Beatrice Grannò can describe The White Lotus season two finale with one word: “Genius.”
Like the first season, The White Lotus season two, which airs its finale on December 11, follows a group of tourists, employees and locals over the course of a week at a fictional luxury White Lotus resort in Sicily, which ends in the death of one (or more) characters. Grannò plays Mia, a local aspiring singer who, along with her friend, Lucia, sneak into the White Lotus where they con their way into free food, drinks, clothes and rooms from unsuspecting guests. But, much like other characters in The White Lotus, not everything is as it seems, and beneath Mia and Lucia’s grifter behavior are real wants and needs to go beyond the material.
“What I loved about Mia is she started off as a completely different person. She’s so blocked. She has this little top and a jean skirt. She’s very scared,” Grannò tells StyleCaster on a Zoom call from her home in Rome a week before the finale. “Then she finds her power somehow, which is not just of her body, but her way to be a manager of herself. She’s young. She makes mistakes. She’s very clumsy. She’s soft, but strong at the same time.”
Ahead, Grannò talks to StyleCaster about how she was cast in The White Lotus season two, the cast member she’s known for more than 10 years and her reaction to the “shocking” ending.
What do you remember from your audition for The White Lotus?
I watched the first season, and I loved it very much. When I got the audition for the second season, I watched it again. I remember thinking, “This can’t be! I love this show.” The first audition was a self tape. I sent it in. It was precisely a year ago. Then after Christmas, in January, Mike White arrived in Rome. He picked some actors he wanted to meet in person and I was one of them. I did another audition, and I had to sing a song. I brought my ukulele because I wanted to have my own instrument. Then I did one scene, and that was it. Ten minutes. I left. Two days later, my agent called me saying Mike White and HBO really wanted me in the show. I was so excited and happy. One week later, I was already on set. It happened so fast. I got the script, I read it and I learned I had to play all the songs. I started working on my music, playing the piano every day. I also brought my keyboard in Taormina, and it was in my room, so I was able to practice.
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It’s a very chaotic show. I love that it was set in Italy because Italy can be quite chaotic.
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What were the songs you sang in your audition?
I sang “That’s Amore” at the audition in presence, and in the self tape, I did “The Best Things in Life Are Free.” They chose them for me. I was laughing about it because I was thinking, “Yes, of course. I’m Italian, I’m singing ‘That’s Amore.’” But it makes sense. The White Lotus talks about American tourists and rich Americans going to this place. So in Italy, it’s what they want to hear. “That’s Amore.” It’s the traditional Italian image.
A lot of Mia’s scenes are with Lucia, who’s played by Simona Tobasco. Do you remember the first time you met each other?
The first time I met Simona was 10 years ago. We were auditioning for the same drama school and we had two first steps. The third one was where we stayed one month in the school auditioning to get in. We were both really young. She was the funniest girl I’ve ever met. We laughed a lot. She was crazy. Then I didn’t get into the school, but she got in. So I moved to London and got into drama school in London. We spent four years apart. But then I got back to Italy and we met again on an Italian series. Then we became closer and closer until The White Lotus. I remember one of the first times I met her, we were at school and I met her in the toilet. She told me, “Beatrice, for this audition, I want to do a scene where I cry because I love to be a dramatic actress.” I remember her saying that to me, and I was laughing because she’s so funny.
Image: Courtesy of Phrancesco Guarnieri.
Did you both know you were auditioning for The White Lotus?
We knew we were doing the self tape. Then I got called for a callback, and I said, “I’m not going to say anything to Simona because maybe she didn’t get a callback. Or maybe she got a call back, but she already knew.” We didn’t want to create that dynamic. I kind of suspected she was called for a callback too, but I was just concentrated on myself. Also we were both very excited, so I was scared of going, “Oh! We both got a callback! Yes!” Both of us wanted to be very down to earth, and not go crazy. So we didn’t say anything to each other. Then I remember I did the audition with Mike White. A few days later, I talked to my agent, and I said, “Do you have any news about The White Lotus?” He said, “OK, I’m gonna tell you this, but it’s not confirmed yet. You and Simona are the favorites.” I said, “What!” But then he said, “Don’t tell Simona because it’s not confirmed yet, and I know her. She’s gonna be so happy and we need to just calm down.” Then the next day, Simona called me. I saw she was calling me and I was thinking, “What am I going to say to her?” Then she called me and said, “Why don’t you tell me things? I found out!” The next day, we had the confirmation, and she actually was the one who told me because my agent called me, but I didn’t hear my phone. So he called Simona, and then he said, “Say this to Beatrice.” So she called me. We did a FaceTime. It was late. It was midnight. We were really happy.
How similar are the characters in The White Lotus to tourists you’ve seen in Italy?
There are definitely similarities in terms of wanting to have the real Italian experience. It was really funny to see Jennifer Coolidge being obsessed with going on a vespa. I see that in Rome a lot. The streets in Rome, we call it sampietrini. Most of the streets have these kind of stones. They’re disconnected from each other. So going on a vespa is not as nice. It’s funny how some tourists are really obsessed with that as the Italian experience. I think it’s quite accurate. But I don’t think this series is about them going to Italy. Italy is just a nice environment and contest they’re put in.
What was your reaction when you read the sex scene between Mia and Valentina in episode six?
I remember reading that and then going to page one and asking, “How do we get there?” She was so innocent. What I loved about Mia is she started off as a completely different person. She’s so blocked. She has this little top and a jean skirt. She’s very scared. Then she finds her power somehow, which is not just of her body, but her way to be a manager of herself. She’s young. She makes mistakes. She’s very clumsy. But at the same time, she’s very sweet. She’s always smiling. She’s soft, but strong at the same time. The first time I read she was going to seduce the manager, I thought it was great for so many reasons. First, you don’t always see female pleasure told on screen. At the same time, I loved it because it wasn’t written as her being sexual to her. It was much more of a friend helping a friend. It’s like, ‘I’m here. You help me, I help you.’ Mia says, ‘I want to give you a gift.’ It’s never sexual.
Image: Courtesy of Francesco Ormando.
What were Mia’s intentions with helping Valentina?
It’s funny that you ask that because that scene with Sabrina [Impacciatore] was the scene I did the audition with Mike. Before doing the scene, I asked Mike, “So she’s doing this because she wants to play the piano. She’s manipulating her or is she being nice?” He said, “A little bit of both.” I said, “What do you mean? It’s like, yes, she wants to do something nice for her, but at the same time, she wants to get something for herself. I thought it was a good way to describe Italianity. I don’t want to say something bad about Italy, but Italian people, they always kind of get what they want. I invite you to my restaurant. I give you free wine. I give you free food and you are my best friend now. But they do that so that tomorrow, you come back. It’s the same kind of thing. She’s doing it because she wants to be able to play the piano at the hotel, but also she’s doing something nice for her and she’s genuine about it.
What was your reaction when you found out who the killer was and who the dead bodies were?
I read the script the first day I got it. I was very shocked. But I’m not going to say anything.
You knew from the beginning?
They sent me the whole script by day one because I had to know what my character arc was. That’s how they did it, so I knew it right away.
Did you like knowing from the beginning?
For me as an actress, in order to do a good job, in order to tell a story that made sense, I need to know everything because I need to know where I’m going, where I’m starting and where I’m arriving. Also when you should film a series, you never film scene by scene. You maybe film the last one and then the first one so there was no point for me to not find out.
Were there any characters you wanted Mia to have scenes with that she didn’t?
Everyone. I only have scenes with Giuseppe, Valentina and Lucia. I wish I had the chance to go deeper with other characters, but the thing is Mia does not speak English very well. There was no point for her to create that storyline. But I wish maybe in the future I’ll have the chance to work again with some of them.
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I don’t think this series is about them going to Italy. Italy is just a nice environment and contest they’re put in.
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Who did you become close with from the cast?
I became close with Haley [Lu Richardson], with Adam [DiMarco], with Aubrey [Plaza]. It was mainly me, Simona, Aubrey, Meghann [Fahy], Adam and Haley. It’s pretty much everyone. We’re sometimes exchanging groups. Maybe I would spend an afternoon with some people and then we change and go somewhere else. We’re all very close. We were always together. We were staying all in the same hotel. We spent so much time together. We got to know each other. We had dinner. We had parties.
What do you think the theme of season two is?
I think it’s chaos and misunderstandings. There’s something about breaking the equilibrium of things. I think it’s about breaking things in order to fix it. It’s a very chaotic show. I love that it was set in Italy because Italy can be quite chaotic.
What do you think the season is trying to say about sex and relationships?
I don’t think it’s trying to say anything, because I don’t think it has that style of “I want to explain you this.” But it definitely portrays sex as a way to be powerful or less powerful. There are so many things that can happen when you touch that world. For example, Harper and Ethan have no intimacy in comparison with Daphne and Cameron, who have it a lot, but at the same time, there are so many other problems. Harper and Ethan, they love each other so much. They’re so honest with each other and they kind of broke the sexual tension. It’s interesting to see how sometimes sexuality is different from relationships. They’re two separate things sometimes. Two people can love each other and have no sex or can hate each other and have a great sex life. Also with Lucia’s character, the way she is never a victim. The way Mia opens up to that because she’s blocked. With Valentina, she discovers her sexuality and a way to be happy and have pleasure.
Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Tanya, was in both season one and two. If Mia survives this season, how do you think she can be in future seasons of The White Lotus?
If she survives, I think it would be amazing to have her come back and maybe tour the White Lotuses. But it would be boring. I go there and it’s me at the piano. If I survive and if I go back, I wish I could have something different. You never know. Maybe a cameo would be fun of me appearing somewhere, playing the piano. I don’t know. We’ll see.
The White Lotus is available to stream on HBO Max.
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