Expanding his resumé! The White Lotus star Jon Gries made a surprise appearance at New York Fashion Week — by strutting down the runway in his modeling debut.
Gries, 65, walked the catwalk at Eckhaus Latta’s fashion show for the designer’s fall 2023 ready-to-wear collection on Saturday, February 11. The Men in Black actor donned a mohair-style sweater and beige pants along with his best smize for the event, which took place at the Lower East Side’s historic Essex Market.
Following his big moment, Gries took to social media to post clips from the show and jokingly share reactions from fans who were surprised to see him participating in the fashion show.
NYFW’s official TikTok page also joined in on the fun by posting a video of the California native on Sunday, February 12, and referenced his role on the HBO hit series.
“Hi. This is Jon Gries and I’m here at the Eckhaus Latta’s show, and there are definitely some high-end gays,” Gries quipped in the clip, quoting Jennifer Coolidge’s character.
When asked if anyone was going to be murdered during the show — Coolidge, 61, famously yells “these gays are trying to kill me” during The White Lotus’ season 2 finale — Gries replied, “They’re just murdering us with beautiful ideas.”
Gries starred as the Legally Blonde actress’ husband Greg Hunt on seasons 1 and 2 of The White Lotus, which premiered in July 2021. While the dark comedy is an anthology series, Coolidge and Gries were the only two characters to return for season 2.
Series creator Mike White had his reasons for bringing the Best In Show actress — and subsequently her on-screen husband — back for another installment.
“Because the seasons are so thematically different, the locations are different, the cast is generally different, it felt like it would make sense to have somebody be the connective tissue between the two seasons. And if we went to Italy without Jennifer, she would be so mad,” White told Variety in November 2022. “Obviously people loved her and she’s my friend. So, it just made sense that it would be Jennifer.”
While Coolidge’s character didn’t survive the season — thanks to Gries’ Greg orchestrating her death — whether the Rundown star will appear in season 3 of The White Lotus is unknown.
For now, Gries is busy making appearances on the catwalk — along with another one of his White Lotus costars. Stefano Gianino, who portrayed Niccolò on season 2 of the series, walked the runway for Louis-Gabriel Nouchi’s showing at Paris Fashion Week last month.
“My first fashion show!” he wrote via Instagram at the time alongside a snap of himself from the show. “I (didn’t) expect it! AMAZING EXPERIENCE! I met beautiful people with big hearts!”