Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood and More Stars Check in to White Lotus Season 3
The White Lotus hotel is going to be booked and busy this year.
HBO's award-winning show added five more actors to its already sizeable season three cast, the network announced Jan. 16. The latest performers to reserve rooms in the highly anticipated black comedy series? Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola.
None of these actors are new to the TV world. Last year, Schwarzenegger had a recurring role on Amazon Prime's The Boys spinoff Gen V, while Goggins was a regular on HBO's The Righteous Gemstones. Wood and Hook have both made names for themselves on Netflix shows, with the former flexing her health class knowledge on the teen comedy Sex Education since 2019 and the latter sharpening her fangs on the teen vampire series First Kill. Nivola also recently wrapped filming another Netflix production, the upcoming limited series The Perfect Couple.
These new resort members will be joining an ensemble that already includes newcomers Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Morgana O'Reilly and Parker Posey, as well as season one regulars Natasha Rothwell and Tayme Thapthimthong. Details on any of their roles haven't been released just yet.
The entire White Lotus crew will soon pack their carry-ons and head to Thailand, where the show will be filming in and around Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok. HBO is already working with the Tourism Authority of Thailand on promotion for the third go-around, which creator Mike White first hinted about in a clip pegged to the end of the season two finale.
"The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex," White said in the Dec. 2022 video. "I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality."
The writer later elaborated on what to expect from the highly anticipated new season. "It's going to be a supersized White Lotus," he told Entertainment Weekly in November. "It's going to be longer, bigger, crazier."
White continued, "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."
Read on for all the juicy deets we have so far on the upcoming season of The White Lotus.
Patrick Schwarzenegger (Gen V), Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education), Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight), Sarah Catherine Hook (The Conjuring) and Sam Nivola (The Pursuit of Love) are the latest stars to check in for season three.
Avengers' Carrie Coon, Iron Man's Leslie Bibb and Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs are set to star in season three. Parker Posey, Dom Hetrakul, Michelle Monaghan and Tayme Thapthimthong are also joining the White Lotus cast.
Natasha Rothwell is coming back! The Insecure actress played spa manager Belinda in season one.
Season three will take place in Thailand, the network announced in January 2024.
After wrapping production on The White Lotus' second season in Sicily, creator Mike White hinted that he already had a destination for season three in mind.
"The first season highlighted money and the second season is sex," he said. "I think the third season, it would be maybe a satirical, funny look at death, Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round."
The end of The White Lotus' second season still left some untied threads, particularly when it comes to the nefarious dealings of Tanya's (Jennifer Coolidge) husband Greg (Jon Gries).
However, Mike White suggested those questions might get answered sooner rather than later.
"I think as far as like, what happens to Greg and the conspiracy of Tanya's death, it's possible that I think Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) is scared enough to just leave it alone," White said to HBO after the season two finale, "but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there's gotta be somebody who's gonna track it back down to Greg. But maybe you'll have to wait to find out what happens."
The second season introduced viewers to sex-addicted producer Dominic Di Grasso, played by Michael Imperioli, traveling with his son Albie (Adam DiMarco) and father Bert (F. Murray Abraham).
While it's unclear if Michael has actually had conversations about reprising his role in season three—he'd certainly jump at the chance.
"Who knows, maybe there'll be another White Lotus season where Dominic comes with his wife and they patch it all up!" Michael suggested to Esquire in December. "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."
Hey, if that means we'd get to meet Laura Dern, who voiced Dominic's wife in season two, we're all for it!
In July 2022, Connie Britton—who played businesswoman Nicole Mossbacher in season one—revealed that she and Mike White had already discussed her potential return.
"He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character," Connie told Deadline in July 2022. "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 that in the third season."
When asked about the idea by E! News in January, Connie simply said, "Listen, my lips are sealed."
After Tanya—spoiler alert!—killed a bunch of people and then fell to her death in the season two finale, it stands to reason that Jennifer Coolidge probably won't be returning to The White Lotus for the third season in a row—even in ghost form.
"He sort of sticks to his guns," Jennifer said of Mike White in an interview with E! News Jan. 17. "He's an amazing friend, but I think he made his decision. He wanted a big, dramatic, Italian, you know, operatic ending for White Lotus 2, and he wanted to sacrifice Tanya."
May she rest in peace.
Simply put: It's still going to be a while.
Season three will start filming in February 2024, so if you're craving some devious resort behavior, you'll have to settle for a re-watch of the first two seasons of The White Lotus, which are available to stream on HBO Max.
