The White Lotus incest wasn’t just uncomfortable for viewers — some actors auditioning for the Lochlan and Saxon roles also had a strong reaction.
Casting director Meredith Tucker was asked about the season 3 process, telling The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, April 2, “For that stuff with the brothers, we had to tell people beforehand. We said, ‘There is going to be some same-sex kissing and stuff. Are you comfortable with that?’”
Tucker continued: “I think maybe one kid for Sam’s role dropped out, but some of these kids were barely 18, so I could understand.”
Producer David Bernad admitted that there were concerns about Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola — who were ultimately cast as the fictional brothers — dropping out.
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“When we sent the scripts to Patrick and Sam, [creator] Mike [White] and I were both like, ‘I hope they don’t drop out,’” he recalled. “Mike made me text Patrick. We were anxious.”
Nivola, 21, who brings Lochlan to life, wasn’t phased by the revelation, sharing, “When they sent me my contract, it was like, ‘You have to be comfortable with sexually explicit scenes or whatever.’ And I was like, ‘Sure, yeah, I’ve never really done anything like that on camera — first time for everything.’ But I was not expecting that!”
Season 3 of The White Lotus, which premiered in February, took Us by surprise with the confusing undertones between siblings Lochlan (Nivola) and Saxon (Schwarzenegger). From them discussing their porn preferences to Saxon walking around their room naked to the eventual threesome, the siblings kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
“It makes sense for the story and it makes sense practically, and sort of metaphorically in a sad way for my character. But that was the first time I’ve ever even kissed anyone on camera,” Nivola said on Wednesday. “I think it went as smoothly as that kind of thing can possibly go. I mean, I don’t have anything to compare it to, but really the only thing I felt uncomfortable about was the fact that we’re on a f***ing yacht and I get seasick.”
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Meanwhile, Charlotte Le Bon broke down Schwarzenegger’s visceral reaction to the taboo content, saying, “In the beginning, they just did a little kiss. Mike was like, ‘I’m sorry, guys, but this needs to be a little more.’ And Sam was like, ‘OK, let’s just do it and then we’ll be done with it.’ Patrick went for it, obviously. He has to do it, and he’s a great actor. And then he was like [fake throwing up]. … Oh my God, I don’t want Patrick to be mad at me [for saying he wanted to throw up].”
Schwarzenegger, 31, clarified that it was his character Saxon’s reaction coming out.
“When I’m in character, I believe that’s what he would’ve done,” he noted. “Right then, and then again the next morning, it’s like, ‘Is he going to throw up?’ And he does. I hope it wasn’t taken out of context, that I would throw up because of Sam or whatever.”
New episodes of The White Lotus air on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
