Aubrey Plaza says Mike White tapped into "something unconsciously" about her for The White Lotus

After breaking out with Parks And Recreation, Aubrey Plaza has maintained a thriving career in both comedy and indie dramas. With her new role on The White Lotus, the Black Bear actor is making her mark on prestige television. Playing a lawyer dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights, Plaza gets to show audiences used to her dry, edgy persona a whole new side of herself.

“Mike White really wrote that part for me, it wasn’t a part that was written and then I went and auditioned for it and said, ‘That’s the part I want,’” Plaza says in a new interview with Backstage. “He wrote it for me, so there’s a lot of me in that part.”

Following The White Lotus’ acclaimed first season in 2021, the HBO series recently returned with a mostly new cast. Plaza’s character Harper is key to exploring the second season’s central theme of fidelity.

“It’s only been two episodes and everyone’s like, ‘This woman is kind of an uptight bitch,’” Plaza continues. “Which, maybe I am. But you’ll see, as the show goes on, the layers start to come off; the vulnerability starts to show. You realize ‘Oh okay, there’s a reason why she’s like this.’ That part, maybe more than any other part I’ve played, is really personal to me. That’s Mike White. He’s a really good friend of mine, and I’ve known him for years, and I think he really tapped into something unconsciously about me.”

Harper and her husband Ethan (Will Sharpe) are at the titular resort in Sicily after recently coming into a small fortune. There’s a sharp contrast between them and their friends Cameron (Theo James) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy), who come from an old money background.

“There’s a theme [in my career] of being misunderstood and playing characters that feel like the odd woman out,” Plaza says. “I’m drawn to those characters on a really basic level. I grew up in Delaware. I didn’t grow up in Hollywood. I didn’t have a direct line to the industry. I was like everybody else who grows up and watches movies and has dreams and fantasies about being an actor and being on the television. I still can’t believe that I’m actually doing that.”

The White Lotus is now airing weekly on HBO.