Jennifer Coolidge recalled a vacation story with “White Lotus” writer-director Mike White, which she believes inspired her character Tanya’s hookup in season 1 of the HBO comedy-drama.

At the HBO anthology series’ FYC event at the DGA Theater in L.A. on Saturday, the actress explained how White “had a big trip planned with a lover, and then the lover couldn’t make it, so I got it!”

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Coolidge joined the filmmaker on a safari in Africa, which she described as “such a cool thing,” given that the two share a bond over their love of animals, something they realized when they first worked together on the 2009 film “Gentleman Broncos”.

However, the actress quickly realized how much the trip was planned for romantic partners.

“We stayed in these tents on the Serengeti, in Tanzania, and what I didn’t realize was that the intimate trip is in a tent with someone you’re intimate with. So you’re sleeping right next to the other person, you know, which was supposed to be someone else,” Coolidge explained. “So I was very worried about how this trip was gonna go because there’s just no hiding any problems or anything you have. It’s just all out there.”

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The comedian recalled one specific night when “Mike discovered, on this trip, that I was sort of sad I wasn’t in a relationship, and he saw me watching these wedding videos on my iPhone in the middle of the night,” an act that aligns with her eccentric, vulnerable, sad, and needy “White Lotus” character.

The audience laughed as Coolidge added, “I swear to God, I think that’s where [Mike] got this whole idea of Greg,” Jon Gries’ terminally ill character from Colorado, whom Tanya hooks up with. “I think Mike was just hoping for me to have anything with anyone, and he wrote this part.”

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She refuted the moderator’s remark suggesting that the two characters were brought together by love, not just erotic desires, adding, “I didn’t think about it, that he really liked me, after all. But I do like that I got to, you know, make out with someone and stuff.”

Coolidge was joined onstage by her co-stars Murray Bartlett, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, and Brittany O’Grady, while White continues to reside in Italy as season 2 filming is still underway.

“The White Lotus” season 1 is available to stream on HBO Max.