Interview: How Beatrice Grannò took ‘The White Lotus’ by storm and transformed her love for folk music to express herself [VIDEO]

As an Italian actress and singer with a prestigious British drama education, Beatrice Grannò is now more ready than ever to show audiences that she wants to take on the world.

Her wild turn as Mia in the second season of The White Lotus elevates her real-life dreams to an extreme as she vies to be the sole singer-pianist at Mike White’s titular, calamitous resort. Beforehand, she starred in Italian television series like Il capitano Maria, School Hacks, and Zero, while her currently airing medical drama Doc – Nelle tue mani already has an American adaptation planned for Fox. Her film debut in 2019 with the triad of Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, Tornare, and Enrico Piaggio has helped her continue onto even bigger roles in The Time of Indifference and Security, including her upcoming English-language debut in Daniela Forever.

This past season of The White Lotus was an even bigger smash hit, supported by a new international all-star cast and a more scandalous murder mystery on the Sicilian coast. Its first season scored 10 Emmys with 8 of its actors earning nominations (Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett won in their respective supporting roles), and is hoping for even more love despite a category switch from Limited or Anthology Series to Drama.

Beatrice was charming and incredibly vibrant during our recent conversation, giving multiple behind the scenes looks at filming in Sicily, including working with her Italian co-stars Simona Tabasco (Lucia) and Sabrina Impacciatore (Valentina). She shares some of her own musical inspirations and teases an upcoming album that will be as bold as her rendition of “That’s Amore” from the show. The show’s collaborative aspects thrilled her, like working with Aubrey Plaza and Jennifer Coolidge, but also challenged her, like when Mike White and Este Haim directed her acting, songwriting, and voice control in unexpectedly brazen ways. Este’s advice “to think of your voice like chewing gum” reassured Beatrice that finding “this whole new way of singing” was just the beginning of an impressive career.

Beatrice Grannò is Emmy-eligible in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The White Lotus.

Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO

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Nick Ruhrkraut

Nick Ruhrkraut is a dentist by day, avid moviegoer also by day, and night. He enjoys discussing all things Oscar related on his podcast, “Oscar Wild,” including conducting interviews with nominated talent, predicting current awards seasons, and recapping past award ceremonies and winners. In 2020, he became the only person to ever correctly predict all 24 categories for the Oscars on Gold Derby, where he is also a contributing writer and has moderated film and television talent interviews for major studios. He has also written multiple film and television critiques for AwardsWatch. You can find him on Twitter @sauerkraut27.

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