Why Were Thailand and Blackpink's LaLisa Perfect for 'The White Lotus' Season 3?
The show's creator Mike White also talked about the different themes he explores in the latest installment.
It’s almost time to breath since the over two year wait is over as the third season of Max’s buzzy series The White Lotus is back on Sunday, February 16. And while this is a SPOILER FREE preview piece, I can say that if you loved the first two installments for the way it took us inside the wealthy as they vacation at the swanky (and fictional) White Lotus resort properties, the dissecting of various relationships, sexual tension and, yes, murder(s), then you’re in for more in round number three.
This year, we’re off to a White Lotus property in Thailand, which, of course, was exciting for me since I’m living in Bangkok and had the chance to go to the set while they were shooting on the beautiful island of Koh Samui. And outside of the country being stunningly picturesque, creator Mike White decided on the Land of Smiles even though he originally thought season three would be taking place elsewhere in Asia.
“Originally, it was kind of a stalking horse because I wanted to shoot in Japan,” he says in a pre-debut interview. “I've spent more time there and I just had a vision for doing it in Japan. Then we got to Thailand and obviously it's such a lovely country and the people charmed us.” But then falling ill with a kind of bronchitis while visiting Thailand, something strange and creative happened during his medical treatment. “They put me on a nebulizer, which I'd never been on before, and it kept me awake for 48 hours. In those 48 hours, the whole season came to me so after I got better, I came to the producers and said, “I think I just came up with the season and it's in Thailand.’” Japan’s loss is Thailand’s gain, right?
White shares that he’s read a lot about Buddhism, which is the primary religion of Thailand and he was inspired to be able to explore it in the new stories. “The Buddhist ethos is very ripe with stories and characters, and I got excited about the spiritual dimension of Buddhism and how it really has such an impact on the people and the overall culture that you experience, even indirectly.”
Another way to make sure Thailand was represented was to hire Thai actors for major roles in the new season. In the first episode, we meet locals like White Lotus owner Sritala (Lek Patravadi, who White explains is “the Thai Judi Dench”), security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), spa staffer Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) and health mentor Mook (Lisa Manobal from the K-pop group Blackpink). In fact, back in the casting stage, White was leery about casting the internationally known Manobal (aka LaLisa) knowing her international stardom. “I was not aware of Blackpink, but I heard that she was open to meeting,” he says. “There was a lot of excitement, especially from the Thai casting people about it. And I was like, ‘we don't need stunt casting.’ I was actually very resistant just on concept, but then she came in and she did the best job.” In fact, White says her casting turned out to be “a great thing.” He adds, “She was great right out the gate and also is just a lovely person. It was easy for me as a director to communicate with her and she just had a lot of colors in her acting.”
But there are also plenty of familiar faces in the season 3 class from Fallout’s Walton Goggins, Bad Monkey’s Michelle Monaghan, The Gilded Age’s Carrie Coon, Palm Royale’s Leslie Bibb, Lost in Space’s Parker Posey, Archie’s Jason Isaacs and returning cast member Natasha Rothwell as ambitious spa manager Belinda Lindsey.
Not seen since the season one finale, Rothwell’s return was a no-brainer for White. “Natasha was amazing to work with and such a great actress and so fun,” he says but he also knew fans may have not been too pleased where her story ended in the show’s freshman season. “There were a lot of people that were bummed that Belinda had such a melancholy fate and that she was stuck working at this hotel and her dreams of having this spa had been dashed. And so, I felt like there might be a way to revisit her story that would be satisfying because we left her kind of hanging there. The idea of working with her again was incentive enough.”
While the show continues to comment on the wealthy people vacationing as well as the staff working to make their stays as wonderful as possible, White also had other themes he wanted to touch upon like masculinity. “I think masculinity can be a kind of trap with this sense of having to live, think and be a certain way and how that isolates these guys. Jason Isaacs’ character and Walton's character are both guys caught in this isolating drama that they can't get out of. I felt like that was something that was worth exploring.” That kind of masculinity also bleeds into sex and how sex is viewed by some characters like Patrick Schwarzenegger’s alpha male Saxon, the son of Isaacs and Posey. “Saxon is the extreme of somebody who's following in his dad's footsteps, literally, and has the values of the West in the sense of being materialistic. And the way he thinks of sex, it's like a numbers game and he really doesn't see any kind of sentimental, romantic or spiritual dimension to any of it at all.” Watch in the new episodes how Saxon tries to influence naive younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola), who also has a close relationship with their spiritual sister Piper (Sarah Catherine Hooks). “Lochlan is caught in the middle between those two and is easily influenced by whomever he's with,” White teases.
And, this being The White Lotus, there are spoilers aplenty so know that there will be much more to discuss as the new season rolls out so keep an eye out here for more stories, interviews and also a look at the Four Seasons property where the show filmed (and I had a chance to stay for a few days during filming).
In case you missed it, here is the season 3 trailer:
Until next time…
I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview as well (no spoilers) and was so curious to get your opinion given you have the unique perspective of living there now.