Like Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya, you may never recover from the finale of The White Lotus’s second season. Still, it’s time to start planning your next trip—because HBO is taking us on another vacation to one of the White Lotus resorts for season three. Here’s everything we know about the new season so far:
Season three of The White Lotus will be set in Thailand.
Much like seasons one and two, season three will center on a group of guests at a White Lotus resort, with an overarching theme connecting their storylines. The show’s first installment focused on class and money, while season two skewered the roles of sex and gender. For season three, creator Mike White has revealed that he wants to explore themes of “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.” Hence, the Thai setting.
White has also said of the season: “It’s going to be a supersized White Lotus. It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier.”
Natasha Rothwell is returning.
White will continue his tradition of keeping at least one familiar face between seasons (as he did with Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid and her husband Greg, played by Jon Gries in season two). In this case, Natasha Rothwell will be that returning actor, reprising her Emmy-nominated role from season one as Belinda Lindsey, the spa manager who got a raw deal when Tanya ghosted on an agreement to start a new wellness center together. Fans were disappointed by Belinda’s original story arc, so it’ll be interesting to see where this journey takes her.
Rothwell told Vanity Fair that she “gasped out loud a minimum of five times” while reading the season three scripts. “When we did the first season, we sat down and talked a lot about Belinda and [White] was so receptive to feedback, and we plan to approach it the same way,” she said.
The first official trailer is here.
In the season’s first official trailer, we learn a bit more about the cast and what has brought them to this trip (“What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand,” Michelle Monaghan’s character declares to her “longtime, not old” friends—played by Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb). Though there are stunning scenes of infinity pools and lush natural scenery, as with any White Lotus season, a dark undercurrent runs throughout. Rothwell’s spa manager sets out to learn about the wellness experiences offered at the hotel so that she can bring them back to Maui—it seems she’ll serve as the audience’s more sober eyes and ears for the debauchery that’s about to come. Meanwhile, we learn that Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs)—on vacation with his wife (Parker Posey) and children (“We usually go to the Caribbean,” Posey’s character says drolly)—is hiding the fact that he’s potentially lost all of their money and about to go to prison. (“Why are rich men always so angry?” one character asks, setting up the theme.) Walton Goggins, who plays the much older partner of Aimee Lou Wood, seems to similarly be in a shady situation, as he zooms in on a Googled photo of an unidentified couple. Lalisa Manobal’s spa manager Mook warns, “Everyone who comes to Thailand, they’re either hiding from someone or looking for someone.” In the second half of the clip, we witness an armed robbery and a warning about an uptick in violence on the island, ending on this ominous note: “Go big or go home, in a goddamn bodybag.” Watch the trailer, below:
The rest of the cast is sprawling.
In addition to Lisa, Posey, Nivola, Goggins, Wood, Manobal, and Isaacs, this season’s ensemble cast includes Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Shalini Peiris, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravičius, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, and Lek Patravadi.
Posey, in particular, has popped up on many fans’s dream casting lists. Surprisingly, she’s never worked with White before, but she does have a long history of co-starring in multiple Christopher Guest-directed films with Coolidge, including Best in Show and For Your Consideration. So, she’s qualified to fill Tanya’s absence.
Lalisa Manoban (otherwise known as Lisa from K-pop group Blackpink) makes her acting debut in the series. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for Manoban, who is Thai. She’s the most recent Blackpink member to appear in an HBO show; last year, her bandmate Jennie Kim starred alongside The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp in The Idol.
The White Lotus season three returns next year.
After a few delays, season three of The White Lotus will officially return on February 16, 2025 on Max.
