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The White Lotus Season 2: Meet the Guests Checking Into the Sicily Resort

Jennifer Coolidge leads a mostly new cast in the Emmy-winning anthology's second season.
  • Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, and Meghann Fahy in The White Lotus Season 2. (Photos: HBO)
    Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, and Meghann Fahy in The White Lotus Season 2. (Photos: HBO)

    Rich, white people behaving badly? It would have to be The White Lotus, which returns for its second season just six weeks after dominating the Limited/Anthology Series categories at the Emmy Awards. Jennifer Coolidge serves as the lone main cast member to reprise their role in Season 2, but the absence of Murray Bartlett, Sydney Sweeney, and Alexandra Daddario will hardly be felt, as Mike White’s drama is re-upping with a stacked cast and a beautiful Sicilian backdrop. From Michael Imperioli’s Dominic Di Grasso to Sabrina Impacciatore’s resort manager Valentina, here’s your guide to the new faces checking into The White Lotus Season 2.

    Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt

    Photo: HBO

    When viewers last left Tanya McQuoid, she was throwing her mother’s ashes into the ocean, finally free of her immobilizing indecision. Just over a year later, she’s now married to positive-vibes-only Greg and sporting a new, hyphenated last name. A prominent member of the White Lotus Resort’s Petal & Blossom Circle, Tanya travels to Sicily with her new husband and assistant.

    The expectations couldn’t be higher for Coolidge, who won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for her performance as the wealthy, unstable Tanya. Coolidge is the only main cast member from The White Lotus Season 1 to return for Season 2, though there are bound to be a few callbacks to her time in Hawaii, where she first met Greg.

    Beyond The White Lotus, Coolidge can be seen this fall and winter in Ryan Murphy’s limited series The Watcher and Jennifer Lopez rom-com Shotgun Wedding. She is also in pre-production on Legally Blonde 3, in which she will reprise her role as Elle Woods’ manicurist Paulette Parcelle.

    Jon Gries as Greg Hunt

    Photo: HBO

    After appearing in the final three episodes of The White Lotus Season 1, Jon Gries reprises his role as Greg Hunt, the Bureau of Land Management — not, as Tanya initially thinks, the Black Lives Matter movement — employee Tanya meets at the resort in Hawaii. Now married, Greg is eager to embark on a romantic getaway with his new wife, but he’s less than pleased to discover that Tanya’s assistant will be tagging along.

    A working character actor, Gries is best known for playing Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. He has also appeared as Roger Linus on Lost and Rusty the Bum on Seinfeld.

    Haley Lu Richardson as Portia

    Photo: HBO

    A small-town girl and recent college graduate looking for adventure, Portia finds herself in the lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you feel about Tanya) position of traveling with her boss to Italy. Portia is played by Primetimer favorite Haley Lu Richardson, who broke out in the mid-2010s with roles in The Edge of Seventeen and Split. The White Lotus marks her first main television role, though she has appeared in select episodes of Ravenswood, Recovery Road, and Jane the Virgin.

    Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina

    Photo: HBO

    Taking over Armond’s role is Sabrina Impacciatore, who plays the passionate, dedicated manager of the White Lotus resort in Taormina. Valentina demands perfection from her staff, but the group struggles to meet her lofty expectations.

    Italian actress and comedian Sabrina Impacciatore is relatively new to American audiences. The bulk of her credits come from Italian productions, including Paolo Virzì’s Napoleon and Me and Wilma Labate’s Miss F, both of which earned her David di Donatello (Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars) nominations.

    Aubrey Plaza as Harper Spiller

    Photo: HBO

    Though she got her start in the comedy world, Aubrey Plaza has spent the past decade sinking her teeth into dramatic roles, and The White Lotus’s Harper is no exception. Newly wealthy after her husband Ethan finds professional success, Harper visits Italy with Ethan’s college roommate, Cameron, and his wife, Daphne, but the women quickly fall into a pattern of economic one-upmanship.

    After wrapping her six-year turn as Parks and Recreation’s April Ludgate, Plaza changed direction, booking roles in indie dramedy Ingrid Goes West (which she also produced), FX superhero drama Legion, and Chucky revival Child’s Play. She also received praise for her performances in thrillers Black Bear and Emily the Criminal. Plaza is bringing this darker edge back to her recent TV work, which includes animated black comedy Little Demon and the upcoming adaptation of Xóchitl González’s Olga Dies Dreaming.

    Will Sharpe as Ethan Spiller

    Photo: HBO

    Ethan and his college roommate Cameron have been friends for years, but it’s only after Ethan makes a killing selling his tech company that Cameron finally invites him to vacation in Italy. He is portrayed by Will Sharpe, who broke out as the creator, director, and star of black comedy Flowers in 2016. In addition, Sharpe has starred in BBC series Giri/Haji and served as a writer and director on Landscapers, which was released last year on HBO.

    Meghann Fahy as Daphne Babcock

    Photo: HBO

    One year after The Bold Type ended its five-season run, Meghann Fahy returns to television as The White Lotus’ Daphne, a stay-at-home mom who immediately clashes with her traveling partner, Harper. While the Freeform series is her most prominent work, Fahy has also appeared in daytime soap One Life to Live, Necessary Roughness, Chicago Fire, and Deception.

    Theo James as Cameron Babcock

    Photo: HBO

    If Ethan is new money, Cameron, a wildly successful businessman from a wealthy family, screams old money — and he wants you to know it. Cameron is played by Theo James, who made a name for himself as Tobias “Four” Eaton in the Divergent film franchise. More recently, he played heartthrob Sidney Parker in British drama Sanditon and just wrapped a leading role in another HBO series, The Time Traveler’s Wife.

    F. Murray Abraham as Bert Di Grasso

    Photo: HBO

    The patriarch of the Di Grasso family, Bert is visiting Italy with his son, Dominic, and grandson, Albie. Bert is getting frail, but he still sees himself as virile and capable, despite his son’s doubts.

    A veteran of the screen, F. Murray Abraham gained prominence in the 1980s as drug dealer Omar Suárez in Scarface and as composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, for which he won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actor. Abraham failed to book many major roles in the years that followed — he’s often cited as an example of the “Oscar jinx” — but in 2012, he joined the cast of Showtime’s Homeland, earning two Emmy nominations for his performance. Currently, Abraham can also be seen in Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest and Marvel’s Moon Knight.

    Michael Imperioli as Dominic Di Grasso

    Photo: HBO

    The first star announced to be joining The White Lotus Season 2, Michael Imperioli plays Dominic Di Grasso, a Hollywood producer visiting Sicily with his elderly father, Bert, and post-college son, Albie, to explore their ancestral roots.

    Dominic is a character familiar to Imperioli: From 1999 to 2007, he starred in The Sopranos as Christopher Moltisanti, a rising star in the DiMeo crime family who ultimately distances himself from the mob by producing a film and working to become a Hollywood screenwriter. Imperioli has also appeared in films ranging from Goodfellas to The Lovely Bones, and has popped up in episodes of Hawaii Five-0, Escape at Dannemora (in which he played then- Gov. Andrew Cuomo), and Hulu comedy This Fool.

    Adam DiMarco as Albie Di Grasso

    Photo: HBO

    After being persuaded to join them on vacation, Albie, a sweet and observant college graduate, finds himself forced to keep the peace and diffuse the tension between his father and grandfather. The role is a big one for Adam DiMarco, who has been acting steadily since he was a child. Before White Lotus, DiMarco’s biggest roles came in The Magicians, Netflix drama The Order, and Canadian sketch comedy series Pillow Talk.

    Tom Hollander as Quentin

    Photo: HBO

    Tom Hollander (not to be confused with Spider-Man star Tom Holland) plays Quentin, an English expat vacationing in Sicily with his friends and nephew, Jack. The British actor came up in the theater world before establishing himself as a successful character actor in projects including the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, Joe Wright’s Hanna, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Next up, Hollander will play Truman Capote in Season 2 of Ryan Murphy’s Feud, which will tell the story of the New York playwright and author.

    Leo Woodall as Jack

    Photo: HBO

    A magnetic guest staying at the resort with his uncle, Quentin, Jack is played by up-and-coming actor Leo Woodall. Woodall’s first major role came in 2021 with an appearance in Cherry, but The White Lotus marks the beginning of a big year for him: He’s set to appear in the Russo brothers’s sci-fi drama Citadel and play the male lead in Netflix’s series adaptation of One Day.

    Beatrice Grannò as Mia

    Photo: HBO

    Beatrice Grannò plays Sicilian local Mia, a talented singer in search of her big break who catches Dominic’s eye. The Italian actress previously appeared in films Wonder When You’ll Miss Me and The Time of Indifference, but American audiences are probably most familiar with her performance in Netflix superhero drama Zero.

    Simona Tabasco as Lucia

    Photo: HBO

    Like Mia, Lucia is a Sicilian local who frequents the resort in search of work and opportunity amongst the wealthy clientele. The White Lotus also marks the Hollywood debut of Simona Tabasco, who has worked on Italian productions since making her screen debut in 2014 film Perez. She has also appeared in TV series Luna Park and DOC — Nelle tue mani.

    The White Lotus Season 2 premieres Sunday, October 30 on HBO.

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    Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.

    TOPICS: The White Lotus, HBO, Adam DiMarco, Aubrey Plaza, Beatrice Grannó, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Jennifer Coolidge, Jon Gries, Leo Woodall, Meghann Fahy, Michael Imperioli, Mike White, Sabrina Impacciatore, Simona Tabasco, Theo James, Tom Hollander, Will Sharpe