Sure, Meghann Fahy’s White Lotus character Daphne comes across as an Instagram-perfect mom who doesn’t remember if she chooses, but there’s more to her than meets the eye. She reveals that on this week’s episode of HBO’s Bull Elephants, when she decides to whisk Harper away from Aubrey Plaza on an impromptu trip from her hotel in Taormina, Sicily, to nearby Noto, seemingly just to play mind games with her play husband Cameron (Theo James). Once Daphne gets there, she decides to offer Harper something to eat and offer her thoughts on the apparent fact that her husband often cheats on her. She’s not the victim in their relationship, she insists, and she knows the deal she’s agreed to.
At the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles this weekend, after a screening of the episode, Fahy spoke about this new side of Daphne, revealing a bit of creator Mike White’s intentions with Cameron and Daphne’s mind games. She also spoke about the experience of shooting on location in Sicily, learning how to make a moderately good eggplant parmesan and what her breakout character in The Bold Type could do with “Zen Mama” Daphne.
That conversation at the palazzo where Daphne talks about not being a victim, what do you think that means for her?
For me that is the key to her. I remember Mike pretty much saying at the very beginning that Daphne wasn’t a victim of her circumstances. That dynamic that they built between Cameron and Daphne in the first two episodes, I was like, ‘Who? What’s her name?” You’ve seen it before. You kind of think she’s just this simple housewife who doesn’t have too much to do. And I think what gets really interesting about the dynamic is in this episode, when you can tell that’s not quite the case. Daphne relates to her own sadness in a way that maybe some of the other people she’s on the journey with don’t. And I think that’s what allows her to be truly happy in her marriage.
Another thing Mike said that felt really important was that Daphne and Cameron’s connection is really real and they really enjoy being together. They have a great sex life and they laugh and they play and all of those things are real. It’s not what Harper thinks, that’s just bullshit. And I think that’s the driving force of this whole thing, and then you kind of have to ask yourself, does it really matter how someone becomes happy? Even if it’s unconventional to you and seems kinda crappy, when there’s luck, who cares?
I read an interview where you described her as a “Zen Mom”. I was wondering what you mean by that.
I can’t really praise that because that was actually a term Aubrey coined when we were trying to figure out what her wardrobe would look like. The Zen mommy is that idealized woman who has 75 children – not 74, 75 – and always wears a beautiful floral dress and seems like nothing bothers her. And I felt like that was exactly the vibe I wanted for Daphne. I wanted her to appear very carefree because she’s kind of carefree even about the bad things like not voting.
What was it like filming in this palazzo? I think it was actually in Palermo, wasn’t it?
It was in Palermo. It was pretty cool because Mike really loves to cast non-actors to do things. So there’s sort of a two-page scene from this episode that’s been abridged, where the actual owner of this palazzo was showing Aubrey and me around. And he had never been in front of a camera before, and it was so cute because he couldn’t walk and talk at the same time. So Mike kept trying to be like, ‘So you just tell them where everything is, but you’re moving.’ And he would say, ‘The bedrooms – are here. The dining room – is here.” He was so precious. And it really was his house! And we were done and we were in the pool and he brought us gin and tonic. it was so cute I loved that Mike loves to find that authenticity wherever he can. Many of the employees you see are actual employees who have worked with us at the Four Seasons.
I’m excited for the experience of shooting at this hotel in Sicily during the low season and mostly empty. What is it like to be an actor on holiday in this hotel in Taormina?
Oh psychotic! I mean, 100 percent insane. It was like a weird actor camp. In many ways I would not recommend it! No, it was so much fun, it was really something very special and unique. It was really cool to see Taormina blossom. When we first got there it was empty, 70 percent of the restaurants and everything else were closed, and then it felt like the streets were suddenly full of people overnight. So it was kind of cool to see the transition happen in real time.
I was amazed at how willing this community was to welcome us and make us a part of their daily lives. The people who opened their restaurants were so kind to us, they took us in and offered us cooking classes. They were just incredibly warm and kind. What I take away more than anything when I think about the trip is the people we met in that area who were just so nice.
Did you have a favorite meal you ate there, something that stuck in your memory like “I really miss the X of Taormina?”
Well I made an eggplant parmesan with my own hands that was pretty mediocre! But I had a great time on this course. Really, it was just this man who owned this restaurant who didn’t give cooking classes. He said, “Come to my restaurant at noon tomorrow.” And I thought, “Am I in some kind of rom-com? This is so sick!” And I just showed up and he was like, “Cool, just go in the kitchen.” I had an apron and the chef was cooking meals to give to people who were there to pay to eating the food. He was just teaching me things while that was happening. It was amazing.
Coming back to Daphne and Cameron’s relationship, did you even know Theo before that? How did you get to know him?
I knew him! He didn’t know me. I had seen him in Divergent, of course, but no, we didn’t meet and there was no chemistry reading beforehand, which is a bit unusual for things like this. So we met for the first time in Italy. But it was really easy to do scenes with him. He’s so (a) talented and (b) outspoken, which is the only thing you could ask for, you know? He was really playful and really easy to be with.
They have this speech about the elephants that gives the episode its title. What was it like doing that scene with Aubrey? How did you approach the dynamic in which they feel each other out?
It was fun because it was a new place for us and I think it was also the first time Aubrey and I shot scenes alone together, up to that point we had done a lot of stuff just the four of us. Some of those Noto scenes were my favorite scenes to do with her because I just felt like it was a different color for Daphne and Harper that we hadn’t seen before.
It’s interesting to see that part of her being revealed. How did you find this side of her? What do you think she sees in Harper that she wants to find out?
I think there is a real desire in Daphne to connect with Harper. I think Daphne probably doesn’t have that many girlfriends, so I think that’s part of what drives her. But she also uses them in such a way, as if Harper is some sort of accessory in Daphne’s game she plays with Cameron that they both get off. I truly believe that Daphne would have gone to Nodo alone if Harper hadn’t gone with her just to annoy him.
When I spoke to Haley Richardson about the show, she mentioned that Mike White seems to incorporate parts of the actors into the characters they play. He’s very open to a bit of improvisation. Do you think there are parts of Daphne colored by you?
Yes absolutely. And I have a feeling that everyone on the show would probably say that applies to them. You are able to connect with these people who are in many ways inaccessible people and that’s because Mike is doing that. He picks something in you that the character has too, and he just lets you go and do that thing.
What do you think was the thing in you that the character also has?
I know this is so lame, but I feel like I can’t share this. It’s too vulnerable. But I will say that I think there is something about Daphne that I connect with is just that she has a tendency to get people around and I connect with that. So that’s one thing I feel like she and I share.
Before you played Daphne you were on The Bold Type. What do you think Sutton would think of Daphne?
You know, there are some pretty important similarities between these two characters, and I think it’s their warmth. I think Sutton and Daphne are similar in the sense that they want to make people around them feel safe. This is often through humor. And these two characters just have a general kind of sunshine that I think is similar. I think they would probably get along, although I think Sutton is a bit tougher than Daphne in some ways. That would be interesting to see, they fight each other in a ring!
This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.