The White Lotus' Messiest Scenes Were The Most Rewarding For Will Sharpe To Film
When "The White Lotus" Season 1 concluded in August of 2021, its final episode neatly wrapped up the various storylines kicked off in its pilot five episodes prior. Not long afterword, however, HBO announced that, on the strength of its first season's popularity, "The White Lotus" would become an anthology show and continue for at least one additional season. Shortly before its premiere, actor Theo James promised a new "White Lotus" for Season 2, describing how its Sicilian setting imbues the show with an altogether different energy than its prior batch of episodes, which take place in Hawaii.
"The White Lotus" Season 2, Episode 1 premiered on October 30, introducing viewers to a brand new group of wealthy hotel guests and those peripherally involved in their lives, in addition to marking the return of Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya McQuoid from Season 1. The cast of "White Lotus" Season 2 also includes names like Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, Haley Lu Richardson, F. Murray Abraham, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Will Sharpe, among others.
Sharpe specifically portrays Ethan Spiller, whose former college roommate Cameron Babcock (James) invites he and his wife Harper (Plaza) on a trip to Sicily, hence their stay together at its White Lotus resort. In conjunction with the "White Lotus" Season 2 premiere, Sharpe revealed in an interview that some of the scenes he found messiest and most difficult to film for this "White Lotus" season were also some of his favorites.
Will Sharpe found emotional vulnerability rewarding
Immediately in "The White Lotus" Season 2, Episode 1, Cameron and Daphne (Meghann Fahy)'s normative marriage stands in stark contrast to that of the brainier but more cynical Ethan and Harper. On the date of the "White Lotus" Season 2 premiere, Buzzfeed published an interview with Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza in which they discuss working with one another as well as their characters' awkward dynamic.
To close out their conversation, interviewer Karlton Jahmal asked if any scene was particularly enjoyable to film. "I don't know about a specific scene, but in a funny way, probably like the hardest scenes to shoot are the most rewarding. You know, we really had to be vulnerable with each other," Sharpe replied. "They were the most fun, in a weird way, even though they were the hardest."
Haley Lu Richardson shared a similar account of how emotionally draining, rewarding work was required of her for "The White Lotus" Season 2. "Being on a freaking set with all these people, 20 hours a day, six days a week, doing all this vulnerable stuff in front of them can be so chaotic and overwhelming," she told The Daily Beast, before recounting how much she enjoyed working with showrunner Mike White.
As "The White Lotus" Season 2 continues, then, viewers can rest assured that, when things get awkward for its characters, based on Sharpe and Richardson's accounts, their actors seemed to have taken pride in such moments of vulnerability.