There Was Allegedly Major Drama on 'The White Lotus' Set — What We Know About Who Was Involved

Jason Isaacs is leaving us all guessing after revealing there was drama on the set of The White Lotus season 3, so we’ve done some digging into the dynamics between the cast members.

The British actor, who plays North Carolina financier Timothy Ratliff on the show, hinted that there may have been some tension between cast members during filming in Thailand, telling Vulture, “There’s an off-screen White Lotus as well, with fewer deaths but just as much drama.”

“It was like a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage,” he said in the March 31 interview. “It wasn’t a holiday. Some people got very close, there were friendships that were made and friendships that were lost.”

This might be the first time we’ve explicitly heard of drama between The White Lotus stars, but other cast members have given us some insights into dynamics on set. So, what do we know?

Who Had Drama on ‘The White Lotus’ Set?

Isaacs declined to name exactly who was involved, saying, “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.”

We know that Isaacs wasn’t referring to his onscreen children Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola who he said he “became very close to,” but he notably did not mention his onscreen wife, Parker Posey, in this sentence. Elsewhere in the interview, when asked if he discussed his character’s lack of affection towards his wife with Posey, Isaacs responded, “We didn’t really discuss it. It’s in the script that they arrive and they are very unconnected.”

Isaacs has notably not done lengthy interviews with Posey to promote the show but has appeared in interviews with Schwarzenegger, Hook, Nivola, and several other cast members.

Aimee Lou Wood Hinted That Filming ‘The White Lotus’ Wasn’t ‘Fun’

Wood, who plays Chelsea on the show, described filming The White Lotus as “a social experiment.”

“I don’t know whether I’d describe it as fun,” she told The Guardian in early March. “There were fun moments. It was more like… amazing in the true sense. I was amazed by what was happening. How am I in Thailand? Living in a hotel, that we also film in? It was like a social experiment.”

However, while speaking with Vanity Fair at the premiere of the show, Wood said, “I did make really, really amazing friends.” The actress specifically highlighted her close friendships with Walton Goggins, who plays her boyfriend on the show, Leslie Bibb, who plays Kate, and Nicholas Duvernay, who plays Zion.

Walton Goggins Spoke About Having a Hard Time While Filming ‘The White Lotus’

During an appearance on The White Lotus’ official podcast, Goggins opened up about keeping his distance from his co-stars in order to stay in character as the brooding Rick Hatchett.

“What was the hardest part about this experience for me early on was being, excuse my language, the f–king downer in the room,” he said. “I just couldn’t, I couldn’t be around them.”

Goggins recalled one filming day, in particular, during which the cast were on a boat together. “I just camped out on the front of this boat,” he said. “I just filled it full of negative energy, so that no one wanted to be around me.”

With such a large ensemble cast, it’s difficult to know all of the dynamics on set. But we’ll be keeping a close eye on this cast going forward.

Before you go, click here to see all the cameos you might have missed in ‘The White Lotus’ season 3.