What’s the opposite of lounging by the pool in an exotic Thailand resort? The answer is all that Carrie Coon has been up to in the days following the riveting The White Lotus finale.
"I’ve really just been at home in my sweatpants," Coon says over the phone from her place in upstate New York. "I go to the grocery store. I’m making lunch for the kids and going to appointments. I watched the finale in my basement with my husband [actor-playwright Tracy Letts]. Nothing in my life has changed."
Well, nothing except that the Emmy-nominated actress can now speak freely about playing a key role in the most-talked-about TV series of the year. No, her Laurie character didn’t mash up poisonous seeds in a blender, wield a gun or engage in drug-induced illicit sexual activity on a luxury yacht. She actually undertook something far riskier: A week-long girls’ trip with her two gorgeous and successful childhood friends (Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan) during a major ebb in her life. But despite a few ultra-tense moments, the three managed to leave the resort as a strong unit.
Coon is well-aware of Laurie’s positive impact on viewers. "She was just really relatable," she says. "I think social media makes everyone feel like they’re the left-out person and the grass is greener on the other side. Laurie embodies what everyone is living with."
As for any real-life R&R, forget it. Just two days after returning home last summer, she reported to the Long Island set of The Gilded Age to film season three of the HBO drama. (It premieres in June.) Goodbye colorful bathing suits, hello gorgeous late-19th century costumes to play the delicious new-moneyed matriarch Bertha Russell.
"This is a working mom’s life," says Coon, who’s appeared on the small screen steadily since her stand-out performance in The Leftovers. "There’s no balance and certainly no napping. It’s not easy." But, she’s quick to add, "These are champagne problems."
Still, Coon did have time to break down it all — including that powerful monologue to her friends in the April 6 finale — to the Television Academy.
Television Academy: When you signed on to do the show, how much information did you have about the character?
Carrie Coon: I had read all eight scripts. [Creator, director and showrunner] Mike [White] and everybody understood that if I were going to Thailand and leaving two small children behind, I was going to need to weigh that against the material. So, before I made the decision, I knew where Laurie was heading.
What appealed to you about her?
I understood it to be the most accessible storyline. She was the secret heart of the show and absolutely does transform. We don’t know how far, and we don’t know what the consequences will be for that friendship, but she does change. That was interesting to me.
During the ladies’ last supper, when Laurie gives that speech about how she’s happy just to “have a seat at the table,” it would have been so easy for her to just seethe out of jealousy. Why didn’t she?
I think ultimately Mike is asking questions about what actually matters. I think people enjoy watching White Lotus for satire and a social commentary and the cattiness, but Mike is preoccupied with things a lot bigger than just that. He is deeply compassionate and curious, and that’s the way he conducts himself. So he’s asking this question of identity — and that’s powerful storytelling. I know in my own life that asserting ego can lead to isolation and loneliness. Living your life when it’s all about you is not very fulfilling.
The moment is surprisingly inspiring, no?
Because we’re not actually that vulnerable with each other. People are afraid to, like, bring down the buzz. We should all be more willing to be more exposed.
Did you happen to film it toward the end of the shoot?
It was at the end, thankfully. We were usually wildly out of order! By then, I had so much respect for Leslie and Michelle and for their process. It was an honor to speak to them like that and have them listen. Honestly, that final monologue doesn’t exist without the real relationship that we had made with each other. That speech came from truth.
Overall, which day did you wake up and think, “This is going to be a tough one.”
I love tough days! If you’re an actor, you relish the days where you get to do something. It’s the days where you’re sitting around all day and do two lines that are not fulfilling. I couldn’t wait to do the sex scene and that stunt [in Episode 7].
Hoping you would say that! Go on...
It was so much fun. Exposing yourself to the world requires a whole other level of vulnerability. But when I chose to do that, it was because it was moving the story forward. I don’t just take it all off for anybody; only when it’s in the service of the story. And I loved the stunt stuff of her jumping out the window. I could do action for the rest of my life.
After such a time-consuming and taxing shoot, how did you pivot to that Gilded Age mindset?
It was impossible! I don’t even want to see those scenes. I said to my director and my crew, "Look, I know this is television. I know we’ve got a big day, but I’m going to need some extra time, because I don’t know how to walk or talk or stand up straight." Luckily, my costumes hadn’t been built yet, so I was just in my bedroom in nightgowns that first week. I could build up my stamina.
Want to give an early tease?
It’s such a blur. The thing that I love about this season is that we dispensed with any exposition, and we are just full-on plot and character right now. We take some big swings.
It feels like both Bertha and Laurie don’t take any B.S. Is that part of your personality, too?
Yeah, I seem to get that job a lot. It’s funny, because I grew up in the Midwest, and so I’m very much about not calling people out and being absolutely conflict-averse. But I’ve learned a lot from playing these women, because in my real life it’s just not true. Though Laurie is in some ways closer to me — at least in her eating habits!
Please, all you ate on screen was fruit.
It was 120 degrees! Fruit was the only thing that was going to cool you off. You’re also eating for two hours straight because you’re in the background of everyone else’s meal scenes. There were piles of tissues next to us because we were sweating so much. Your brain is boiling, and you have to still deliver this language.
Now that the series has aired, have you noticed a tide shift around you?
I would say that people are eager to sign me up for their television shows. So the success of the show affords me the possibility of just being very patient, which is good, because I need to be with my family right now. But whenever a show is on the air, there’s always a little bump in being recognized. I certainly notice that energy at the grocery store or picking the kids up at school. But the cycle moves so fast these days. I know in two weeks’ time, when my blonde hair grows out, this will dissipate, and I’ll go back to being a sweatpants wife and mom and wondering what we’re going to cook the kids for dinner.
At least until Mike calls you for Season 4, right?
If it came to it, I would be so lucky to work with Mike again. As long as my family has their say in that decision! But whatever happens next, I hope I can do something that I’ve never done before. That will be exciting.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
