If season three of The White Lotus taught us anything, it’s that filming the show can get… intense. For a show hinged on the secrets and delusions of society’s wealthiest members, it sounds like the atmosphere on set stays eerily close to the source material.
How do we know? We can thank season three star Jason Isaacs for that, who last year described the set as ‘a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage’.
Despite spending seven months at the Four Seasons Resort in Koh Samui, where rooms cost an average of £1,372 per night, Isaacs stressed that ‘it wasn’t a holiday’.
Murray Bartlett who played hotel manager Armond in the first series also described filming The White Lotus as ‘a TV summer camp’, calling it a ‘weird and wonderful’ experience. Season three’s Aimee Lou Wood also described the circumstances as ‘quite extreme’. That’s before we get onto to the rumoured behind the scenes romances, fallouts and firings that have come to mark nearly every season.
Why did Helena Bonham Carter leave The White Lotus?
Now, as the latest cohort begin shooting season four between Airelles Chateau de la Messardiere in Saint-Tropez, which will serve as The White Lotus du Cap and Hotel Martinez in Cannes, which will be The White Lotus Cannes, it’s already proved too much for one cast member.
Despite the show’s creator Mike White writing a part specifically with her in mind, Helena Bonham Carter has parted ways with the production, with HBO saying ‘it had become apparent’ that the character White had written ‘did not align once on set’.
The network did not provide any details of the alleged misalignment, but it has been chalked up to creative differences. ‘The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks,’ the statement continued. ‘HBO, the producers and Mike White are saddened that they won’t get to work with her, but remain ardent fans and very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon.’
Although there has been speculation that Bonham Carter did not get along with co-star Sandra Bernhard, the Harry Potter star’s rep insisted that is not true and the pair have not even met.
Who has replaced Helena Bonham Carter on The White Lotus?
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for White and his team to find Bonham Carter’s replacement, and Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern has swooped in to save the day. She will join fellow cast members including Steve Coogan, Kumail Nanjiani, Sandra Bernhard, Heather Graham and Vincent Cassel to spend the summer in the south of France.
What other drama has taken place on The White Lotus set?
It’s easy to speculate about what might have happened between Bonham Carter and White’s team. Did she unpack her kaftans, enjoy some escargot and decide she’d had her fill? Was the ‘Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage’ vibe not what she expected? Did something happen with White or a fellow cast member? Or did she simply read the less favourable season three reviews and opt to get out early? We might have to wait until the season four press run (or forever) to find out.
For now, we’ll have to hang on Isaacs’ words that ‘there are tensions and difficulties… alliances that formed and broke, romances that formed and broke, friendships that formed and broke’.
We know, for example, that in season two Leo Woodall and Meghann Fahy fell in love (and are still together) despite not sharing any scenes. We also know that in season three, Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood, who played an on-screen couple, became very close. Goggins gushed about his scene partner in interviews and on social media before abruptly unfollowing her after the finale, sparking rumours of a feud. Then two months later they did a joint interview with Variety and said ‘there is no feud’ and Goggins clarified that he loves Wood ‘madly’, but had to unfollow her to untangle himself from the artistic project at large.
As for BTS tensions, we revert once again to Isaacs who suggested that White can be quite a micro manager on set. ‘He’d never stop refining the scene that was coming up or the scene he’d just shot. A lot of times he’d be shouting suggestions out from behind the camera and you’d think, “Is he serious?”‘
It’s also worth noting that Bonham Carter is not the only person to exit the project early. The show’s composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer has quit production following a fallout with White last year. ‘We already had our last fight ever, I think’ de Veer said after season three. ‘He was just saying no to anything.’ White took issue with these comments calling them a ‘bitch move’. Adding, ‘I don’t think I ever had a fight with him – except for maybe some emails. It was basically me giving him notes. I don’t think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn’t respect me.’
Likewise, little known English actress Francesca Corney posted pictures from Thailand after being cast in season three, only to be dropped mid-shoot and replaced by Charlotte Le Bon. Apparently, this was down to White wanting to cast someone slightly older in the role. ‘Although heartbreaking, I’m so incredibly grateful for the short time I got to spend with everyone,’ Corney posted on Instagram.
What is season four of The White Lotus about?
‘Season four is about fame,’ White has said, with previous seasons tackling money, sex and gender politics and Western spirituality. ‘There are some people who are satisfied with the love of one intimate partner and then there are some people who need the love of strangers.’
Season four is expected to air some time next year.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA UK.
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