Actor Sam Nivola Shares Behind-the-Scenes Snaps from 'The White Lotus' Season 3

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The White Lotus season two came to its dramatic conclusion in December 2022, and likely won't be back on our screens until 2025. In October 2023, HBO and Max chairman/CEO Casey Bloys revealed that the third season wouldn't be premiering until 2025, due to the impact of the WGA strike and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Creator Mike White is teasing a "supersized" season. "It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier," he told Vanity Fair. "I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing…I’m super excited about the content of the season."

With the news that satire has begun filming in Thailand, here's everything we know so far about The White Lotus season three.

HBO officially renewed the show for a third season.

"Reflecting on The White Lotus humble, run-and-gun origin as a contained pandemic production, it’s impossible not to be awestruck by how Mike orchestrated one of the buzziest and most critically acclaimed shows," Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO drama series and films, said. "And yet, he’s only continued to reach new heights in season 2, which is the ultimate testament to Mike’s raw, unparalleled vision. His courage to explore the uncharted waters of the human psyche, paired with his signature irreverent humor and buoyant directing style, have us all dreaming of more vacation days at the resort we’ve come to adore. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get the chance to collaborate on a third season together."

Creator Mike White is excited, too. "I feel so lucky to get this opportunity again and am excited to reunite with my amazingly talented collaborators," he shared in a statement.

At Series Mania in March 2023, HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said White just pitched the idea for season three. "It’s great, a really fun idea," Bloys said. In a later interview, Orsi shared the season is "an exploration about spirituality versus the ego. And it’s set against the Eastern religion. But beyond that, I can’t really speak to some of the character ideas that Mike has."

It will take place in Thailand.

"The first season highlighted money, and then the second season is sex. I think the third season will be a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality," White said in the aftershow of the season two finale. "It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus."

In a new interview, he teased it will be about "Eastern versus Western religion, or Western people in an Eastern culture. Maybe after sex it would be nice to have something that’s a little more celestial or something that’s a little more out of the carnal, I guess. But I don’t know. I have to beg off, to be honest, because I don’t really know."

The first season shot at the Four Seasons Maui, and the second season filmed at San Domenico, a Four Seasons Hotel in Taormina, so there's a good chance the third season will also be shot at a Four Seasons property. In March 2023, Variety reported that season three will be set in Thailand, according to sources close to the production. It was possibly going to be set in Japan, but the team ultimately picked Thailand.

In January 2024, it was reported that White Lotus season three will film at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui and the Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas.

The cast was announced in early 2024, but no details on their roles.

In January 2024, Variety reported of six actors joining the cast of The White Lotus season three: Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, and Tayme Thapthimthong. No word yet on who they're playing.

Soon after, Gilded Age star Carrie Coon was also announced to join the cast, as were Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, and Shalini Peiris. A few days later, there were even more casting announcements—Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood—but still no details on roles. In February, Variety reported that Blackpink member Lisa will be part of the cast, marking her acting debut. (She will be credited under her given name, Lalisa Manobal.) Like the other casting news, no details of the role she's playing has been given as of yet. In March, Deadline reported that Charlotte Le Bon will be joining the cast, replacing Francesca Corney, in a second recasting. (Julian Kostov also was cast, replacing Serbian actor Miloš Biković for his alleged pro-Putin views.)

Evan Ross Katz reported that Survivor stars Natalie Cole and Carl Boudreux, who played with Mike White on his season of the reality TV competition, will cameo in the upcoming season.

Deadline reported, "Not many details are available regarding the new chapter’s plot beyond that it follows a new group of guests at another White Lotus property including a multigenerational gang with a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a country club wife, a misfit and a yogi." It's unclear who is playing what role.

In March 2024, actor Sam Nivola shared some snaps from Thailand, showing Iris Apatow, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Sarah Catherine Hook:

Jennifer Coolidge almost certainly won't be back for season three—but other characters could return.

White said at the premiere of season two, "Jennifer is my friend and everybody loved her in the first season, and I was like, ‘I can’t go to Italy without Jennifer.’ And maybe that’s still the case. Like, maybe you can’t go to Japan without Jennifer, either. There are so many fun actors we’ve worked with so far, so it’s just kind of like who’s available." However, it seems as though press about Coolidge needing to be in another season was a ruse to throw watchers off of the scent of who dies in the opening.

Jennifer Coolidge, and Jon Gries, who played her on-screen husband Greg Hunt, were the only actors to return from the first season of The White Lotus. Ahead of season three beginning production, Coolidge told Today, "I’m jealous of everyone that’s going. I just want to stress I’m not a good sport about it, but there’s nothing I can do."

She added, "I think it’s going to be good. There’s going to be all sorts of good stuff in it, probably great sex stuff. You know how Mike White writes — it’s never, never a dull moment. I think he’s going to slay with this one."

Ahead of season two, White shared an idea for Connie Britton's character, Nicole, to return to the show. "He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character," Britton told Deadline. "Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season and we’re hoping to [do] that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show."

In an interview in 2023, Britton said she has yet to be asked back for season three, but would love to return. "I have loved collaborating with him and I’ll say yes to him ’til the end of time," she said. (There's no indication as of yet that Britton will be back for season three.)

Season two's Michael Imperioli could return, too. "Who knows, maybe there’ll be another White Lotus season where Dominic comes with his wife and they patch it all up!" White told Esquire. Imperioli doesn't want to get his hopes up but, would love to come back. He said, "I don't want to think about it too much, because the idea of that makes me so happy. I don't want to be disappointed... I would want nothing more than that. I just loved working with Mike so much."

After getting an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Valentina, Sabrina Impacciatore told Deadline that Mike White "wrote me and said I want to work with you again," but she said she doesn't know if that means for season three. Theo James, who also received an Emmy nod for his portrayal of Cameron Sullivan in season two, also told the magazine "The nice thing about Mike is that he’s created a continuing world where these characters can interact in the future."

Natasha Rothwell is confirmed to return.

One character that is definitely returning: Belinda, played by Natasha Rothwell. Variety first reported the news, and Rothwell confirmed it, tweeting, "Belinda is back baby!!!" In an interview in December 2023, she said, she's read the scripts for season three, saying, "I gasped out loud a minimum of five times, and this was just me reading them!"

She added, "The scripts are a testament to Mike’s skill and ability to tell the most smart and entertaining stories. I mean, everything that he does is like a lesson to me as an actor and a performer. And as a writer myself, he takes folks on a journey. Everyone needs to buckle up, because it’s going to get real!"

No premiere date has been set yet.

Season one debuted in summer 2021, and season two in fall 2022. In spring 2023, HBO's Francesca Orsi told Deadline, "The White Lotus was ideally looking to go in 2024 but there’s some question about timing of the strike." In fall 2023, Bloys changed that timeline, saying it's more likely that the season will now air in 2025.

We'll update this as soon as we learn more.

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