The White Lotus season 2's Aubrey Plaza jokes that her co-star Haley Lu Richardson has been stalking her for years. The White Lotus is an anthology series where each season focuses on the goings-on at one of the resorts in a fictional chain known as White Lotus. The first season, which starred an ensemble that included Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, and Alexandra Daddario, took place in Hawaii and followed the events that lead to the death of one of the characters. The series was so popular that it won 10 Emmys, prompting a new season to hit the airwaves this year.
The White Lotus season 2, which takes place in Italy, premiered its first episode on HBO on October 30, introducing a new cast of characters alongside Coolidge returning as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt. Included among their number is Plaza's character Harper Spiller, a rigid lawyer who is married to rich tech mogul Ethan (Will Sharpe). Richardson is playing Portia, the assistant that Tanya brings along during her stay. The rest of the cast of the season includes Theo James, Michael Imperioli, Tom Hollander, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, and F. Murray Abraham.
Recently, Richardson and Plaza sat down for a conversation with Interview magazine. Plaza joked that Richardson has been stalking her for years, appearing in many surprising places including the Child's Play 2019 premiere and her birthday party. She even went so far as to befriend Plaza's friends to get closer to her, prompting Plaza to say that, "Even though she’s stalking me, and maybe eventually she’ll cut me up into a million pieces and eat me, I like her. In fact, I love her." Read their full quotes below:
Aubrey Plaza: I met you because you were stalking me. Just for all the readers out there, Haley stalked me for years. After I met her at the MTV Awards, she stalked me at the Chucky, AKA Child’s Play, premiere… You can find multiple pictures online.
Haley Lu Richardson: And I made friends with all of Aubrey’s friends at the premiere so that I could get closer to her life. Then Aubrey’s friend invited me to Aubrey’s birthday without asking Aubrey. So I showed up and I remember we locked eyes at the bar and you just went, “You.”
Aubrey Plaza: And it didn’t matter how many mushrooms I had taken that night. I knew that my stalker had arrived. But there was something deep down inside all along that was like, “Even though she’s stalking me, and maybe eventually she’ll cut me up into a million pieces and eat me, I like her. In fact, I love her.” And so when I heard that you were cast on The White Lotus, I was like, “This is some f—king witchy karmic shit.”
Haley Lu Richardson: The first text I got from you after—I literally have it saved in my “Aubrey” photo album in my camera roll that’s all about important moments for us.
Aubrey Plaza: Oh my god.
Haley Lu Richardson: I also have the video where you were interviewed and you were asked who would play you in the biopic of your life and you said me. That’s the best video I’ve ever seen.
Aubrey Plaza: Because that was right after I had watched Unpregnant. And I was like, “This girl’s fucking good.”
Haley Lu Richardson: But I’m pretty sure the first thing you ever texted me was the bloody knife [emoji]—
Aubrey Plaza: : Oh yeah. That’s classic me.
Haley Lu Richardson: You didn’t say your name, didn’t say who it was. That first message was very cryptic. But I immediately knew it was you.
Aubrey Plaza: And now look at where we are.
Will Aubrey Plaza & Haley Lu Richardson's Characters Meet In White Lotus Season 2?
Despite the fact that working on The White Lotus season 2 helped solidify their friendship, Plaza and Richardson report that they didn't actually share any scenes on the series. This is entirely possible, given how large the ensemble cast for the show is this season. It also seems that Richardson's character will largely be tied to wherever Coolidge's character is, and she may not interact with Plaza all that often.
There is also the question of scheduling so many actors to film The White Lotus. While it is clear from their conversation that the pair spent time together on set, they may not have been present simultaneously during scenes where their characters actually exist in the same room as each other. It's possible that the series will draw inspiration from Arrested Development season 4 and include scenes with their characters together that are cleverly edited to make it look like the entire cast is assembled in one place, even if they didn't technically film together.
Source: Interview