Aubrey Plaza is just like Us and forgets the password to her favorite streaming service — even when she’s the star of one of its most popular shows.
“I still haven’t [watched my season of The White Lotus], but I’m going to,” Plaza, 40, confessed during an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday, August 27. “To be honest, I had trouble opening my HBO Max account when I was trying to watch it originally. I couldn’t figure out the password and I usually just give up when I can’t figure out the passwords. I just can’t handle things like that.”
Plaza noted that she would “love a DVD” of the hit series, but so far that hasn’t been an option. “They don’t send DVD sets anymore,” she said, adding, “I ask them every time.”
The actress has long been vocal about her displeasure with streaming platforms. She told Vanity Fair in May 2023 that she often gets “really angry” when she is faced with figuring out how to watch new episodes.
“I was trying to watch Top Chef Season 20. Couldn’t figure out how to f—king get Hulu + Live. I give up! I can’t. I just can’t,” Plaza quipped at the time. Sharing an alternate approach to watching new content, she added, “And so what I like to do is go on iTunes and buy movies that are old. Or I’ll go on iTunes and just, like, buy the whole Sopranos series, and then my husband will be like, ‘You literally can watch that for free on HBO Max.’”
With any luck, Plaza’s husband, Jeff Baena, will be able to help her tune in to her season of The White Lotus, which premiered in October 2022. The show returned with a — mostly — brand new cast from season 1, with Plaza playing Harper, an uptight attorney married to wealthy but naive businessman Ethan (William Sharpe).
In her interview with the Wall Street Journal, Plaza shared that she connects most with White Lotus character more than any of her other past roles. “I mean in a lot of ways — not in every way,” she said. “She was a lawyer like my mom, and there were some connections there.”
The Parks and Recreation alum shared that when it came to channeling Harper, she focused on two components: convincing herself it was a matter of “survival” and eating like she was on a real-life Italian vacation.
“So much linguine and clams,” she recalled of her time overseas, joking that White “demanded” the cast consume copious amounts of pasta as “some kind of psychological conditioning.”
Plaza will get a break from the linguine for season 3, as HBO announced in January that Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Dom Hetrakul and Tayme Thapthimthong will star in the new installment alongside Natasha Rothwell, who will return as spa manager Belinda from season 1.
While further details about the plot have been kept under wraps, Rothwell revealed in December 2023 that she knows what’s coming in the new episodes, which will be set in Thailand. “I will say I’ve read all of the scripts and people are in for a treat. It’s bigger than ever,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “Buckle up.”
White, meanwhile, revealed in Max’s Unpacking S2 E7 December 2023 special that the third installment may focus on “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
