The White Lotus Season 3 Has Recast 2 Of Its Stars

Pack your bags, because it’s time for another trip to a White Lotus resort. The White Lotus was officially picked up for a Season 3 on HBO weeks before Season 2 even finished airing. That means fans should get ready for a lot more ugly behavior in beautiful locales.

The White Lotus was a series born out of pandemic necessity. When the lockdowns forced film crews to pare down shooting locations, series creator Mike White came up with the idea for a series set entirely at one resort. Season 1 of The White Lotus was such a success that it was renewed for a second season, which premiered Oct. 30, 2022. A few weeks later, on Nov. 18, HBO announced the series will come back for a third season.

“Reflecting on The White Lotus’ humble, run-and-gun origin as a contained pandemic production, it’s impossible not to be awestruck by how Mike orchestrated one of the buzziest and most critically acclaimed shows,” Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO programming, said in a statement. “And yet, he’s only continued to reach new heights in Season 2, which is the ultimate testament to Mike’s raw, unparalleled vision. His courage to explore the uncharted waters of the human psyche, paired with his signature irreverent humor and buoyant directing style, have us all dreaming of more vacation days at the resort we’ve come to adore. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get the chance to collaborate on a third season together.”

While the update is exciting, there’s also a bit of bad news. The new season isn’t going to air anytime soon, as HBO’s boss recently confirmed.

Read on for everything to know about The White Lotus Season 3 so far.

It’s Going To Be A Long Wait

There’s no official release date for The White Lotus Season 3 yet, but we do know that it’s going to be a long wait. HBO exec Casey Bloys confirmed on Nov. 2 that while the season was originally slated for a 2024 release, in light of the 2023 actors’ strike it’s been moved to 2025.

A Season 1 Star Is Returning

Warning: Spoilers for The White Lotus’s Season 2 finale follow. A whole new cast was brought in for The White Lotus Season 2, except for Jennifer Coolidge and her iconic character Tanya McQuoid. But don’t expect that exact same formula in Season 3, since Tanya shockingly died during her trip in Sicily.

There will be at least one returning fave, though. Variety reported on April 19 that Natasha Rothwell will return as Belinda Lindsey in the third season. Belinda was the Hawaiian resort’s spa manager in Season 1, who got strung along by Tanya’s unfulfilled promises to fund her own practice. It’s unclear if Belinda will be part of the resort’s staff once again in Season 3, or finally taking a well-earned vacation of her own. Hopefully, it’s the latter.

The New Cast Is Full Of Stars

The new crop of spoiled vacationers was finally revealed on Jan. 5. Season 3 of The White Lotus will star Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Dom Hetrakul, and Tayme Thapthimthong. None of the six actors’ roles have been revealed yet — they’ll join Natasha Rothwell who is reprising her role as Belinda.

Posey has a very similar background as Coolidge, as both worked together in several Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Isaacs is best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

Just a few days after those six new cast members were announced, another big name was added. Carrie Coon, star of other hit HBO shows The Leftovers and The Gilded Age, was confirmed as another new addition to the White Lotus Season 3 cast.

The cast grew even more on Jan. 12, when the five more actors were confirmed to join the Thailand trip. The rest of the cast includes: Milos Bikovic, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, and Shalini Peiris.

Finally, another five actors were announced on Jan. 16. Also jetting off to Thailand for a sure-to-be-chaotic resort stay will be Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola. Schwarzenegger most recently starred in The Boys spinoff Gen V, and Wood is best known for her role as the caring and insightful Aimee on Sex Education.

Another three vacationers were revealed on Jan. 22: Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arnas Fedaravičius. And a big casting decision was announced on Feb. 12, as Variety reported Lisa from BLACKPINK had joined the Season 3 cast. She will be credited under her given name, Lalisa Manobal.

Interestingly, the is the second time in the last few months a BLACKPINK star showed off her acting chops in a buzzy HBO series. In the summer of 2023, Jennie made her acting debut in The Idol.

However, there have been some shake-ups since the Season 3 cast was announced. Milos Bikovic has since been replaced by Julian Kostov, and Francesca Corney’s role will instead be played by Charlotte Le Bon. Deadline reported that the latter change was in an effort to age up the character.

The New Setting Is Confirmed

Showrunner Mike White dropped a hint about where the next White Lotus resort will be located in the official post-show following the Season 2 finale. “The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” White said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”

That hint led to several theories about which Asian country could be the next destination. Finally, on March 27, Variety reported that Season 3 will be set in Thailand. This dashed the main fan theory about the Maldives, but it didn’t catch everyone completely off-guard, since White had shared a video from a Thai resort a couple months before the Thailand confirmation.