Ahead of this weekend‘s Season 3 debut of “The White Lotus,” the cast of the latest iteration of the Mike White-created anthology series – set on the lush island of Ko Samui in Thailand – kept coming back to two destinations for where things might go next: the desert, most likely somewhere in Africa, or the snowy slopes of a ski resort.
Emmy-nominee Carrie Coon, who is featured this season, said “there was a lot of speculation” about future settings for the show, and that White “was openly talking about some ideas he had” for where Season 4 might be shot while they were on location in Thailand.
“I would love to be somewhere cold,” Coon allowed, when asked where she would like to film if asked to come back to the series for another outing like Natasha Rothwell does this season (and Jennifer Coolidge did from Season 1 to Season 2).
“It’s hard to act when your brain is boiling,” Coon added, about the heat in Thailand. “I would go to a ski resort because I could survive there!”
Fellow cast member Sarah Catherine Hook, however, doesn’t think a chillier destination is likely: “I know Mike (White) isn’t really into the cold,” she said, even though she “would love a ski lodge vibe.” Hook said while on location in Thailand, the cast “would predict” potential future locations for the show, “but we never pried.”
While other Season 3 cast members mentioned their desire for a winter destination – like Arnas Fedaravicius, who plays wellness consultant Valentin this season – the idea of an African safari or desert destination kept coming up for many others.
“We’re all trying to guess where Season 4 could be,” Shalini Peiris, who plays Amrita, said. “I think it would be very special to have it somewhere in the African continent, or the Middle East.”
“Give me Morocco!” Walton Goggins exclaimed. “Give me somewhere warm and dry,” he added, referencing the challenge of filming in the humidity in Bangkok.
Rothwell, for her part, touched on the specific perspective her returning character Belinda provides, as a Black traveler within the context of a luxury vacation destination, and also got into the speculation for where “White Lotus” might go next.
“Belinda’s presence in the series is so important. It requires audiences to reconcile the fact that in a lot of these spaces, it is homogenous, and you don’t get to see a lot of people of color,” she observed. “And she’s able to infiltrate these spaces, and learn about them, and now she’s in one, not as an employee. So it’s cool to see that this season.”
“Doing a season on the (African) continent – Morocco, Egypt, South Africa,” Rothwell added when asked for her pick on where Season 4 should be. “I feel like it would be an amazing, rich opportunity to have these conversations.”
“The White Lotus” Season 3 premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO, with the episode available to stream on Max. HBO and Max, like CNN, are owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
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