INN FOR TROUBLE
Guests behaving badly in new comedy on HBO
THESE people are about to check in for an unpredictable stay. Comic miniseries “The White Lotus” follows a group of eccentric guests and employees at an exclusive tropical resort in Hawaii.
There’s high-powered executive Nicole (Connie Britton), her husband Mark (Steve Zahn) and their teen daughter Olivia (Sydney Sweeney, “Sharp Objects”), who’d rather do drugs than enjoy her surroundings; hapless resort manager Armand (Murray Bartlett); ditzy Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), who’s on a trip to scatter her mother’s ashes; and Rachel (Alexandra Daddario, “True Detective”) and Shane (Jake Lacy, “The Office”), a couple on their honeymoon.
“I loved the material, I loved the character, and I was eager to get back to work,” Daddario, 35, told The Post. “It was the end of 2020, so it had obviously been a hard year. And I was itching to do an adventure. I’m really grateful that it was such a wonderful project.”
Rachel is a friendly New York journalist from a modest background who’s married into a wealthy family. Her new husband often belittles her job and starts complaining about
their idealistic surroundings — becoming obsessed with the idea that they’ve been cheated out of a more luxurious room at the resort as he and Armand engage in a battle of wits.
“If you’re with someone [on vacation] and everything seems to be going wrong around you, you can make it fun and funny if you’re with the right person,” Daddario said. “If you’re with the wrong person, then everything great just becomes a disaster.
“I do understand that feeling of angst that you’re trapped in a relationship that you shouldn’t be in, and not really knowing what to do, and you’re constantly trying to make it better,” she said. “Rachel sort of has this sense of wanting everything to be okay all around her. And that can be quite exhausting and anxiety-inducing.”
The series was shot on location at the Four Seasons Resort in Maui.
“We were quarantined in the hotel,” said Daddario. “But the beach was beautiful and there was a little cove where there were these gorgeous big turtles. I’d go snorkeling there, come back, do a little walking on the beach, and then go back to the hotel. That was my routine.”
While “The White Lotus” is a comedy, it opens with the implication that somebody died before flashing back to the events leading up to the fatality. “I’m excited about everyone seeing the ending,” said Daddario. “I don’t read reviews or read much of anything. I have Twitter and Instagram, so I see some things. I used to be obsessive and follow everything and I found that’s not healthy for your brain, so I stay away, mostly. But I have heard people are enjoying [the show]. And that brings me a lot of joy.” Daddadrio comes from an acting family; her brother Matthew (“Shadowhunters”) and her sister, Catharine, are also in the business. “I was 10 or 11 and started doing commercials in New York,” she said. “I loved acting class; I found it to be very therapeutic.” Daddario began her career starring in the movie adaptations of the “Harry Potter”- esque book series “Percy Jackson,” now being turned into a series at at Disney+. (Daddario will likely not be involved.) “It’s cool to see there’s a new generation of people who will enjoy having a TV series,” she said. “I’m excited for it.”