Haley Lu Richardson on The White Lotus, narcissism and her precious pet

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Her first lead role, as an architecture enthusiast in the 2017 indie Columbus, was a revelation – The New Yorker’s Richard Brody wrote, “Richardson vaults to the forefront of her generation’s actors with this performance, which virtually sings with emotional and intellectual acuity.” An infectious turn as a teenager travelling across US states to get an abortion, in Unpregnant, followed. “Honestly, just really hard to not laugh,” says Richardson, “because she’s such a funny woman. “Yeah,” says Richardson, “she’s a lot more f***ed up and narcissistic than she thinks she is.” open image in gallery Richardson plays a long-suffering assistant in ‘The White Lotus’ Last summer, months before Richardson and Darbin rocked up in Sicily, Richardson had been up for one of the most coveted roles in the superhero genre: Batgirl. It’s such a personal decision and topic, getting an abortion, so if people see it from a personal, intimate point, like in our film, it will be a change from just hearing about it from the government.” As our conversation wraps up, Richardson tells me, “I’m pretty impressed I was able to do that in my state.” Friday morning is just getting started for her, and my Friday night is about to begin.