As the Italian star continues to rise, she tries out summer’s most covetable jewels for size
Photography by MARK GRIFFIN CHAMPION
Styling by CHRISTOPHER CAMPBELL
Words by MARTHA HAYES
BULGARI High Jewelry Monete necklace with silver coin and diamonds, price upon request. LORO PIANA dress, $7,475.
Beatrice Grannò is drinking a matcha latte for the first—and quite possibly last—time. “It tastes like fish, right?” she asks, eyeing her cup of swirling green froth with suspicion. Being Italian, the breakout star of the second season of The White Lotus is a devout coffee drinker. But after spending the past two months living around the corner from a cute-looking matcha bar in West Hollywood, she is keen to see what the fuss is about.
“My friend Simona is like, ‘I love matcha!’” she says. Grannò’s verdict? “In Italy, this thing would fail.”
Simona is, of course, fellow Italian actor Simona Tabasco: her partner in crime in Mike White’s whip-smart HBO satire and her BFF in real life. The award-winning sophomore season kicked off last fall with a star-studded cast (including Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, and Michael Imperioli), but it was the scene-stealing, previously unknown duo behind sex workers Mia and Lucia (Grannò and Tabasco, respectively) who made the biggest impression.
“I knew the series was going to be loved, but I didn’t expect people to love our characters so much,” admits Grannò, whose character memorably sang and played the piano in The White Lotus’ hotel lounge. “I don’t know what it is yet, but something definitely happened. Right now, I feel like everything changed.”
It certainly has. After filming the series in Sicily last year, Grannò, 29, assumed she’d go back to her hometown of Rome and continue to star in the low-key Italian films and TV shows that previously defined her decade-long career. She never envisaged the surreal year of pinch-me moments that would follow.
BULGARI High Jewelry Serpenti necklace with onyx and diamonds, price upon request, and Serpenti bracelet with mother of pearl and diamonds, price upon request. DIOR bra top, price upon request, shorts, price upon request, and shoes, $1,350. FALKE socks, $22. Vintage kerchief from Palace Costume Los Angeles, price upon request.
Those moments include modeling for Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, SKIMS; hanging out with Julia Garner (“She’s one of my favorite actresses; I remember watching the first season of Ozark and thinking, ‘Who is she?’”); and meeting Billie Eilish (“She recognized me from the show. I was like, what?”). Oh, and playing the piano at Chanel’s prestigious pre-Oscars party.
“I sat down at the piano and Marion Cotillard is there and Mick Jagger—I was losing my mind, I was so nervous,” says Grannò, who is currently working on her own music. “With acting, I have control over it; with music, I don’t know what’s going to happen. When I perform, I feel things I don’t feel when I act. It’s very emotional.”
With just days to prepare for her performance of two Burt Bacharach songs (“This Guy’s in Love With You” and “The Look of Love”) in front of, well, the whole of Hollywood, Grannò bought a keyboard on which to practice. She may not have plans to live in Los Angeles permanently (she is flying back to Rome the day after we meet), but her new keyboard does. The thinking is that when she goes back and forth for future acting jobs, she can work on her music, too.
“All the things you don’t say to people are great lyrics, I think”
BEATRICE GRANNÒ
DAVID WEBB Kallisto earrings with turquoise and gold, $29,500, and Crown ring with azurmalachite, emeralds, and diamonds, $38,500. PRADA blouse, $2,750.
Grannò has always lived a nomadic existence. From an early age she divided her time between her parents’ homes following their divorce. She then studied music in Prato, Italy, and acting at East 15 Acting School in the UK. “I’ve always been this way,” she explains. “I don’t feel like, ‘Now I need to settle,’ because I am already settled inside. I’m quite a stable person.”
Grannò grew up listening to rhythm and blues as well as psychedelic music like Pink Floyd, thanks to her father, “one of the biggest music lovers I know.” She was writing her own songs by the time she was eight years old. “Music was always a way to express things I couldn’t say,” she muses. “All the things you don’t say to people are great lyrics, I think.”
For Grannò, “music is the activator of everything.” So it’s no surprise her dream role would be in a musical film like La La Land. “Broadway is up there. Maybe one day, that would be great, but for now I want to tell a real story, so I’d love to do a film about music.”
Offers of acting work are on the table, but Grannò is cautious. Above all else, she is focused on “building real relationships” with directors for a career that has longevity. “I’m not really interested in catching the biggest thing,” she says. “There is a door that has opened a little and there is some light passing through and once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to unsee it. But at the same time I’m trying to take care of myself. This world brings you up and it brings you down.”
A healthy streak of cynicism toward Hollywood will help her go far. “I still consider myself a European girl,” she notes. “L.A. is a place that never really invades you; you’ve got to invade it. It’s a matter of understanding and accepting that’s what it’s about. Once you accept it, I think you’re ready to have fun.”
She smiles, taking a photo of our finished but still half-full matcha lattes to send to Simona for a laugh. On her return home, she says she has planned little beyond “having an Italian cappuccino and eating a big plate of pasta.”
You can take the girl out of Italy…
DAVID WEBB Tassel earrings, $17,200, Bead necklace with amethyst, carnelian, amber, diamonds, and white enamel, $67,000, Blue Horse bracelet (top) with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, white and blue enamel with gold dust, $78,500, Curly Lion bracelet with coral, emeralds, diamonds, and black enamel, price upon request. LOEWE dress, $2,500.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Rose de Noël earrings with diamonds, $26,000, Folie des Prés necklace with rubies and diamonds, $366,000, and bracelet, $242,000. LORO PIANA tank, $1,150
CARTIER earrings, necklace, and ring, prices upon request. OFFICINE GÉNÉRALE shirt, $595, and pants, $750.
Makeup by KIRIN BHATTY for A-Frame Agency using CLINIQUE.
Hair by FRANKIE PAYNE at Opus Beauty using PHYTO.
Manicure by EMI KUDO at A-Frame Agency using DIOR VERNIS.
Shot on location at PALIHOUSE SANTA MONICA.
NATASHA LYONNE wears SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO coat and dress and CARTIER rings.
Feature image: DAVID YURMAN Angelika Fringe Drop earrings with diamonds, $5,800. BUCCELLATI Ghirlanda necklace with diamonds, $140,000, Tulle bracelet with diamonds (top), $56,000, and Cuff bracelet with diamonds, $49,500. PROENZA SCHOULER dress, $3,940. MORGENTHAL FREDERICS sunglasses, $495.
This story originally appeared in the Summer 2023 issue of C Magazine.
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