From casting process to characterisation, cast of The White Lotus Season 3 spills on what makes the third edition of the series as the "best one yet".

Darker, sharper, and hotter than ever - <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/art/the-white-lotus-seaon-3-episode-1-pure-unadulterated-tension">The White Lotus </a>is back for round three, and this time, it&rsquo;s touching down in Thailand. Mike White&rsquo;s black comedy returns with a <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/fashion/hm-white-lotus-inspired-collection-travel-holiday">fresh serving</a> of chaos, sun-soaked scandals and characters you&rsquo;ll love to hate. We&rsquo;ve got the inside scoop straight from the cast on what&rsquo;s in store &mdash; and trust us, you&rsquo;ll want to check in for this one.

(Image credit: press)

How did you feel when you found out you were joining the cast of The White Lotus Season 3? PARKER POSEY: Oh, I was so excited! It&rsquo;s such a big show, and when I found out Natasha was joining the new season, I got even more hyped. I really connected with the first season, so knowing I&rsquo;d be working with Natasha in Season 3 just made it all the more thrilling. NATASHA ROTHWELL:&nbsp;I was in L.A. when Mike was in town, and he was like, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s grab dinner.&rdquo; So, we did, and right in the middle of the meal, he just casually dropped, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking about doing The White Lotus Season 3, and I want to bring Belinda back.&rdquo; At first, I wasn&rsquo;t sure if he was serious, but then I got the call. They just told me, &ldquo;Get your passport ready,&rdquo; without even saying where I was going! Then Mike explained that this season would explore spirituality, and he wanted Belinda back doing healing arts and massages. I was like, &ldquo;Absolutely, let&rsquo;s do it.&rdquo;

JASON ISAACS: My first thought? Oh God, I hope I don&rsquo;t mess this up. The writing is just so brilliant and asks a lot of me. Sometimes, I get to just tell a story, but this time, it&rsquo;s deep &mdash; it&rsquo;s dramatic, Shakespearean, and totally epic. And knowing how many people will be watching? That&rsquo;s both terrifying and a huge privilege. PATRICK SCHWARZENEGGER: Getting this job was surreal. Like, <a href="https://www.lofficielmalaysia.com/travel/a-taste-of-paradise-the-st-regis-langkawi-knows-the-way-to-the-heart-and-belly-marriott-bonvoy-resort-island-malaysia">an actual dream come true.</a> I cried when I found out &mdash; even though I had no idea what the script was or what I was in for. Just knowing I&rsquo;d get to work with Mike White and this insanely talented cast was enough. There were definitely nerves because, you know, the show is &ldquo;huge.&rdquo; But once I got on set, I realised how chill Mike is, and the whole cast and crew had this relaxed, fun vibe. It made the entire experience amazing.

To you, Dom &mdash; what do you think is the unique touch you bring as a Thai actor to your character in The White Lotus Season 3? DOM HETRAKUL: For me, it&rsquo;s all about how I translate the script into expression. I love that I get to work with such a diverse cast &mdash; some of them come from the other side of the world, and that means I get to learn different acting techniques along the way. As a Thai actor, I naturally bring elements of my culture into my character while also making sure the interactions feel real within the story. There are so many different approaches to acting on set, and I feel lucky to observe, learn and react to them &mdash; and vice versa. Sarah Catherine, how did you tackle the complexities of your role? And was there a specific scene that challenged you the most? SARAH CATHERINE: Honestly, when I first read the script, I was a little thrown off by my character, Piper. Mike described her as the most &ldquo;normal&rdquo; person in the series, but to me, she definitely had something extra going on. Playing a young character in today&rsquo;s world while keeping it funny was tricky &mdash; I didn&rsquo;t want her to come off as a brat. Mike was clear that he didn&rsquo;t want another version of Sydney Sweeney&rsquo;s character from Season 1, so I had to find that balance. It was all about keeping her grounded and real, without letting her drift too far in any direction.

Season 3 dives into themes of Eastern religion and spirituality. Did anything from that resonate with you? JASON ISAACS: Oh, absolutely. There&rsquo;s a lot of talk in the show about life, death, identity&mdash;big existential questions. I think people sometimes see acting as just pretending, but to me, it&rsquo;s about getting as close to the truth as possible, and using your imagination to fully step into a character. And that made me reflect on myself &mdash; who am I? What&rsquo;s my reputation? What do people think of me? What will I leave behind? Will any of it even matter? I don&rsquo;t have the answers, but those thoughts are always circling in my mind. SAM NIVOLA: For me, the show drives home the idea that &ldquo;everyone&rdquo; is messed up in some way. It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you have all the money in the world or you&rsquo;re living the most luxurious life &mdash; people still have their struggles and demons. Pain is relative, and everyone&rsquo;s going through something. But on a lighter note, I also think the show highlights the absurdity of life. Even the darkest things can be funny, and sometimes laughing about them is the best way to get through it.

As an industry veteran, how would you describe Lisa&rsquo;s acting debut? And what was it like working with her for the first time? LEK PATRAVADI: She&rsquo;s incredibly smart and kind. I remember she came up to me, knelt and asked, &ldquo;Teacher, how should I perform the classical dance scene?&rdquo; Right away, I thought &mdash; wow, this girl is so polite and well-mannered. As we worked together, I realised she was nothing like the larger-than-life megastar people might expect. She&rsquo;s humble, down-to-earth and genuinely eager to learn. I think that&rsquo;s part of why she&rsquo;s been so successful &mdash; she has that international star quality, but she also carries the warmth and humility of Thai culture wherever she goes. And as for her acting? For a first-time actress, she was brilliant. She handled it beautifully. Final question &mdash; if your character were to leave a Yelp review for the hotel, what would it say SARAH CATHERINE: &ldquo;More monkeys, fewer monitor lizards. And definitely fewer snakes. More meditation sessions, please &mdash; and enforce the digital detox! Don&rsquo;t make it optional. I don&rsquo;t want to keep bothering my family, so just take their phones away for them. Thanks!&rdquo;

<a href="https://www.max.com/my/en">The White Lotus Season 3 airs on Max</a> and HBO (Astro Channel 411 / Unifi TV Channel 401).

(Image credit: Max and HBO) From left to right: Sam Nivola, Jason Isaacs, Sarah Catherine Hook, David Bernad, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Natasha Rothwell, Mike White, Parker Posey, Tayme Thapthimthong, Lek Patravadi, Lalisa Manobal and Dom Hetrakul

Interview: The cast of The White Lotus Season 3 on crafting an epic series

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