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Jennifer Coolidge explains why Tanya had to go in ‘The White Lotus’

The actor reflected on her career and the "White Lotus" character that elevated it in a new interview with Variety.

Jennifer Coolidge has thoughts on those gays trying to murder her.

Last December, “White Lotus” fans watched in horror as Coolidge’s beloved character Tanya fumbled her way toward death. The show's Season Two finale shows the self-absorbed heiress leading a clumsy shootout in which she chaotically wields a gun and takes out every one of her potential killers.

However, just when audiences believed she’d survive, her attempt to escape in heels by jumping onto a dinghy saw her trip and fall to her death.

In January, Coolidge took home her second Golden Globe for her performance as Tanya. Now, in a recent sit-down interview with actor Jeremy Allen White (of “The Bear”) for Variety, Coolidge spoke about the hit HBO series’s Season Two finale, her character Tanya’s death, and why the beloved and well-heeled heiress had to die.

“Mike was looking for a big Italian opera ending, and it was big and dramatic,” the actor said of the show’s creator Mike White’s vision of the season finale.

“So he wanted me to die for many reasons. But I also think Tanya’s a lot. Maybe people would get sick of her on another season. Maybe people would be like, ‘Oh, my God. Get rid of Tanya!’”

Coolidge also said that her fear of boating heightened the stakes for her as she filmed Tanya’s final episode, leading to an image of reality.

“It’s the scariest thing to be on a boat. I’m never getting on a boat again. So I was creeped out because we did shoot it in order, hanging out with the guys. It felt very real. I really did like killing them all,” she explained. “When you’re on a boat, and you’re in the middle of the ocean, and there is nowhere to go, what if your cast mates hate you? They could just push you. Anyone can get rid of you on a boat.”

Coolidge also shared her own reaction to the memes inspired by the season’s most memorable line of the series — “These gays, they’re trying to murder me!”

“I’m so thrilled. Mike was very confident about Tanya being pursued by these seemingly friendly gays that seem to be fans of hers,” she recalled. “Then Mike was like, ‘We don’t see the gay men as being evil. This is a bad group.’”

According to Coolidge, Tanya’s famous observation about her sea companions now chases her around the country.

“There was a whole group of gay men in New Orleans that went out on Mardi Gras as Tanya,” she recalled. “Some of them were on scooters, and they all had ‘These gays, they’re trying to murder me.’ It’s happened in other cities."