- Coolidge played Tanya McQuoid in the first two seasons of the hit HBO show
- The show helped to revitalise the actress’s career
- Season three, set in Thailand, premieres tonight
Jennifer Coolidge was one of the standouts of the first two seasons of The White Lotus and her compelling performance brought her a renewed recognition afterwards.
Coolidge played Tanya McQuoid, a rich yet lonely heiress who first came to The White Lotus in Maui to scatter her mother’s ashes. She was at times funny, outrageous and pitiable, both a comedic and a tragic figure.
Read more: White Lotus season 3: Everything we know
With The White Lotus set to return for a third outing in Thailand, some fans have wondered if there’s any chance of seeing Tanya again after season two’s shocking climax.
Spoilers for The White Lotus season two follow.
Is Jennifer Coolidge coming back for season three?
The short answer is, unless she happens to reappear in flashback, probably not. After all, we can’t expect to see Coolidge return given that Tanya died at the end of season two.
Read more: The White Lotus season 3 stars’ past roles
In a dramatic series of events, Tanya realised that a man she befriended, Quentin (Tom Hollander) – who also had some mysterious link to her husband Greg, was conspiring to kill her. This moment inspired the immortal and much-memed line, “These gays, they’re trying to murder me!” She stole a gun and shot not only him, but the others on his boat.
It seemed for a second that she had narrowly escaped with her life, but then she fell from the boat and drowned. Daphne (Meghann Fahy) discovers her body when it washes up on the beach.
Who will we meet in the third season of The White Lotus?
Coolidge might not be returning but there are plenty of new characters to get acquainted with in the new series of The White Lotus. There’s one returning face too in the form of Belinda, the massage therapist who appeared in season one.
Read more: Who is starring in The White Lotus season 3?
Funnily enough, Belinda and Tanya did interact a fair amount. At one point, Tanya suggested investing in Belinda’s dream wellness business but tried to back out to avoid repeating a pattern of forming transactional relationships. She did, however, leave her some cash as she checked out.
Elsewhere, the new stars of season three include Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aime Lou Wood, Blackpink’s Lalisa Manobal, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Carrie Coon, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravičius and Scott Glenn.
