The actress spoke to ET about reuniting with creator Mike White on his Emmy-winning HBO series.
After making an unexpected cameo in The White Lotus season 2 premiere, Laura Dern is dishing on how the brief part came together -- and if we can expect to see or hear more of her in the upcoming episodes.
"Mike White and I made the show Enlightened together and we're an artistic family," she told ET's Matt Cohen during the Napa Valley Film Festival at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Copia. There she was honored with the Legend Award ahead of the release of her new film, The Son, which opens in theaters on Dec. 16.
White not only created The White Lotus, but he also was behind the short-lived yet acclaimed 2011 HBO comedy about "a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown."
"I think it's such a brilliant show and what he's made is incredible," Dern continued, gushing over White's Emmy-winning series, which is back with a second installment set in Sicily as it follows various guests and employees at a luxury resort.
Among them are Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli), a Hollywood producer who is traveling with his father, Bert (F. Murray Abraham), and son, Albie (Adam DiMarco). And not long after checking in, Grasso calls his estranged wife, Abby, who was supposed to be on the trip with them but did not come.
The wife, as it turns out, was voiced by Dern. And during their brief exchange over the phone, she tells her ex "f**k you" before hanging up.
"I just love his brain and so all he had to do was ask and I was happy to be part of it. I'll leave it at that," Dern said when asked if there's a chance her character will be back before the end of the season. "But I wouldn't be surprised if we find our way to each other again in our lives 'cause we got to make something special with Enlightened."
When ET spoke to Dern, The White Lotus was nearly halfway through its second season as many of the characters' lives are starting to unravel and clash in unexpected ways, with Imperioli previously teasing to ET that "a lot does take place in the hotel during the show."
While she did not end up appearing onscreen in the remaining episodes of season 2, Dern did make another voice cameo as Abby in the finale when Dominic called her during his last night at the hotel. "Call me when you get back into town," she said before the two hung up.
[This article has been updated to reflect the season 2 finale of The White Lotus.]
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