Tanya McQuoid is one of the main characters in Season 1 and Season 2 of HBO's The White Lotus. She is portrayed by Jennifer Coolidge.
Biography[]
Season 1[]
Tanya was a needy and self-absorbed heiress. In Season 1, her mother recently died and so she goes to The White Lotus to seek inner peace and discovery as well as to spread her mother's ashes. She desperately seeks a massage but finds the spa fully booked. Instead, she participates in a ceremonial chant with Belinda, the spa manager.
Tanya later invites Belinda to dinner and offers to fund a potential wellness business. She cancels the dinner when asked out by Greg, a sport fisherman staying next door. She eventually decides to stay with Greg despite his terminal illness. She shares her desire with Belinda to end her dependency on transactional relationships so she backs out of funding her wellness business. Tanya leaves a substantial amount of cash for Belinda before departing.
Season 2[]
Tanya arrives at the resort in Sicily with her husband Greg. Tanya brings along her young assistant, Portia, to the romantic getaway, which angers Greg. In order to appease her husband while still keeping Portia's services, Tanya orders Portia to stay in her room and remain out of sight.
Tanya's relationship with Greg becomes further strained when he unexpectedly leaves the resort to fly back to Denver for work. During her stay at the resort, Tanya becomes upset and seeks Portia's support after Greg's departure.
Tanya consults a tarot reader who tells her that Greg is in love with someone else, adding to her distress. She also forms a friendship with Quentin, a wealthy English gay man, who introduces her to his friends and provides her with a positive experience. Tanya's background and past are hinted at when Portia divulges sordid details of Tanya's history to Albie, violating a non-disclosure agreement. Additionally, Tanya is shocked to discover a framed photo of Quentin with a man, possibly Greg, when they were younger.
Tanya's emotions continue to fluctuate, reflecting the complexities of her marriage and personal life. Ultimately, Tanya's story takes a dramatic turn when she becomes paranoid and panicked after finding duct tape and rope in Niccolo's bag. She retrieves Niccolo's gun and ends up killing Niccolo, Quentin, and Didier. Her paranoia leads her to believe that Greg may have orchestrated a plan to kill her so he can inherit her fortune. In her attempt to escape, she slips, hits her head, and drowns. Her body is later discovered by Daphne in the water close to shore.
Trivia[]
- Tanya and Greg are the only two characters who were in both Season 1 and Season 2 of the series