Coolidge called Grande a “superstar” and told the singer, “I’m curious if you know that when people ask about how my life has changed… “You were sort of the instigator.

Jennifer Coolidge has shut down rumors that she slept with "200 people" after filming 'American Pie', saying her comment to Variety was merely an ...

even if it involved her going to the “local mall.” “But afterwards, the next morning, I told him I needed to get a blow dry. “God, you really can’t make jokes in our town, because I did make the terrible mistake of saying, ‘Thank God for that movie, I got to sleep with 200 men,’ or whatever. [Entertainment Weekly](https://ew.com/tv/ariana-grande-interviews-jennifer-coolidge-entertainers-of-the-year-cover-2022/)’s 2022 Entertainers of the Year, an accolade earned by her show-stopping performances in this year’s [The Watcher](https://decider.com/show/the-watcher/) and [The White Lotus](https://decider.com/show/the-white-lotus/), the latter of which got her a [Golden Globe nomination](https://decider.com/2022/12/12/golden-globes-nominations-2023-full-list-nominees/). Coolidge began to answer by saying, “Well, it was definitely the youngest fellow. She says her comment, which she made months ago, was merely an exaggeration — however, she did have one “weird encounter” with a younger man (Girl, we’ve all been there).

Jennifer Coolidge wanted to do her own stunt like Tom Cruise for the Season 2 finale before showrunner Mike White told her no.

Coolidge summed up, “The thing that was interesting when I was arguing with Mike — well, not arguing, but talking about the way she loses her life — is he was saying it has to be at the fault of herself and not anyone else. “He did say Greg was going to be behind a plot that was not good for Tanya and that Tanya was going to go out with a bang. Coolidge added, “I tried to talk him out of it, but Mike is very strong. “Even before he was planning for Italy, Mike told me he wanted me in ‘White Lotus 2.’ And then I don’t know how many months after, he called me up one day and said, ‘Well, I guess I have to tell you this now so you can prepare.’ And I said, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘You die, Jennifer. It would be weird to say, ‘Hey you can go home now.’ She was this very cool Italian woman, and she was very funny, so yeah, it would be weird to just send her home.” I wanted it to be me.

Jennifer Coolidge says Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next helped restart her career, which has since included an iconic role on The White Lotus.

[Grande's "Thank U, Next" music video](https://www.popsugar.co.uk/beauty/Ariana-Grande-Thank-U-Next-Beauty-Looks-45541160), which came out in 2018. And I think it's pretty cool," Coolidge said. [unforgettable Tanya McQuoid on "The White Lotus"](https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/white-lotus-why-love-horrible-characters-49038341) has catapulted her to a new level of fame — and she says it all began with Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" video.

Jennifer Coolidge was happy to “clear the air” on a comment she made about sleeping with 200 men after starring in American Pie. Read her message on the ...

It was very clear that we were in the bed together." It was so weird that happened on the phone. She noted, "It did sort of open up the world to a much broader group of handsome men—and younger men." "This one guy was particularly young," Jennifer continued. And look, I would love to say that was true, but I mean, that was sort of an exaggeration." "Afterwards, the next morning, I told him I needed to get a blow dry.

Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya shooting a bunch of gays in 'The White Lotus' finale is one of the funniest things ever.

walk to the bottom of the yacht so it is easier to get inside the boat. It’s nearly high fantasy in that it forces the audience to believe that someone like Tanya could be capable of such a shootout. Tanya’s death is not only one of the funniest death scenes ever committed to a visual medium, but one of the funniest scenes ever committed to a visual medium; right up there in the hall of fame of scenes that should be depressing but are deeply funny like Chris Moltisanti’s intervention on The Sopranos or the death of Mrs. Her critical thinking skills fail her, and she falls to her death. [season two finale](https://uproxx.com/tv/white-lotus-misery-index-finale-tanya-boat-ethan-daphne/) ends with a great tragedy, and we are all [recovering](https://uproxx.com/tv/white-lotus-tanya-death-reactions/) in our own ways. Moments later, Tanya tries to jump into a boat to escape in platform heels.