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Will Sharpe is one of the most successful cast members in the second season of HBO's The White Lotus. Not only has he acted in a couple of acclaimed projects but he's also written, directed, and created them. In fact, he's more well-known for the latter. But there's no doubt that joining the beloved second part of Mike White's series has been a highlight for him. He basically said as much in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
During this interview, the man behind Ethan pulled back the curtain on how he landed the role as well as how he and his fellow cast members dealt with their complicated, manipulative, and toxic dynamic.
How Will Sharpe Was Cast As Ethan On The White Lotus Season 2
English actor Will Sharpe had already made a notable name for himself in the film and television industry before being cast in the second season of Mike White's acclaimed HBO series. Aside from roles in series like flowers (which he also created), Will's involvement in Landscapers got him major attention from the folks at HBO. Not only did he direct all four episodes of the Olivia Coleman/David Thewlis mini-series, but he was also a credited writer on two of them.
But instead of moving on to another series where he could pull the strings from behind the scenes, Sharpe took the role of Ethan on The White Lotus.
"The White Lotus was definitely a surprise. Watching the first season, I never dared to imagine that I’d have a part in the second season," Will Sharpe explained to The Hollywood Reporter in December 2022, ahead of the season two finale.
In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Will Sharpe explained that he was asked to audition out of the blue.
"I just got an email asking to tape for it. I was sort of very surprised," Sharpe said. "Obviously, I did it as well as I could, but I didn’t really think anything would happen. Our second child had very recently been born, so my head was sort of in that. I think the casting director and one of the producers both had the idea independently of sending it my way at the same time. I did a couple of rounds of tapes, got some feedback, then was on a Zoom with Mike and everyone else and was suddenly on my way to Sicily."
Following the release of The White Lotus season 2, Will Sharpe has received a ton of attention. While his career has not been purely focused on acting, it seems that Hollywood very much wants to see more of him on screen.
"I’m just trying to be careful about making the right decisions," Sharpe admitted to The Hollywood Reporter
Will Sharpe Knew What Happens To Ethan At The End Of The White Lotus
Ethan and Harper's complicated relationship is very much one of the main features of the second season of The White Lotus. Aubrey Plaza's Harper has been the subject of much online discussion. So much so that some wonder if the actor was anything like her character on set. But Will Sharpe's Ethan is, without a doubt, equally as complicated. Just in a far more hidden way.
During Sharpe's December 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that he was very aware of the entity of Ethan's arc before he showed up on set. He was one of the few actors who received all of the scripts beforehand. Seeing his trajectory was something that really got him into the character.
"That was what got me really excited about playing him," Sharpe explained. "For the majority of the series, he’s written with a lot of restraint. He’s sort of enigmatic and you’re not really sure which way it’s gonna go. Is he a terrible person? Who is this guy? You pay that off in the final episode, so that was a fun challenge to track and build a simmering sense of the stuff that he’s holding in that is eventually going to boil over in some way."
Like Will Sharpe, Aubrey Plaza was also aware of her character's payoff.
"Aubrey and I would talk quite a lot about Ethan and Harper’s hinterland, wanting to bring a sense of where they came from and how they met, just to carry some stakes into that relationship. Because when you meet them, even if they don’t realize it, it’s already on the rocks," Sharpe said to THR.
"The first time you see them, they’re bickering and steadily things get worse. So we definitely did think about where they came from and why it matters for them, and what are they trying to get back to," he continued. "And talking with Mike [about Ethan and Cameron] as well, it’s like they were never soulmates. They just shared a room together and have sort of stayed in touch in a way that you might probably invite each other to their wedding. One of the things I love about the way Mike writes is that sometimes you sit down and it feels like it’s just about some people chatting, but actually there are so many different tensions and dynamics firing across the table."
