The White Lotus boasts one of the most entertaining and fantastic ensembles on television. It’s difficult to pick a standout because they are all so crucial to its satirical success. Fortunately, this isn’t the first screen credit for any of the stars of this show, and here are other great projects you can (and should) watch featuring these excellent actors.
Cowboys
Grappling with a surprising revelation about his father’s sexual orientation, Mark wasn’t able to make much progress regarding who he was and his acceptance of others. Steve Zahn portrayed someone with much more depth, who was able to see that he needed to support his transgender son and find a way to relate even if the idea was new to him, in the 2021 independent drama Cowboys. The film made its premiere at the NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festival and also starred Jillian Bell, Ann Dowd and Sasha Knight.
SMILF
Nicole tried hard to balance a relaxing vacation with a job that didn’t even know that she was away from home, which didn’t exactly create a stress-free environment. On SMILF, the two-season Showtime comedy series created by and starring Frankie Shaw that aired from 2017 to 2019, Connie Britton played someone else without a good sense of boundaries between work and play. The relationship that her boss, Ally, had with Shaw’s Bridgette was certainly inappropriate and frequently put Bridgette in an uncomfortable position she couldn’t easily escape.
High Fidelity
There’s no denying that Shane is a selfish person only concerned with his own happiness – and his mom’s. He’s definitely not nice to Rachel. But actor Jake Lacy usually plays a much kinder, more sincere character, and one of the best examples of that was his performance in a show that sadly didn’t get renewed for a second season following its 2020 debut. As Clyde on Hulu’s High Fidelity, Lacy was sweet, good-natured, and a very fun romantic fit for Zoë Kravitz’s Rob, a perfect gentleman and the total opposite of Shane.
Why Women Kill
Rachel wasn’t dealt an easy hand when she coupled up with Shane, and though she tried to stand up for herself, it didn’t end up working out too well in her favor since she always let her doubts get the best of her. Alexandra Daddario played someone with a much better sense of what she wanted and how to get it in the first season of the Paramount+ series Why Women Kill, which comes from Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry. Moving in with a married couple puts Daddario’s Jade in complete control, and it’s fascinating to see her manipulate everyone around her.
Promising Young Woman
If there was a competition for the most entertaining character on this show, Tanya would probably win. Jennifer Coolidge steals scenes in everything she’s in, from Legally Blonde to American Pie and so many other projects in the past two decades since those two movies were released. One recent entry that found her blending into the background more than usual but still doing great work was the Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman, where she plays the concerned mother to the revenge-seeking protagonist.
Insecure
Belinda may be one of the only truly good people in this show’s universe, and Natasha Rothwell’s performance is one of the more serious in the cast. That’s just the role she has here, and anyone who liked her has to see her in a completely different context as Kelli, a good friend to main character Issa, on the five seasons of HBO’s Insecure. She’s far wilder and more hilarious, and it’s impressive to see that she’s capable of playing both the funny and the straight parts.
Big Time Adolescence
Olivia is a strong contender for the shallowest person on this show – not an easy call – but Sydney Sweeney is very capable of portraying a range of characters. She’s been memorable in TV turns on The Handmaid’s Tale and Euphoria, but one of her best performances was in Hulu’s Big Time Adolescence, starring Pete Davidson as Zeke. Sweeney plays Zeke’s girlfriend Holly, who knows how (im)mature her boyfriend is and what she wants from her life.
Little Voice
Paula is along for the ride with the Mossbacher family, happy to judge them even though her motives and actions aren’t all that great either. Brittany O’Grady had another TV role right before this one which cast her in a completely different light. As Bess on the one-season Apple TV+ drama Little Voice, O’Grady played an aspiring musician who encountered both success and disappointment while navigating friendships and relationships.
Eighth Grade
Quinn didn’t always have to find his own fun, relegated to sleeping in the kitchen because those around him didn’t want to spend time with him. Fred Hechinger’s first screen credit was in the movie Eighth Grade, where he played Trevor, a teenager who did normal things like socializing with friends at the mall. That movie only came out a few years ago, but it’s entertaining to see how Hechinger has grown up and how he’s still playing similar roles and exceling at it.
Looking
Armond was really on his own in this show, supported by Belinda and interested in Dillon but not able to ever really be his true self. Murray Bartlett got to be one of the guys on HBO’s Looking, which got two seasons and a wrap-up movie and cast him as Dom, one of three gay men in a cast that also included Jonathan Groff.
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