Alexandra Daddario played one of the biggest breakout characters of The White Lotus Season 1. Her character Rachel blew up on social media and elsewhere after the release of the series, most notably thanks to Daddario's bikini scene that served as a setdown to a couple of mean teenagers. She’s credited The White Lotus for a career resurgence in the past, and recently spoke out about whether or not she would be interested in returning to Mike White’s hotel-based universe.
No surprise here, but the actress says she loved working with Survivor fan-favorite and TV creator Mike White. Should a future season of The White Lotus need her, she’d be open for a return, and I personally think it could be fun to get an update on what’s been going on with Rachel since the events in TWL’s Season 1 finale, though she told In Style:
I love working with Mike [White]. I'd always go back if it made sense and he had a good idea. I just want to see what he has in store. He's such a genius and everything is so wild and you never know what to expect. I just want to see more of the same.
Even before reading the quotes, it's no surprise her answer would be yes; the show has been critically acclaimed and a big career plus for those whose lives have been touched by it. However, one thing that is also worth pointing out about The White Lotus Season 1 is that it was filmed completely differently from most television shows. Wrapping in 2020, the show was actually the brainchild of HBO and Mike White simply wanting a series that could be filmed on location in one place after the cast quarantined. What better way to do so than at a luxury hotel?
While this worked for the first season of the series, that bit is not an experience the actress would love to repeat. And to her point, if she were able to come back, it would be like creating a totally different show with different parameters.
[Filming during the pandemic] was such a weird time — so I know the second season was a really different experience [from] the first season — but it was fun always having everyone there to support you. We were stuck there together, and that was a really unique and special experience that I won't have again. God willing, I won't have and, hopefully, there won't be another pandemic.
It's as good of a reason to want to come back as any, I'd wager. But the other point she made is the one I'm most interested in, as she'd noted she'd love to share a screen with Aubrey Plaza's character, Harper, an uptight wife who was having some challenges in her marriage during her season (Season 2) as well.
She said of the character she'd most like to be seen onscreen with she'd, "love to go with Aubrey Plaza anywhere."
I have no idea how those two characters would interact; whether they'd find commonalities or be repelled by one another, but I do think it would be fun to be a fly on the wall when they were filming. It helps that I was extremely invested in the Harper and Ethan storyline and the way it shaped out against the temptations of Ethan and Daphne
Of course, there's all kinds of speculation about which characters might come back in future seasons; Season 2 famously brought back Jennifer Coolidge and Season 3 has Natasha Rothwell coming back (from what we know so far about The White Lotus Season 3). Plus Season 3 has been teased as "longer, bigger, crazier."
Plus there's a whole subfandom who would really like to see more Survivor cameos on The White Lotus. I'm just saying, White has a lot of options that would also get my attention. All I need are a few more cameos to be fully sated; I'm just saying, Ms. Daddario has officially thrown her name into the mix.
