Abe Friedtanzer
HBO’s The White Lotus boasts an entirely new cast for its second, Italy-set season, with two notable exceptions. One of them is Tanya, played by Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge, and the other is the man who is now her husband but harbors some troubling secrets, Greg, played by Jon Gries.
Awards Radar had the chance to speak with Gries about the explosive popularity of the show and some particularly wild theories circulating about what Greg is really up to. Gries shared highlights from his long career and his affinity for this show that truly found a devoted audience. He recalled filming his first big scene of season one and hearing for the first time that maybe he might stick around:
“I remember Mike White thinking aloud and saying, you know, maybe Tanya and Greg end up in season two. I was so committed to my character. I wasn’t trying to be glib or anything weird. I said, Greg can’t show up in season two! He’s going to be dead, because he’s so sick. I was playing him like this was the last run for him. Mike was like, you can’t tell me that. I write this show! I can do whatever I want with Greg. And he walked away. It was a really funny exchange, and it turned out to be actually quite prophetic.”
On sharing scenes with Jennifer Coolidge, Gries explained:
“Before working with Jennifer Coolidge, I used to pride myself on not breaking character and not laughing. She’s got an arsenal, and her curveballs just come out of left field. They make it hard to stay concentrated. I’m amazed how they were able to, particularly on the Vespa, edit around my laughter. She kept saying things and doing things and it was just crazy.”
Listen to the full conversation below:
The White Lotus is streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9pm on HBO.
Comments
Loading…