Movies - TV
Mike White Couldn't Help But Relate To Quentin While Filming The White Lotus Season 2
By MIYAKO PLEINES
Spoiler Warning!
This story contains spoilers for Season 2 of "The White Lotus."
In Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) discovers her new charming friend Quentin is actually working with the Mafia to wine and dine her into a murderous trap. Mike White, the show's creator, actually relates to Quentin because of how similar Quentin’s dynamic with Tanya is to White’s dynamic with Coolidge; both White and Quentin also share a peculiar sensibility.
White told The Ringer his plans to kill off Coolidge mirrored her character’s arc, explaining, “The reason I said I relate to Quentin is because I feel like I was doing to Jennifer what Quentin was doing to Tanya. [...] I want[ed] her to have this great sendoff. But I [was] always heading to kill her. [...] As a director, I'm setting up this whole thing and it feels like Quentin was doing that too.”
Like Quentin, White also identifies as gay and is fascinated by classic divas like Tanya. White confessed, “I think there's a little bit of sadism in it. Women that are classically divas for gay guys, like Judy Garland, they also like to see them suffer.” White recognizes that this “makes [him] sound diabolical,” and interestingly, White kills Quentin right along with Tanya.