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.
The season’s first teaser dropped on August 5, and the brief clip shows the cast awash in a hot and humid yellow filter, riding a speed boat, jumping in a pool, practicing what looks like Muay Thai boxing, and the words, “What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand.”
It’s time for a new set of champagne problems.
Much like seasons one and two, season three will center 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.”
The cast will include at least one returning guest.
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 and Jennifer Coolidge in season one
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.
In January, a new batch of cast members was confirmed, including Parker Posey, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Aimee Lou Wood, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Shalini Peiris, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arnas Fedaravičius. Carrie Coon (who is currently working on season three of The Gilded Age) is also confirmed.
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.
Blackpink’s Lisa (whose full name is Lalisa Manoban) joined the cast, making her acting debut. 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 cast will also include Thai actors Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, and Lek Patravadi.
There are still no character details, but it’s been reported that the multi-generational group includes a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, and a couple of mothers—including a country club wife, a misfit, and a yogi.
The first teaser for The White Lotus season three is here.
In a first look shared by HBO on November 11, Lisa—based on her costume—plays a resort manager named Mook. “Welcome to the White Lotus in Thailand, ka” she says cheerily. See the brief clip below:
The White Lotus season three returns next year.
After a few delays, season three of The White Lotus will officially return in 2025—though the exact release date is still under wraps. Stay tuned for updates.
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