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Mike White's anthology series The White Lotus premiered on HBO and Max in July 2021. The debut season brought in the majestic view of the titular resort in Hawaii and an ensemble cast of quirky, complex, and sometimes mean characters. Brittany O'Grady's character in the series epitomizes the latter two.
Brittany O'Grady plays Paula in The White Lotus, a friend of Olivia (played by Sydney Sweeney) from school. While they are depicted as close friends in the beginning, Paula sees things differently from her travel companions, who are Olivia's wealthy but toxic family members.
O'Grady came into the series with a background in acting. She guest-starred in the TV series Trophy Wife and The Night Shift before joining The Messengers as a supporting cast. She also starred in the Fox showbiz drama Star.
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Paula: All about Brittany O'Grady's character in The White Lotus
Brittany O'Grady's Paula was a main character in season 1 of The White Lotus. HBO describes Paula as "Olivia's friend from school" who has a "different way of looking at life than her travel companions."
Paula is one of the people visiting the luxurious White Lotus resort in Hawaii, but she does not come from wealth. She is at the resort as Olivia's plus-one, who is vacationing there with the rest of her family, including her tech CEO mom.
Paula and her best frenemy forever Olivia are often seen together, reveling in the luxury that Olivia's wealthy family can afford while ironically poking fun at other hotel guests by the poolside. Paula is somewhat of a gray character, and her complexity is best described through the incident she started but washed her hands off when things got bad.
During her vacation at the luxury resort, she starts a brief fling with the islander and hotel staff Kai (Kekoa Kekumano). Paula encouraged Kai to rob jewelry from Olivia's family to help his family—her way of dismantling what she thought was a grave injustice of privilege and wealth—but without any direct consequences to her.
However, when the robbery she masterminded started posing a risk to herself, she did not do anything to intervene. Paula and Kai's heist ends in a bust, but only Kai bears the brunt of it. He gets caught and arrested.
Read more: The White Lotus season 3: All episodes ranked
What happened to Paula at the end of The White Lotus season 1?
The White Lotus season 1 finale kicks off after the robbery, and Paula secretly feels guilty about what happened to Kai. However, she does not own up to her mistakes and lets Kai be the one to pay for what happened. She tosses the necklace Kai has given her into the ocean, erasing anything that could tie her to him after hearing that he has been arrested.
Olivia, however, figures out what Paula did. It ends in a verbal row between them. Olivia accuses her of stealing from her family, while Paula accuses Olivia of bringing her to the vacation as a "prop." However, they later reconcile, and Olivia decides not to tell her mom about Paula's hand in the robbery, but not particularly because she is a good friend.
Catch Brittany O'Grady as Paula in The White Lotus, which is now streaming on Max.
