What’s It Like to Play the Scariest Girls on TV?

Sydney Sweeney and Brittany O’Grady reflect on “The White Lotus” in a joint interview.

After “The White Lotus” premiered, Sydney Sweeney and Brittany O’Grady were worried about the extent to which they would be linked to their characters, the terrible Gen Z twosome known as Olivia and Paula. On the show, which HBO has renewed for a second season, the college sophomores are the mean girls of the luxury resort where they are vacationing. Almost always together, they issue scathing judgments of the other guests from behind the covers of highbrow texts. They’re sharp-tongued, they’re blasé, they’re observant and they dress well. What could be more terrifying?