‘The White Lotus’ Season 2: First Trailer, New Cast & Everything Else We Know

It’s time to head to Sicily! The White Lotus is back for season 2 after its critically-acclaimed first season! Mike White created the HBO comedy-drama series which follows guests and employees at the fictional White Lotus resort. The cast united in Los Angeles on October 20 for the red carpet premiere. The star-studded event took place two week after the release of the season 2 trailer, which revealed the brand-new characters who find their lives intertwined while vacationing at The White Lotus resort in Sicily.

The first season was set in Hawaii and featured an all-star cast including Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Sydney Sweeney, Murray Bartlett, and Molly Shannon. It scored huge ratings for HBO and won 10 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Following the surprise success of the show, HBO renewed The White Lotus for a second season.

The White Lotus is now an anthology series, and each season will feature a new cast playing characters on vacation in a new place. The second season will take place in Italy and is titled The White Lotus: Sicily. Creator Mike White told Entertainment Weekly that the new season will delve into the “archetypal sexual politics” in Sicily. Here’s everything you need to know about season 2 of The White Lotus, including the cast, release date, and more.

The White Lotus Season 2 Premiere Date

Season 2 of The White Lotus will premiere on Sunday, October 30 from 9-10PM ET/PT on HBO. There will be seven episodes in season two. Each episode is expected to air weekly every Sunday night, with the finale likely airing on December 11. The show will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

The White Lotus Season 2 Trailer

“Whenever I stay at a White Lotus, I always have a memorable time. Always,” Tanya says in the opening moments of the trailer. Two couples are vacationing together, while there’s a family boys’ trip that gets off to a shaky start. 

“Now that he’s loaded, I think he regrets marrying such a dud,” Cameron says about Ethan. Ethan’s wife, Harper, thinks Cameron and Daphne have ulterior motives for inviting them on vacation.

Tanya’s husband, Greg, is peeved that Tanya brought along her assistant on vacation. Tanya begins to wonder if Greg is having an affair. That looks more likely for Cameron, who is seen flirting with women who offer him drugs.

By the end of someone’s vacation, somebody’s carried out in a body bag. “Italy’s just so romantic. You’re gonna die. They’re gonna have to drag you out of here,” Daphne says.

The White Lotus Season 2 Filming

Production on The White Lotus: Sicily began on February 28, 2022. The cast filmed at the Four Seasons San Domenica Palace in Taormina, Sicily in Italy. Filming officially wrapped in July 2022. The following month, HBO announced that season 2 would premiere in October. The first season of The White Lotus filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Hawaii in late 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Season 2 Cast

Of the original main The White Lotus cast, only Jennifer Coolidge is returning for the second season. She’s back as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, who traveled to Hawaii in season 1 to spread her late mother’s ashes. Jon Gries is also returning as Greg, who was Tanya’s romantic interest in Hawaii. The rest of the season 1 cast, which also includes Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Natasha Rothwell, and Steven Zahn, won’t appear in the second season.

Now it’s time to talk about the famous faces joining The White Lotus: Sicily. F. Murray Abraham is starring as an elderly man, Bert Di Grasso. Michael Imperioli will play Bert’s father, Dominic Di Grasso, while Adam DiMarco will play Dominic’s son Albie Di Grasso, a recent college graduate. Theo James and Meghann Fahy are playing husband and wife duo Cameron and Daphne Babcock. Aubrey Plaza and Will Sharpe are playing Harper and Ethan Spiller, who are married, and are vacationing with Cameron and Daphne. Rounding out the cast is Tom Hollander as Quentin, an English expat traveling with his friends and nephew; Haley Lu Richardson as Portia, a young woman working for Tanya; and Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina, the manager of the White Lotus resort in Sicily.

The White Lotus Season 2 Red Carpet Premiere

The red carpet premiere for The White Lotus: Sicily took place in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 20, ten days before the premiere. The cast including Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, Murray Abraham, Jon Gries, Haley Lu Richardson, and Sabrina Impacciatore posed for photos on the carpet with creator Mike White.

Jennifer looked absolutely gorgeous in a black lace nude dress and a pair of black heels. Aubrey stunned in a red one-shoulder gown with a thigh-slit and a cut-out under one of her breasts. The entire White Lotus: Sicily cast was all smiles as they posed with each other and celebrated the second season of the hit show.

What Will Happen In Season 2?

Season 2 of The White Lotus is going to be “totally different” than season 1, according to Aubrey Plaza. “I know it’s a lot to live up to, but Mike is so good about making the second season different,” the actress told Entertainment Tonight in August. “It’s still ‘The White Lotus,’ but now it’s in Italy, so it has a totally different vibe and so, I think people are going to be surprised.”

Aubrey told EW in September that season 2 has “more intense drama and plot twists” than the first season. “It’s more heightened in the way that it made sense for the stories that happened on this volcanic island,” she said. “Of course the stories and the characters are more volcanic because that was the energy in Sicily.”

Creator Mike White, who also directs and produces the series, told Deadline that The White Lotus: Sicily will deal with “a new mystery” that involves “sexual politics.” In an interview with Vulture, Mike confirmed that a major storyline will involve the frenemy relationship between Aubrey and Meghann’s characters. He also said he wanted to stray away from “colonialism” in the second season. “I didn’t know that I had the gumption to wade into those waters again, knowing I was going to get sniper fire from every direction,” he said. “Maybe the classic sexual politics, the naughty subversive stuff we’re getting into, will take the edge off a little bit from that.”

Mike shared more about the new season to EW in September. “The kind of mythology of Sicily, at least from the point of view of Americans, is the archetypal sexual politics and role play that you associate with, like, opera and the mafia and Italian romance. I felt like it should be more focused on men and women and relationships and adultery and have an operatic feel to it, so I pivoted,” he said about creating the second season.

Star Meghann Fahy described The White Lotus: Sicily as “more sinister” and “a little bit sexier” than The White Lotus: Hawaii. Returning star Jennifer Coolidge teased what’s in store for Tanya in Sicily. “She’s married to Greg and they’ve been married long enough now that the honeymoon is definitely over,” the Emmy Award winner told EW. “She’s going to be contending with that.”

Fans are hoping that there will be many more seasons of The White Lotus. Before the show got renewed for season 2, Mike White told TVLine how more installations of the franchise could work. “It would have to be a different hotel, like, say, The White Lotus: San Tropez or something,” he said. “I don’t think you can credibly have [all the Season 1 guests] on the same vacation again. But maybe it could be a Marvel universe type thing, where some of them would come back.”