Do plot twists get any more twisted?! The final seconds of this social satire/murder mystery’s fifth episode saw super-rich White Lotus hotel guest/diva Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) make a jaw-dropping discovery. During a nighttime wander through the lush villa owned by her new pal, the wealthy, fabulous, worldly, gay Quentin (Tom Hollander), she opened a door to see him and his supposed nephew, studly, fun-loving Jack (Leo Woodall) having sex. She backed away, unseen by the pair.
So, are these two men really related, or have they been pretending to be as part of a bigger ruse or con that will unfold in future episodes of The White Lotus Season 2? “I think you’re supposed to wonder,” says Woodall, whose character is having a hot-and-heavy fling with Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson).
The actor’s take when he learned of the men’s secret and maybe incestuous relationship: “When I found that out, my first thought was, ‘wow that is bold,’ but then I started thinking, actually no, my feeling is they may be pretty odd, but you’re not supposed to know what is real and what isn’t.”
A surprise like this could tip the already-fragile Tanya, whose husband Greg went off on an alleged a business trip for two days in the middle of their romantic getaway, over the edge.
“It’s a moment in which Tanya starts to think, ‘this world that I thought was a wonderful new safe space for me is not what I thought it was.’ She also is polite enough to not mention it … but clearly things are taking a strange turn,” Hollander says.
As for shooting the scene, Hollander says with dry wit, “Leo is a very, very handsome man, as you can see, and so there wasn’t anything difficult about it, except it was being filmed.”
Check out the video for more from the actors on what it was like on set, their takes on what’s next for Quentin and Leo, and who is capable of the White Lotus murder we know is looming.
“It’s almost got something of the Agatha Christie about it. Everyone’s capable of doing something extreme,” Hollander says.
The White Lotus, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO
