The White Lotus season 2 cast is ready to check in for another disaster of vacation in the hit anthology series. The cast features all-new, big-name actors, though one of the first season’s biggest stars is coming back.
The White Lotus season 2 takes viewers to the Italian island of Sicily. There, the show once again follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week.
Let’s meet the key guests and employees and who is playing them this season.
Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuiod-Hunt
Jennifer Coolidge’s turn as Tanya in The White Lotus season 1 was a sensation and resulted in the actress winning her first ever Emmy. Fans are likely ecstatic that she is one of the few holdovers for this new season. So is Coolidge for that matter, calling the chance to return for The White Lotus season 2 a gift.
"I just think maybe deep down I really love to play someone who is kind of a mess, you know, ripped apart inside," said Coolidge of Tanya. "I think she’s someone who loves things too much and, you know, eliminates her mystery. And I think that’s why men don’t really want her, she’s just too much."
Outside of The White Lotus, Coolidge is best known for her role in American Pie, Legally Blonde and The Watcher.
Jon Gries as Greg
The only other returning cast member from The White Lotus season 1 is Jon Gries' Greg. In the first season, Greg and Tanya begin a relationship, though Greg reveals he is probably going to die soon from an illness. Well, turns out that’s not the case, as he marries Tanya and her wealth seemingly helped him beat what he was dealing with. In season 2, Greg is less than pleased to find that Tanya has brought her assistant along on their romantic getaway.
Viewers will know Gries from Napoleon Dynamite and Lost.
F. Murray Abraham as Bert Di Grasso
Bert is the eldest of three generations of Di Grasso men vacationing in Sicily to discover their roots. However, despite being a bit frail, Bert is convinced he is just as virile and capable as he was years ago.
Abraham discussed what it was like working with Michae Imperioli and Adam DiMarco, who play his family on the show:
"We got along so well and we had such respect for each other. … And what turned out to be three really different men became a unit, we became a family. … [O]ur relationships, one to the other, as individuals and as characters, was very clear; partly because of the excellent writing and partly because of the artistry of the actors."
Abraham’s other well known credits include Amadeus, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mythic Quest.
Michael Imperioli as Dominic Di Grasso
Dominic Di Grasso, the son of Bert and father of Albie, is a Hollywood movie producer who finds himself in the middle of a big generational gap.
"My character is in an interesting position because he’s caught between these two very different generational views of male/female relationships," Imperioli said. "He sees the flaws in obviously Bert’s attitude toward women, wives, and yet he also understands a lot of it. … And the same with [Albie], he understands being enlightened about the current state of relationships, you know, the post MeToo generation and all that."
Imperioli is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos.
Adam DiMarco as Albie Di Grasso
Albie is the youngest of the Di Grasso men on the trip. He is sweet and observant, which often puts him in the role of peacekeeper in his family.
DiMarco on working with Mike White:
"Mike is such a strong writer that a lot of it is right there on the page, and simply just showing up and being present and being true to the scene, everything is taken care of. That being said, we were obviously still allowed to play and inject parts of ourselves into the characters and into the scenes, which was really fun."
Some of DiMarco’s other credits include The Order and The Magicians.
Meghann Fahy as Daphne Sullivan
Daphne is on vacation with her husband Cameron and another couple, Ethan and Harper. It’s that dynamic with the other couple that is going to be key throughout the season, as Fahy explains:
"Witnessing sort of the genuine joy and affection between Cameron and Daphne is sort of refreshing in comparison to the other couple." However, is Daphne and Cameron’s relationship as perfect as it seems on the surface?
Fahy is also known for her role in The Bold Type.
Theo James as Cameron Sullivan
Cameron is Daphne’s wildly successful finance bro husband. While everything looks good on the surface, James teases there’s dysfunction behind the scenes. Though, "at their core it still kind of works in it’s own f***ed up way," he said.
Viewers will recognize James from The Time Traveler’s Wife, Sanditon and Divergent.
Aubrey Plaza as Harper Spiller
Part of the other couple vacationing with the Cameron and Daphne, Harper and her husband Ethan are newly wealthy. Despite agreeing to go on the trip with the Sullivans, Harper is skeptical of them, as the two couples are wildly different. Those differences are going to be key throughout the season.
"That’s what’s so fun about this show is you assume that one couple … is noble or right or smart, whatever they are, but then as you dig deeper you find that maybe this other couple, they’ve actually figured it out and they actually are navigating the world and their relationship better."
Plaza is well known for her roles on Parks & Rec, Little Demon and Safety Not Guaranteed.
Will Sharpe as Ethan Spiller
Harper’s husband Ethan recently sold his company that brings them into this new class of wealth and leads to Cameron inviting his old college buddy on an Italian vacation.
"What is also interesting is what happens to Ethan and Harper’s relationship when they’re thrown against such a different couple and how that … exposes the cracks, maybe, in their marriage, which, perhaps when we first meet them, has gone a little stale," Sharpe said.
Will Sharpe’s biggest acting role is probably Flowers, but he was also a writer on the hit series Landscappers.
Haley Lu Richardson as Portia
Tanya does not come to a White Lotus alone this time, bringing her assistant Portia along, who just wants to have an Italian adventure. But having a demanding boss in Tanya makes things difficult. Richardson believes Portia may not be as different as she thinks from Tanya.
"She can’t really see the good in any of it because just where she is at in her life. … [W]e were kind of viewing Portia as a mini Tanya. … [I]f she doesn’t get her s**t together and go to therapy and find this internal fulfillment, she could end up being a non-billionaire version of Tanya one day, which would suck."
Haley Lu Richardson’s credits include Columbus, Unpregnant and After Yang.
Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina
Valentina is the passionate, dedicated manager of The White Lotus Sicily, who expects perfection from her staff. Murray Bartlett played the equivalent of that role in the first season of The White Lotus, but Impacciatore sees some key differences between the two resort managers:
"She is an implosive character, because Mike White, the genius he is, he wanted to write a character totally different from the explosive [Armond]. But then Valentina will reveal her real nature."
Sabrina Impacciatore has previously starred in The Passion of the Christ and There’s No Place Like Home.
Beatrice Grannó as Mia
Mia is a Sicilian local who, with her friend Lucia, bounces around the different groups vacationing at The White Lotus. She is a singer looking for her big break. That musical element to the character is something that Grannó could relate to.
"I remember that Mike … was looking for a young Italian girl who could play the piano and sing, and I was so excited because I’m also a musician and I was waiting for a character that would make me do this."
Some of Grannó’s credits include The Time of Indifference and Zero.
Simona Tabasco as Lucia
Another Silician loca, Lucia frequents The White Lotus looking for work amongst the wealthy clientele with her friend Mia.
Tabasco was very pleased with how Mike White depicted her character and the other Italians in the script: "We’re here to portray characters that are Italian, but they’re also so neutral and go beyond a specific type; so they’re human, basically."
Simona Tabasco’s credits include Perez and DOC — Nelle Tue Mani.
Tom Hollander as Quentin
Quentin is a British ex-pat vacationing with his friends and his nephew Jack at the resort. He and Tanya strike up a quick friendship.
Tom Hollander is known for roles in Pride & Prejudice, In the Loop and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Leo Woodall as Jack
Jack is Quentin’s nephew and is described as a magnetic guest of the hotel.
Leo Woodall’s previous credits include Holby City, Cherry and Vampire Academy.
The White Lotus airs on HBO and HBO Max in the US, Sky TV's Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.
You can also check out this fun video of The White Lotus cast thinking which of their co-stars is most likely to do some outrageous things.
