Warning: this article contains spoilers from seasons one and two of The White Lotus
The wait for season three of The White Lotus has felt impossibly long, especially given last year’s 118-day-long SAG-AFTRA strike, which halted production of the award-winning anthology series.
In fact, we’re nearly coming up to two years since we wrapped the shady dealings of Sicily—and lost (or did we?) fan favourite Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge). Still, the HBO series has a piece of our hearts, and we’re counting down the days until it’s on our screens again.
Once the strike ended, showrunner Mike White confirmed that production resumed effective immediately but shared little regarding the one question on our lips: When?!
Well, one year later, we have a teaser featuring the key cast members and even a release date. Read on for everything we know about The White Lotus season three.
Where Will The White Lotus Season 3 Take Place?
After wreaking havoc in America and Europe, The White Lotus is headed to Thailand.
Tropical, humid and visually arresting, Thailand is the perfect choice after the crisp blue seas and crumbling history of Sicily in season two, and the classic American holiday destination of Hawai’i.
Ahead of the official confirmation, White had previously hinted that season three would take place in Asia and focus on “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he said in HBO’s supporting interview series for the show. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
HBO declined to comment on the reports around the location, but given both seasons one and two of The White Lotus were filmed at Four Seasons resorts, the luxury hotel group will likely be involved again. Though the chain has multiple locations in the country, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and the Golden Triangle, an insider told Bloomberg that cast members have been spotted filming at the Koh Samui location. Other plotlines will follow guests visiting temples in Phuket, where they’ll stay at another hotel. Other sources say the hotel will be the Anantara Mai Khao Villas Phuket.
Who Is Returning In The White Lotus Season 3?
The White Lotus cast has always been a mixture of unearthed talent and lauded actors who become overnight A-listers every season (ahem, Simona Tabasco). The return of Don and Tanya McQuoid for The White Lotus season two brought joy to the hearts of many fans, and there have been hints that another fan-favourite character may be returning for The White Lotus season three.
Connie Britton, who played season one’s Nicole Mossbacher—a busy CEO taking a family holiday with her adult children and husband to The White Lotus in Hawaii. There were rumours Britton would be appearing in season two, but now the actress has clarified that while both she and White were interested, things didn’t work out.
“He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character,” she told Deadline in July 2022, adding, “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.”
However, Britton was asked again in January if she would return for The White Lotus season three. “Of course, I would,” she told Variety. “I think [Mike White] is a genius, but also a kind genius. I have loved collaborating with him, and I’ll say yes to him until the end of the time.”
Although Britton’s on-screen presence in season three is unlikely, another character from season one is confirmed as a returning figure: The White Lotus’ spa manager, Belinda.
After being swindled by Tanya, it seems that Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) packed in her sound bowls and headed east. No doubt she’ll be equally involved in the comeuppance of the guests reportedly visiting Thailand on a “wellness retreat”.
Another star who has voiced interest in returning for The White Lotus season three is Michael Imperioli, who played Dominic Di Grasso, a Hollywood producer on a generational holiday with his father and son. You might recall that his ex-wife (played by the one and only Laura Dern) called him during his stay at the hotel, which leads to our next rumour.
Will Laura Dern Appear In The White Lotus?
The topic of many a Reddit thread for The White Lotus is Laura Dern and her cameo in season two. For the uninitiated, Dern played (as a voice actor) Dominic Di Grasso’s estranged wife, who calls Di Grasso in episode one. It’s a brief cameo, but with such a seasoned actress involved, fans have long speculated that this was just the start of Dern’s involvement in the HBO series.
First, it’s worth noting that, as we covered, Michael Imperioli (who played Di Grasso) is keen to return. “Who knows, maybe there’ll be another White Lotus season where Dominic comes with his wife, and they patch it all up!” the actor told Esquire. “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.”
For her part, Dern hasn’t mentioned any involvement – but she does have a history of working with White, co-creating the series Enlightened and working together on the film Year Of The Dog. It wouldn’t surprise us if her cameo were intended to be fleshed out in The White Lotus season three.
Is Tanya McQuoid Really Dead?
Many fans have speculated that Jennifer Coolidge’s iconic character Tanya McQuoid isn’t really dead and will make a return in The White Lotus season three. Sadly, Coolidge shut down those rumours in December 2022 during an Entertainment Weekly interview.
“There’s all kinds of reactions to it,” Coolidge said of the season two finale. “There was actually more than two people who thought it was like some sort of dream. They thought it was a dream even though I was in a body bag. They somehow thought it was all in Tanya’s head or whatever. They didn’t get that I was dead dead, forever. Dead in every sense.”
She added the final nail in the coffin later in the interview. “Mike and I had a talk about it. Mike was like, ‘I’m killing you off.’ He said that to me very early on, he said, ‘You’re not going to make it, Jennifer.’”
So we’re very sorry to any Tanya McQuoid fans, but we won’t see Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus season three.
Who Is Cast In Season 3?
Aside from Belinda, the team has cast several new characters for season three.
Per Deadline, newcomers include Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Tayme Thapthimthong, Miloš Biković, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, and Shalini Peiris.
In January, Variety revealed Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola also joined the cast.
K-pop fans will also rejoice in seeing Thai singer and rapper Lisa (of Blackpink fame) in her first acting role. As teased on the show’s official Instagram page, the 27-year-old will play a staff member.
When Will The White Lotus Season 3 Be Released?
We can finally confirm when the series will return to our screens, and it’s not too far off.
As shared by Warner Bros. Discovery’s Global Streaming Chief, JB Perrette, there is no exact date for the season premiere, but we can expect it to return in February 2025, according to Variety.
In the meantime, you can watch the official season three teaser here.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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