People Are Just Realising This Week's White Lotus Guest Star Has A Connection To Another Cast Member
This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of The White Lotus.
Just when we thought the cast of The White Lotus season three was complete, they managed to sneak in one more surprise addition halfway through to keep us on our toes.
In the latest instalment of the award-winning drama, Walton Goggins’ character meets up with a friend in Bangkok, played by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell.
As the pair catch up, Sam delivered a four-minute monologue that… truly… we’re still processing, in what was a scene-stealing moment in the episode (which isn’t bad going considering this week’s instalment also saw no fewer than two debauched parties, a derailed suicide attempt and, of course, two brothers kissing).
But what some White Lotus fans over on X are only just discovering is the fact that Sam already has a connection to one existing member of the cast…
i cannot believe it took me white lotus season 3 to find out they’re together… pic.twitter.com/H6N5ky5JLY
— dooney and broke (@fincherslay) March 17, 2025
This is also how I find out that Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell are together!
— ReelLover (@InHollywoodland) March 17, 2025
not this being how i found out leslie bibb is married to sam rockwell ???????? https://t.co/CogxH1jJfF
— monstro elisasue (@lisasneakylink) March 17, 2025
this is how i find out leslie bibb and sam rockwell are together and have been for 18 years https://t.co/25cjBjnkoJ
— kadija ???? (@chalamethot) March 17, 2025
The way I didn’t know Sam Rockwell is Leslie Bibbs husband until last night ! ???????????????????????????????? good shit Les
— good noodle ⭐️ (@ASH_so_Phat) March 17, 2025
Me realizing that Leslie Bibb is married to Sam Rockwell and he's a guest star in this episode #TheWhiteLotus
— Sean (@sean2637) March 17, 2025
What the heck! I had no idea Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb were together irl?!? #TheWhiteLotuspic.twitter.com/7ToknORqz6
— @PumpkinSpiceCup ???????????????????????? (@PumpkinSpiceCup) March 17, 2025
in unrelated news just found out sam rockwell is married to leslie bibb they were locked IN for that couples trip to thailand https://t.co/MJfkt4fd42
— becca (@kazs_rietvelds) March 17, 2025
Despite what some of the above posts suggest, Sam and Leslie Bibb are, in fact, not married, but have been together for more than 17 years.
The pair got together in 2007, and in that time have shared the screen in Marvel’s Iron Man 2, as well as 2015’s Don Verdean and 2017’s The Dark Of Night.
Other viewers have been having fun imagining how Sam’s cameo might have come about…
They really just grabbed Sam Rockwell while he was on set visiting Leslie Bibb and gave him one of the best moments in White Lotus history #TheWhiteLotus
— Siân Bennett-Rodgers (@sianrodgers) March 17, 2025
Sam Rockwell with Leslie Bibb in Thailand overhearing Mike White say he had a small part available#WhiteLotuspic.twitter.com/d65qc63Vry
— T (@teewatterss) March 17, 2025
Sam Rockwell read one random White Lotus script from Leslie Bibb and said hold on a second
— Alfie Got Hacked (@fonsythesnowman) March 17, 2025
mike white so cheap the way he’s using sam rockwell as a celeb cameo bc he’s leslie bibb husband and conveniently already there hdhdhdhdh
— ????????⬛ (@rewindbywg) March 17, 2025
Sam Rockwell told his boo Leslie Bibb that this is gonna be a couples work trip at the white lotus and I’m here for it #TheWhiteLotuspic.twitter.com/OiBq7wy9zQ
— hiiii! Bluesky: @boredandtiredok (@boredandtiredk) March 17, 2025
i like that if leslie bibb was going to be on the white lotus they may as well grab sam rockwell too while they're at it
— lana schwartz (@_lanabelle) March 17, 2025
Convinced he went to visit his wife, Leslie Bibb, on set in Thailand and Mike White was like, "wanna film a quick scene?" and Sam Rockwell was just like, "yeah man sure, show me the script!" https://t.co/nT4UuKZC3F
— Sophie Vershbow (@svershbow) March 17, 2025
One thing about Sam Rockwell, he's gonna work on a project with his lady Leslie Bibb ???? #TheWhiteLotuspic.twitter.com/cnrY7tHg2F
— cee ❄️ (@defjaes_) March 17, 2025
Imagine the conversation that Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell had in their suite after filming had wrapped that night and they talked about what they both did that day.
— Kris Calabrese (@krisjocal) March 17, 2025
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Leslie insisted that she had nothing to do with Sam’s casting.
She recalled: “They came to me and they were like, ‘We’re going to offer this to Sam’. I was on the treadmill and [White Lotus producer] Dave Bernad came to me.
“But I was like, ‘Sam is wild as a buck. Listen, I don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s doing a movie in South Africa, he likes time to prep’. And he was very nervous about that prep time.”
She continued: “That was a big arc to do that quickly. And [Sam] literally went from one [project] to the next, so I said [to producers], ‘You can’t get mad at me if he says no. What if he says no?’. I was so scared!
“Then Mike [White, The White Lotus’ creator] was like, ‘No, no, no, we won’t get mad at you’. I was like, ‘That jet plane’s going to fly, I can’t ground him.’
“But then it was really sweet — I think Walton really, because they’re very good friends, wanted to have that experience with him.”
A preview for next week’s episode has already teased a second appearance from Sam, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2017 thanks to his role in Two Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
A year later, he racked up a second nomination in this category following his performance as George W Bush in the satirical comedy Vice.
The White Lotus continues on Monday on Sky and Now in the UK.