Luxury resorts, scheming guests, and unforgettable drama – The White Lotus consistently delivers chaos at its finest. From intricate character theories to jaw-dropping behind-the-scenes stories, the cast’s time filming in Thailand proved to be just as unpredictable as the show itself.
Time Out joined cast members and dysfunctional on-screen Ratliffe family, Jason Isaacs (Timothy Ratliffe), Parker Posey (Victoria Ratliffe), Sam Nivola (Lochlan Ratliffe), Sarah Catherine Hook (Piper Ratliffe), and Patrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon Ratliffe), as well as Natasha Rothwell (returning season one spa manager Belinda Lindsey) as well as two beloved Thai stars, Lek Patravadi (resort owner Sritala) and Dom Hetrakul (spa manager Pornchai), as they share stories of life on- and off-set.
From spending weeks confined to resorts like their on-screen characters to adapting to Mike White’s unpredictable directing style and launching the careers of several actors, The White Lotus season three has no shortage of behind-the-scenes stories. Straight from the cast themselves, here’s a roundup of the most surprising revelations.
They literally lived in The White Lotus – resort life and all
Forget method acting – it turns out that, unlike usual movie shoots where actors are whisked away to fancy five-star resorts in their downtime, the cast of The White Lotus actually lived in the very resorts where they filmed.
Given that the best resorts in the area served as the actual filming locations, it’s no surprise the cast occasionally experienced a ‘Groundhog Day’ effect. ‘Talk about being in a bubble,’ said Sarah Catherine Hook, who portrays the spiritually curious Piper Ratliffe in the series. ‘Being on TV and film sets is already a bubbled experience, but then there’s the resort culture of it. It’s their intention to keep you tracked and they make it very difficult for you to leave because it’s fabulous. It kind of takes a long time to get up the hill to get out of there anyway so, yeah, it was just whether we liked it or not, we’d go next door and say ‘hi’, ‘let’s get breakfast’. Again.’
Though deeply appreciative of the experience, there were moments when life on set began to blur with the storyline of The White Lotus. Days off spent lounging by the same pool where scenes had been filmed the day before made it challenging to separate reality from the role.
Sam Nivola, who plays younger brother Lochlan Ratliffe, shared his perspective: ‘We shot our first scene by the pool. It was just Sarah Catherine Hook (Piper Ratliffe) and Patrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon Ratliffe). It perfectly established our character dynamics with one another where I’m sort of stuck between them and they’re fighting with each other. But it was a perfect microcosm, a metaphor for what we would go on to do for the next six months.’
It’s hard not to imagine how entertaining a behind-the-scenes look at this six-month shoot could be. With a few hidden cameras, we’d essentially have a reality TV-style White Lotus spinoff ready to air. Considering creator Mike White’s well-known obsession with reality TV – he’s even competed on Survivor – this idea seems like a natural extension of his creative vision.
Parker Posey thinks the Ratliffe fortune is Victoria’s money, not Timothy’s
Life in the resort playing character or rehearsing lines clearly plays on the minds of the actors as they delve deeper into the minds of the characters that they so expertly portray.
Any good actor tries to build a story around their character so they can better understand their voice, mannerisms and backgrounds and, in turn, perform better on camera as a result. For Parker Posey, who plays Victoria, the dopey mother of the Ratliffe family, theories of where their riches came from have played on her mind for some time.
‘I didn’t get an answer from Mike White, and I don’t know who has the money in the Ratliffe family, but to me it felt like it was [Victoria]. She was kind of spoiled in this way and there's some affectation of Victoria of some love she didn’t get.’
So, although we’ll likely never know seeing as Parker Posey still remains unsure, it does beg the question whether Timothy Ratliffe (played by Jason Isaacs) is really the one behind the family empire, or does their wealth have more matriarchal origins?
Given the production costs of season three cost somewhere in the range of $35 million (of which the Thai government gave $4.4 million back in as a rebate), the Ratliffe fortune could have come in handy to help foot the bill. But if their wealth is as shaky as it seems, it’s not looking too good for the family empire.
Adding to the intrigue, Parker Posey delves into her reasoning, shedding light on why she holds this belief. More importantly, she highlights how Victoria is grappling with deep-seated internal trauma, numbing her pain with wine, Lorazepam, and willful denial.
‘I think we see her in the story as someone in grief and she's, you know, we see her father crossing behind her husband in a dream so these little bits layer into an unfolding of these people.’
She goes on to say, ‘I wanted to raise the stakes in this in the character Victoria so that Timothy (Jason Isaacs) has more at stake to take care of her. The feminine wiles and her complexities as a woman [show that] men feel they have to care for her, and then they're not able to. But then you see [her] later on and you're like oh, I think she'd be okay.’
It was a real series of firsts
There’s no denying that all eyes – at least from Thailand – have been firmly set on Lalisa Manobal. This former BLACKPINK K-pop star turned solo artist made her debut acting role playing Mook, the health mentor and occasional dancer at The White Lotus resort.
Her fame as a singer aside, this series is anything but the typical B-list attempt at transitioning into acting that many musicians pursue. Starring alongside London-born Tayme Thapthimthong, who delivers a heartfelt performance as the sensitive security guard Gaitok, she has captivated viewers and stolen the spotlight. Fans are eager to watch their favorite pop star spread her wings and excel in a new creative arena.
What was even more surprising was the reaction of the rest of the cast towards her. Unlike the typical fresh graduate who lands a senior role with minimal experience, Lalisa earned widespread praise from her fellow cast members, impressing them across the board.
Although not performing much together on-screen, Sam Nivola (Lochlan Ratliffe) was amazed at her ability to pivot into the role, stating ‘she never acted before, and it’s like how are you that good?! It’s crazy it’s your debut role and just, she’s so natural. I'm such a loser in comparison! I, like, get so nervous and this is what I do every day for my job. And she's just doing it for the first time.’
We may not agree with him on the loser part, but it’s clear that a true dedication to the arts was certainly part of Lalisa’s approach. Even industry veteran Lek Patravadi, who plays the glamorous resort owner Sritala, commented that ‘one night I was watching her [practicing] the Thai classical dance over and over again. Because they were shooting somebody else, she was just in the background from 11pm to 3am dancing with the eyes, with the body. She was really enjoying it and I said ‘you know they're not gonna see much of you, they're over there’ but she's still having a good time – for me, this is a real artist.’
Sarah Catherine Hook (Piper Ratliffe) also added her praise, saying ‘she’s just really good. We're sweating for our one line yeah and she's, like, nailing her whole scene, full scenes.’
And if stepping into a major HBO series for the first time wasn’t intense enough, director Mike White’s no-rehearsal approach brought about equal measures of fear and passion for improv in those who were new to his quirky style.
Lek Patravadi, speaking about her experience on stage and how it compares to The White Lotus, added ‘I’m a theatre person, and we rehearse and we rehearse to death. And with Mike it’s like someone will take me to the set and somebody tells me ‘okay, you stand here’. There’s a mark on the floor and camera, action! Just like that. No rehearsals. But it was good, because everybody knew their lines.’
Mike White’s chaotic direction surprised everyone
If the world of The White Lotus feels chaotic on-screen, it turns out the filming process was just as wild, mostly thanks to Mike White’s unpredictable, no-rules directing style. The cast openly admitted that they had to quickly learn that working with him meant throwing out the usual playbook and embracing a far looser approach – to brilliant effect, thank goodness.
Despite the unconventional approach, praise poured in from all sides. Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Saxon Ratliffe, described it in simple terms: ‘Mike really has a clear vision for what he's looking for and, as an actor, we get hired to bring our version or our take of the character. But working with Mike… he comes out and literally will act out what he's looking for, which is a unique and strange way to work with actors, but at the same time it's very helpful and beneficial.’
However, after a litany of glowing adjectives, it was Jason Isaacs (Timothy Ratliffe) who ripped off the band aid and told us exactly how it was on set. ‘He’s this kind of mad, demonic, cackling, trouble-making presence. He wants to stir things up so he’s behind the camera shrieking with laughter, often throwing out even more insane suggestions for you to try. I’ll give him things that I wouldn’t normally give another director and I trust him to make the right choices at the end. It was far freer and more anarchic on set than I imagined.’
Finding this out, we can’t help but wonder if Mike White named The White Lotus after himself – an unpredictable creative force who fully embodies the chaos of his own show. But if you think his directing style is unconventional, wait until you hear about his casting process.
Word from the cast is that it took the award-winning director no more than a Zoom call and a gut feeling to cast many of the characters, with Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola who play brother-sister duo Lochlan and Piper Ratliffe, talking together about how they both were cast in just a few quick online sessions.
‘This was our first audition and it was actually very simple because I think Mike White knows exactly who he wants. He casts based on who fits the character best, not based on whoever is the most famous person at the time. It was really quick and we did one or two auditions and then it was a Zoom with him, and then the next day we all got the part. It felt so surprising… it’s kind of unheard of.’
Forget months of Hollywood callbacks – Mike White clearly knows a good thing when he sees it. Just like Thailand, when he came, he saw, and in a kind of fever dream lying in a Chiang Mai hospital bed, the story of season three was set.
Dom Hetrakul has big dreams to improve Thai acting
For the Thai actors, casting wasn’t just another role in their portfolio – it was an opportunity to see a whole new approach to performance.
Dom Hetrakul, who plays spa therapist Pornchai in The White Lotus, saw a big difference between local Thai productions and the more expressive style of international actors.
Talking about his experiences, he openly shared big dreams to bring that energy to Thailand’s acting scene, implying that he will take what he’s learned on set to his next roles in the hope of elevating Thai acting to new heights.
‘The biggest difference between Thai and foreign acting is the liveliness,’ he explained. ‘They have a different way to interpret expressions and use different techniques. The way they express, the way they expose, the way they glance is just different when compared to Thai production. We have a quite conservative, very traditional way of acting, which somehow can be numb, which is not so good for the business, not so good for the content.’
Despite these criticisms of the industry, he’s inspired for the future! ‘Working with them is a fresh inspiration – a life moment – then it’s good practice, good experience and an honour, I would say.’
Natasha Rothwell, who plays the revisiting spa manager Belinda Lindsey, added to this point by saying: ‘I really believe iron sharpens iron and people become better by working with the best. I feel like if you look at this call sheet every actor, every crew member, every executive producer, every editor, every AD, they're at the top of their game.’
Who knows, with this badge of honor Dom Hetrakul and his fellow Thai cast members might just be able to shake up Thai cinema and TV once and for all.
Lek Patravadi leaves us pondering what’s to come
While much of our discussion centered on the cast’s dynamic and how The White Lotus came together so flawlessly, Lek Patravadi (Sritala) couldn’t resist chiming in with a cheeky smile when asked about her experience working with an international cast. Her response? A playful yet ominous warning: ‘Be careful, we are very nice people, but don’t get us angry…’
Consider us officially intrigued.
The White Lotus is now streaming with new episodes every Monday on HBO and Max.