Part of the joint NYT interview:

Jennifer, did you ever try to talk Mike out of this ending?

COOLIDGE You can’t talk Mike White out of anything, really. But whenever Mike was in a really good mood, and laughing about something, I’d go, like, “I don’t have to die, right?”

WHITE Even when we were shooting the scene in the ocean where Daphne finds her body. She was like, “Should we just do one take where I pull myself up on the shore? Just one?”

COOLIDGE That’s an actress fighting for another season! I wanted to be practical in case Mike had a change of heart. I just wanted to leave the possibilities open.

Why did you want a “derpy” death for Tanya?

WHITE It reminds me a little of Jennifer, because Jennifer, like, she’ll come and do this incredible performance and then lock herself in a bathroom. I can see Jennifer in this situation actually killing all the bad guys, surviving this assassination attempt, and then tripping on her way out the door. Part of Jennifer is: She’s not going to go down without a fight. She wants to live. But at the same time, she’s maybe a little klutzy.

Did you do any of the final stunt, Jennifer?

COOLIDGE I begged to do it! But Mike already had the stunt double there at the shoot. And she had been waiting for hours. There was just no way Mike was going to tell her, waiting out on the cold boat, that she wasn’t going to have her moment. So Mike wouldn’t let me do it.

WHITE She really did want to jump off the boat. Into freezing water. There was no way.

So will any of the Season 2 characters make their way to Season 3?

WHITE The truth is, I don’t really know. I just don’t know.

Well, you’ve teased a season about Eastern spirituality and death, so allow me to suggest Ghost Tanya.

COOLIDGE Thank you for trying to get me in there.

WHITE I mean, especially if we’re doing something about the spiritual realm.

Do you have any regrets about the season? Are you sorry you killed off Tanya?

WHITE I really love this story. I really thought it was a funny way to go. And right. I don’t have regrets about that.

But yesterday, I went over and watched the show alone with Jennifer. At one point, I was kind of laughing and I looked over at her, and she was so sad for Tanya. In that moment, I was like, Oh, this is the end for me and Jennifer. And Jennifer’s the reason I did “White Lotus” in the first place. Because I just wanted to write something for her and I just adore her. So it’s sad. I didn’t realize it until yesterday, but now I am sad. It’s going to be hard to do it without her. There’s definitely going to be something missing.

COOLIDGE I didn’t expect, last night, to be as moved as I was.

Have you forgiven him for killing you off?

COOLIDGE No, not at all. I’ll forever be sad about this.

The show has already been renewed for Season 3. So let’s just get this out of the way: Who dies next time?

WHITE Maybe it’s like Kenny on “South Park”: Every season Tanya has to come in and just die all over again.