Actor Jennifer Coolidge reveals that her character in The White Lotus, Tanya McQuoid, was written specifically for her. The HBO property is a limited comedy series, written and directed by Mike White (School of Rock). The six-episode show tells the story of vacationers in a hotel over the course of a week. What was meant to be a refreshing trip turns into something a bit more complex for both the visitors and the hotel's staff.
Coolidge's Tanya is visiting the resort after her mother passed away. While she's still dealing with the grief, she's also desperate to find love. The cast also includes Murray Bartlett as Armond, Connie Britton as Nicole, Alexandra Daddario as Rachel, Fred Hechinger as Quinn, Jake Lacy as Shane, Brittany O'Grady as Paula, Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, Sydney Sweeney as Olivia, and Steve Zahn as Mark. The show also includes some recurring characters in addition to the series' main cast.
In an interview with Collider, Coolidge talked about her experience with being part of The White Lotus. Coolidge reflected on White's statement that Tanya was written with her in mind. Despite being nervous to accept a role due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, she ultimately accepted the part. However, the character is often portrayed as being quite troubled and unstable. In response to that, she said:
"Isn’t that funny, when someone writes a part and they go, 'I had you in mind, Jennifer. I feel like this is very much you.” And then, it’s someone mentally unstable and very insecure, and you’re like, 'Gosh, is this flattering? Is this someone just making fun of you?' It was a great thing to play, whether Mike had good intentions or whatever he thought. It was a really fun part to play, but yeah, I don’t. Yeah, she is all of that. She’s incredibly insecure. With all of her riches, it doesn’t matter. She’s just desperate to be in love, so that it will fix all of her sadness and grief. I think she feels incredibly alone in this world. She didn’t go on vacation with her group of friends. You can tell she’s a real loner. I just love all the variations of what she was, and in the end, I’m so glad that I did it. Sometimes in life, you try to get out of things and you’re just forced to deal with them, and this is one of those moments in my life where I couldn’t get out of this thing. I would have been devastated to watch this show and know that I passed up on this experience, but at the time, it just seemed impossible to do. But what a gift. How many times in your life does someone go, 'Hey, I have a cool part for you,' and then it’s great?"
In the mainstream, Coolidge is most well-known for her supporting role in American Pie as Stifler's Mom. However, she's also starred in projects including Legally Blonde and had a recurring role on 2 Broke Girls. She has an instantly recognizable voice that's easy to identify anywhere, even in her small role in Rick and Morty as an alien from the planet Morglutz named Daphne. Coolidge and White already knew each other before filming the show because he played her love interest in Gentlemen Broncos back in 2009.
Even if some of the character attributes for a given role aren't the most positive, many writers have specific actors in mind when creating characters. Oftentimes, they aren't able to get the first actor that they had in mind, although for The White Lotus, it seemed to work out for White. Coolidge's statement on being the inspiration for this role is quite funny, although her further explanation of the character proves she really understood and embraced her role.
Source: Collider