Would Rick and Chelsea’s White Lotus relationship be as romantic if Walton Goggins’s character were played by Woody Harrelson? Apparently, that almos
Would Rick and Chelsea’s White Lotus relationship be as romantic if Walton Goggins’s character were played by Woody Harrelson? Apparently, that almost happened. In an oral history for The Hollywood Reporter, Mike White and the actors and crew of The White Lotus revealed some of the secrets behind casting season three of HBO’s hit hotel show, including some of the actors who nearly made it onto the series.
Harrelson was apparently eyed for not one but two roles on season three of The White Lotus. Originally, the True Detective star almost played the father-avenging Rick Hatchett—but he reportedly stepped away from the part due to his proposed compensation. Per two sources who spoke to THR, Harrelson “went all the way to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to see if his salary could be negotiated,” to no avail. “Everyone is treated the same on The White Lotus. They get paid the same,” said White Lotus producer David Bernad. “It’s a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.”
And that amount isn’t enormous, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. Casting director Meredith Tucker told THR that series regulars on White Lotus are “pretty much doing this for scale,” meaning they are being paid the minimum allowable wage stipulated by SAG-AFTRA. Multiple sources reportedly told THR that White Lotus series regulars make roughly $40,000 per episode—for this eight-episode season, that amounts to earning a grand total of approximately $320,000 for about half a year’s work. Not bad, but apparently not enough for Harrelson.
Harrelson was then considered to guest star as Frank, Rick’s spiritually lost friend. That part wound up being played by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell. Rockwell had a few things going for him to edge Harrelson out for the role: He’s best friends with Goggins, for one thing, and his longtime partner, Leslie Bibb, had already been cast in season three as Kate, a member of the trio of blonde friends vacationing at the hotel. “I was so nervous,” Bibb said of Rockwell joining the show. “I just said, ‘If he doesn’t do it, you can’t be mad at me.’”
In the THR article, White opened up about his apprehension when it came to casting Blackpink member and K-pop superstar Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal as White Lotus employee Mook, partially because he didn’t want to evoke an ill-fated HBO series that starred a different Blackpink singer. “I did not know who Lisa or Blackpink was,” White said. “All I knew was that there was a Blackpink girl [her bandmate Jennie Kim] in The Idol, and I was like, ‘We’re not doing that.’” Even though Manobal’s audition was “amazing,” White was still reluctant to cast her. “I’m just used to not having so much attention; we don’t need it. But I wanted to be respectful to Thailand. She’s like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana there.”
Parker Posey had an untraditional audition process for White Lotus season three that involved a former White Lotus mainstay. As the actor told THR, she was at Jennifer Coolidge’s celebrated Halloween party in New Orleans, “alone at a cheese table at 1 the morning, wondering, Should I have some more cheese?” White was apparently on his way out, but he stopped by Posey before leaving. “He’s like, ‘Hi, I just want to say you’re doing such great work lately. Blah blah blah. Bye!’” she said. “It struck me: Maybe I’m going to be part of White Lotus. My friends were like, ‘Of course you are.’”
Posey’s The Staircase costar Patrick Schwarzenegger did not get any special treatment just because he hails from a celebrated family. “Patrick Schwarzenegger’s last name worked against him, by the way,” said Bernad. “We didn’t want to cast him because of that. He was just so good.” Casting the Ratliff brothers was tricky because of, well, the gay incest. “For that stuff with the brothers, we had to tell people beforehand,” said Tucker. “We said, ‘There is going to be some same-sex kissing and stuff. Are you comfortable with that?’” According to Tucker, “maybe one kid” bowed out of the process of auditioning for Lochlan, a role that ultimately went to Sam Nivola. “Some of these kids were barely 18, so I could understand,” she added.
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