Jennifer Coolidge is set to return to HBO’s tropical satire “The White Lotus” for Season 2, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Variety.
The first season of the six-episode dramedy, hailing from writer, director and executive producer Mike White, was set at an exclusive high-end resort and followed the exploits of various guests and employees over the week. Though it was first billed as a limited series, the wildly popular show (which received rave reviews and a ton of buzz over the summer) was expanded for a second installment. According to HBO, the anthology narrative leaves Hawai’i “and follows a different group of vacationers as they jet to another White Lotus property and settle in temporarily amongst its inhabitants.”
Coolidge’s portrayal of Tanya McQuoid, a drunk, tragic middle-aged woman who books a trip to the hotel with the intention of scattering her dead mother’s ashes, made her a Season 1 favorite. McQuoid’s penchant for kaftans and striking up a spaced-out conversation with whomever in her proximity that is willing to listen made her one of the few somewhat endearing characters in a show otherwise full of snobs and snakes. McQuoid wasn’t perfect though, as she dangled an opportunity before Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda, the manager of the hotel spa, with little awareness about how life-changing her proposition would be for the wannabe wellness guru if it actually came to fruition.
In an interview with TVLine, White noted that he wanted a couple of the characters from Season 1 to make an appearance for the second round, but having all of the characters come back on the same vacation wouldn’t make much sense. Coolidge’s role as a repeat White Lotus property customer, however, is fitting.
HBO declined to comment. TVLine first reported the news.