Jason Isaacs Opens Up About White Lotus Cast Fall-Outs During 7-Month Shoot In Thailand
Jason Isaacs has made it clear there was still plenty of drama on the set of The White Lotus even when the cameras weren’t rolling.
The Harry Potter star and his White Lotus co-stars spent around seven months in Thailand last year filming the third season of the award-winning drama.
Since then, many cast members have spoken about the bonds that formed during production, including Jason himself, who has made no secret of how close he grew with his on-screen children Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola while they were all living together in a Thai hotel.
However, during a new interview with Vulture, Jason opened up about some of the less amicable moments that took place behind the scenes.
“It was like a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage,” he said of his experience making The White Lotus. “It wasn’t a holiday.
“Some people got very close, there were friendships that were made and friendships that were lost. 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.”
“There’s an off-screen White Lotus as well,” Jason claimed. “With fewer deaths but just as much drama.”
When pressed by Vulture, Jason insisted he would “absolutely not” be going into more detail, stating simply: “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.”
During an interview with The Guardian published before the new season began airing, Jason admitted: “I can’t pretend I wasn’t involved in some off-screen drama. Dave [Bernad, a White Lotus executive producer] has seen it before, twice, and so has Mike [White, the show’s creator].
“I can’t speak for them, but I imagine they think it feeds into the on-screen drama, and they might well be right. I think the heat contributed to these fissures appearing. We’ll all see one other again [for the premiere] and I’m sure we’ll be hugging and kissing and remembering it fondly. But there were times when things were not quite so fond.”
He added: “I was in some ways used to it, but within a couple of weeks my wife [who was with him on set and used to be an actor] went, ‘Some of these people are fucking mad.’ I said, ‘No, it’s just a bunch of actors away on location, love. You’ve forgotten what it’s like’.”
Just one episode remains in the current season of The White Lotus, with fans already speculating about what could take place in the final instalment.
The White Lotus concludes on Monday 7 April in the UK on Sky and Now.