Season two of TheWhiteLotus opens up with several new mysteries—like why Ethan and Harper are on vacation with extremely rich friends they seem to have nothing in common with?
Ethan is an interesting character in this first episode, where we know that he has come into his very sudden wealth because he sold a company. But he doesn't seem to be someone who has aspired to that. He seems like kind of a humble guy. Is that how you read him?
I think that's fair. He's also maybe someone who's almost uncomfortable with his own success and almost uncomfortable with his own ability. There's a sense that he's suppressing his competitive instincts, or even his male instincts in a sort of stereotypical way. You do find him in a place where it feels like he's conflicted in some way and he’s holding a lot of stuff in. He's quite internal in that first episode and inscrutable.
One of the big questions that you have have watching these scenes with the four of you together is like, why would they go on this trip? Obviously Cameron and Ethan have this connection because they were in school together, but they do seem diametrically opposed to one another. What was Ethan's reasoning for for wanting to do this vacation?
I honestly feel like he hasn't really thought it through properly. Harper has all these theories— is Cameron, now that Ethan's so successful, is he trying to get something out of him in a business way? Maybe on a subconscious level, Ethan does have his own reasons for accepting the invitation beyond just like, “Hey, maybe like now we have this money, it's okay for us to go on a big splashy holiday like this. Let's see how it goes.