Apparently "friendships were lost"?!
Um, This 'White Lotus' Star Just Said The Season 3 Cast Had "Fewer Deaths But Just As Much Drama"
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The White Lotus season 3 has plenty of drama onscreen, but according to actor Jason Isaacs (who plays North Carolina patriarch Timothy Ratliff), there was more than enough drama off camera, too. WHAT! The Harry Potter actor described filming the latest season of Mike White's TV sensation "like a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage." Now that sounds like a great pitch for The White Lotus season 4.
Here's what Jason Isaacs had to say about filming with theWhite Lotus cast — including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola — in Thailand.
Jason Isaacs says filming 'The White Lotus' wasn't a vacation.
Despite the fact their White Lotus characters are on vacation, Jason Isaacs says that filming the latest installment "wasn’t a holiday."
"Some people got very close, there were friendships that were made and friendships that were lost," he tells Vulture. "All the things you would imagine with a group of people unanchored from their home lives on the other side of the world, in the intense pressure cooker of the working environment with eye-melting heat and insects and late nights."
"They say in the show, 'What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand,' but there’s an off-screen White Lotus as well, with fewer deaths but just as much drama," he continues.
Some of 'The White Lotus' cast got along better than others.
So it sounds like the environment of filming The White Lotus added a whole new layer of nuance to what we see in the series thanks to some potential IRL tension...now I need a whole series just about filming this show. But just like with any social scenario, Jason says some people hit it off while others didn't get along quite as well.
"I became very close to some people and less close to others, but we still all had that experience together and there’s a certain level of discretion required," Jason says.
And while he became close with his onscreen children, Jason doesn't confirm that real-life dynamic is what we see onscreen every Sunday. After all, acting is the job, no matter what's happening in the real world.
But Jason Isaacs got "very close" with his onscreen kids.
"I just try to be Tim Ratliff in his situation. Does the fact that I spent a lot of time particularly with Patrick [Schwarzenegger], Sarah Catherine [Hook], and Sam [Nivola], and became very close to them, make any difference? I don’t know," he admits. "I’ve played opposite people I barely knew and we looked like we absolutely loved each other. I’ve played with people I know very well and the relationships don’t work. I can talk about the dynamic but whether it bled into the work or not, I have no idea."
Catch up on Everything You Need To Know About The White Lotus Season Finale before the final episode airs on April 6, 2025 on HBO and Max.
