In a Variety interview Actors on Actors, Jennifer Coolidge and Jeremy Allen White had a conversation about their iconic characters from The White Lotus and The Bear. They opened up with a deep conversation about how they both felt insecure in their roles. They both wanted validation, which turned into them talking about how they related to their roles.

Coolidge opened up the conversation by asking White about how he conjured up so much anxiety for Carmy. He replied that it was rooted in his life: “I was certainly anxious when we were getting started. I’m anxious to start any job. I found a lot of parallels, and I tried to make them real between myself and Carmy. I was on a show [Shameless] for 11 years before The Bear. And I felt like it was such a big opportunity, and I was putting so much pressure on myself as an actor. I think for Carmy, too, he was trying to establish coming back home and prove his worth to these people who weren’t taking him seriously.”

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Jeremy Allen White turned the conversation on White Lotus' Tanya and how that character deals with loneliness. Coolidge admitted it was mostly stagnant: “Well, Carmy is so busy, but I felt like Tanya is stagnant. There wasn’t anything really that active about her to prepare her until her ending,” she said, before continuing that she felt awkward with the gun that made it real.

“It’s my awkwardness with the gun that I think really helped. We had to reshoot that a bunch of times. ‘Where’s the gun? The inside of the bag is black. I can’t find it.' But it all felt real. When you’re on a boat and you’re in the middle of the ocean and there is nowhere to go, what if your castmates hate you? They could just push you. Anyone can get rid of you on a boat.”