The two stars have appeared in season two of White Lotus
(Picture: HBO)Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand SKIMS recently tapped Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Granno to model for its Valentine’s Day collection.
The actresses, who made names for themselves as The White Lotus’s Mia and Lucia, posed in Barbie-pink underwear sets etched with little hearts.
Since the second season of the hit show has aired, the pair has taken the world by storm, appearing on the front rows of fashion shows and Hollywood’s biggest talk shows.
And, to many fans’ surprise, the actresses have been friends in real life for many years - they met when auditioning for drama school.
So, who exactly are Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Granno, and what’s in store for them now that they’ve become Hollywood’s sweethearts?
Who is Simona Tabasco?
Simona Tabasco is a 28-year-old Italian actress from Naples, living in Rome.
Her onscreen career began when she was cast in the second season of the Italian teen drama Fuoriclasse in 2013, in which she played a Muslim character named Aida Merlissi.
Tabasco tried to balance her new job with her studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome but, eventually, her repeated absences led to her expulsion.
In 2014, she made her big-screen debut playing Tea in Edoardo De Angelis’s movie, Perez, which earned her the Premio Guglielmo Boraghi at the 2015 Nastro d’Argento awards.
Over the years, her career continued to blossom as she took on roles in various TV series and movies, including her time as Elisa Russo in DOC - NelleTue Mani, an Italian medical drama.
However, she gained international acclaim when she joined the cast of The White Lotus in 2022 as Lucia, a sex worker in Sicily.
Speaking to Vogue, Tabasco said: “I feel like I’m living in a really special moment.
“Now that the finale has aired, I’ve received a lot of outreach and Instagram messages of love, especially from people in the US, which is great because, here in Italy, people aren’t watching quite as much.”
Together with her castmates, she has been nominated for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series category at the 2023 Screen Actors’ Guild Awards.
Who is Beatrice Granno?
Beatrice Granno, 29, is a native of Rome, Italy, whose career began in 2014 after she was cast as Valentina in the Italian show Don Matteo.
She appeared in a number of TV series and movies including Wonder When You’ll Miss Me and The Time of Difference, before joining Simona on the cast of DOC - Nelle Tue Mani, as Carolina Fanti.
Her big break happened when she took on the role of Mia, a local aspiring singer who resists her friend Lucia’s attempts to make her a sex worker, in The White Lotus.
Granno told The Face: “Sometimes I feel that, in my head, I’m both in Italy and America. Here in Italy, people love it, but it’s not as big.
“I was having breakfast at a café this morning in Rome and there was a group of American young girls on holiday. They recognised me from The White Lotus and that was the first time [I’ve been approached in public]. So that was exciting!”
What are Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Granno’s upcoming projects?
According to IMDB’s records, Granno has already filmed a movie entitled Euphony, which is yet to be released. She has also joined the cast of a drama named Cattiva Coscienza that is currently in production.
As for her friend, Tabasco, there are no publicly revealed projects in the works. On what’s next after The White Lotus, Tabasco told Vogue she “would really love to be part of an international project,” where she can improve her English.
