Jennifer Coolidge on Pamela Anderson Playing Her 'White Lotus' Sister

Jennifer Coolidge, winner of the the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series award for “The White Lotus” and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for "The White Lotus," poses in the press room during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

(Image credit: Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty)

published 1 March 2023

This post contains spoilers about the ending of The White Lotus season 2.

Jennifer Coolidge stole hearts with her role as Tanya McQuoid on seasons 1 and 2 of The White Lotus.

But when Tanya hit her head while trying to escape from a yacht full of would-be murderers, she was killed off, to the outrage of her legions of fans.

If we can't get Coolidge back for season 3, fans are thinking we should get Pamela Anderson in there instead.

Pop culture writer Tara Watson tweeted, "The only thing that will heal our broken culture is if Pamela Anderson is cast in the next season of The White Lotus as Jennifer Coolidge’s grieving sister," and found support from hundreds of people who would love to see that happen.

Recently, Coolidge attended the SAG Awards, where she received two honors. While on the red carpet, she was asked what she thought of the possibility of Anderson playing her sister.

"Oh, wow!" she told Entertainment Tonight. "I just recently saw Pam's documentary, and I called 100 people to watch it. I swear to God, we all had the same reaction—it's amazing, have you seen it?"

She added, "She's so... You finally get the real story, and she's going to have this huge comeback!"

Then Jon Gries, who plays Tanya's husband Greg, piped up, "What if Jennifer played Jennifer's sister?"

But Coolidge quickly shut that possibility down: "Uh... I don't think Mike's going to allow that," she said.

According to Digital Spy, Anderson herself would be on board if she got the call from show creator Mike White. "I heard about it," she said on The Drew Barrymore Show. "I can't get it in Canada because my HBO app doesn't work because my Apple ID is American, so I can't get it there so I tried to watch it. I want to watch it but I heard everyone loves it and it’s crazy. I'm up for anything."

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.