Warning: This post contains spoilers for “The White Lotus.”
For fans of “The White Lotus,” Jennifer Coolidge’s departure from the series is hard to believe — even though it's been more than a year since the Season Two finale.
Coolidge, the 62-year-old star of the show's first two seasons, tells TODAY.com during an interview about her Super Bowl pregame show commercial that she still has trouble accepting it, too.
“People are asking me if I’m in it. I can honestly say, to this moment, no one has even mentioned it to me,” she says. “I think I’m dead. I think I’m dead right now and may be dead forever.”
For those who missed the ending of Season Two, Coolidge's character, Tanya McQuoid, took a tragic fall off the side of a boat off the shore of Sicily, hitting her head and falling into the ocean.
Despite Tanya's tragic demise, Coolidge, who has won two Emmys and a Golden Globe award for her role on "The White Lotus," says she’s very excited to see what's in store for the show's next season — though she wishes she could take part, too.
“I’m jealous of everyone that’s going. I just want to stress I’m not a good sport about it, but there’s nothing I can do. When they kill you, you have to accept it. Because it means they’re not calling for your costume sizes or anything,” Coolidge says with a laugh. “It’s over! I have to get another thing. I have to make another thing happen, I guess.”
She adds: “But am I sad? I just want to say in all honesty, I’m very sad I’m not in it.”
And even though Coolidge hasn’t personally seen what's on tap for Season Three, she only has good things to say.
“I had a blast,” she says of her time on the show. “I think it’s going to be good. There’s going to be all sorts of good stuff in it, probably great sex stuff. You know how Mike White writes — it’s never, never a dull moment. I think he’s going to slay with this one.”
HBO has confirmed the Mike White-created show will be filmed in three cities throughout Thailand — Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok — and that cast members include Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger, plus a familiar face from Season One, Natasha Rothwell.
“I think that’s a great place for another ‘White Lotus,’” Coolidge says of Thailand. “It’s never a dull moment with (White). I promise everyone it will be riveting, whatever he writes.”
Details about the plot of the third season are thin — HBO has not shared anything officially, though White has teased some of the themes that may appear in Season Three.
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” White said in an interview with HBO that aired after the Season Two finale in 2022. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
The anticipation will only rise from here: HBO and Max chairman/CEO Casey Bloys said in November that Season Three likely won't premiere until 2025, due to the impact of the writers and actors strikes on the company's production schedules.
