From creator/writer/director Mike White, the second installment of the HBO series The White Lotus is set at a beautiful resort in Sicily, Italy, where hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) is ready to assist various guests in achieving everything they want out of their trip, whether that’s with family, for business reasons, or of a more romantic nature. Having been dragged by her boss (Jennifer Coolidge) on what was supposed to be a romantic getaway, assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) finds herself sidelined when she crosses paths with Albie (Adam DiMarco), a nice guy who has gotten fed up with the behavior of his father (Michael Imperioli) and grandfather (F. Murray Abraham).

During this interview with Collider, co-stars DiMarco and Richardson talked about why they were so excited to be a part of this series, playing such real characters, the difficult spot Albie’s family puts him in, what it was like for Richardson to work with Coolidge, and exploring the relationship between their characters in such a condensed period of time.

Collider: What made you guys each want to be a part of this? Had you seen the first season, or was it something specific about your characters and this relationship that you wanted to explore?

HALEY LU RICHARDSON: I wanted to be a part of the show because I saw the first season when it came out. Everyone became obsessed with it, and I was becoming obsessed with it. I’ve been obsessed with Mike White for a really long time and wanted to work with him forever. Well, not forever, but for a few years. So, when I found out there was a second season and that there was a role for me that they wanted me to audition for, I was like, “Duh! I wanna be a part of the show, yeah.”

ADAM DiMARCO: It was the quickest yes, ever. Mike White’s writing is just the best writing I’ve ever gotten to work with and work on. The scripts were the best scripts I’ve ever read, so I think it’s such a treat to have material that you could actually sink your teeth into, and that has so much going on with so many different layers. Every character has an arc and a journey, and these amazing moments where they’re unpredictable. He writes them like they’re real people.

RICHARDSON: It’s almost as if they are.

DiMARCO: They’re so close to being real people.

RICHARDSON: It’s also crazy that there are so many of us in the show and that there are so many characters that feel like main characters, in a way.

DiMARCO: Yeah, everyone has a satisfying journey, just to be a piece of this bigger puzzle where the picture is beautiful. I’m just happy to be a piece of the puzzle.

Adam, your character finds himself at this hotel with his father and grandfather on what was supposed to be a family trip that turns into a little bit of a disaster because the women in their family don’t want anything to do with the men. How do you feel all of that really most influences and shapes what your character goes through this season?

DiMARCO: It puts Albie in a difficult spot in the family. He’s torn. His grandfather has fully taken his father’s side, and then his sister has fully taken his mother’s side, and he’s stuck in the middle. But he’s a self-described peacemaker, so he’s trying to keep everything together. Sometimes that can be hard, especially if people, like Dominic, his father, aren’t really looking to change. The second he gets there, he already has Lucia. He’s made an appointment with a prostitute, the second he touches down in Sicily. He doesn’t seem like he’s willing to change. Albie gets caught up in that family dynamic, but in a way where he’s hoping to show his father that he can change.

Haley Lu, your character finds herself on this trip because her boss drags her along, which never sounds like the most fun thing, and Tanya is not the most normal boss either. What was it like to work with Jennifer Coolidge to find that dynamic?

RICHARDSON: There’s something crazy about it, for sure. I feel like my job, as an actor, with the scenes that I’m in with Jennifer, was really so much just reacting. There were times when I tried to confide in her and release my woes onto her, but she reacts by just not hearing it, at all. My job with her was really just to be there and react to whatever goes on, which I, as a person who’s acting as Portia, found really fun and interesting. Sometimes I was the one that wasn’t really doing much in the scene. Not really leading wherever the scene is going can be unfulfilling or boring, or whatever. With Jennifer, it wasn’t boring. I felt like I had time to observe her and learn from her, and be inspired and laugh, and pee my pants laughing.

DiMARCO: Would you go so far as to say that acting is reacting?

RICHARDSON: I would go so far as to say that, yes.

The relationship between your characters is so interesting because, in a matter of days, they form this sweet connection, and then they’re distracted by other people and trying to make each other jealous. What was it like to play all of that, in such a short time span in their lives?

DiMARCO: Yeah, it’s really an accelerated relationship, in a way, and it starts as relationship of convenience.

RICHARDSON: It’s like, “Oh, there’s a guy my age.”

DiMARCO: “And he’s right here, next to me at the pool. I might as well talk to him. We’re both looking for an escape from our situations." I think Albie needs some time away from his father and grandfather. He finds that in Portia, who he genuinely likes and who, to him, is very exciting and different from most of the people he knows. There’s an initial attraction and a first kiss.

RICHARDSON: It would be a meet-cute, but it’s the opposite of a meet-cute.

DiMARCO: A meet-ugly?

RICHARDSON: I don’t know. Especially in the beginning, all of our scenes start out like, “This is sweet.” And then, you’re like, “Whoa, these people are on two different planets.” There’s such a disconnect, which is a cool thing that happens all throughout the show and was obviously so apparent in the first season. These people, in their lives and relationships with others are so disconnected.

DiMARCO: They’re both trying to make it work, which is funny. It’s a little mini-relationship. Playing the scene at the bar was very fun, watching Portia hit on Jack (Leo Woodall). That was a fun scene. A lot of stuff got left on the cutting room floor. There was a great take where Haley [Lu Richardson] and Simona [Tabasco] were yelling at each other, as they left the bar. I wish that had made it in.

RICHARDSON: Yeah, that was funny. That was fun.

DiMARCO: It’s nice that Lucia stands up for Albie and helps him to have a bit of a backbone.

The White Lotus airs on Sunday nights on HBO.