Walton Goggins Has a Heartbreaking Connection to ‘White Lotus’ Storyline

Following the Season 3 finale of "The White Lotus," actor Walton Goggins revealed that he had a personal connection to his character's backstory.   

Goggins was tasked with playing the role of Rick Hatchett, a rugged man searching for his father's killer in Thailand. The finale for Season 3 of "The White Lotus" ends with Rick shooting who he thought was his father's killer. He then learns that the mysterious man he was targeting was his father all along. 

As if that discovery wasn't heartbreaking enough for Rick, his girlfriend, Chelsea, ends up getting gunned down in a wild shootout. His story ultimately ends with him getting shot as he's carrying Chelsea's body. The final image of them shows their lifeless bodies floating in the water. Although it may seem cruel on the surface, they actually fulfilled their previous promise of staying "together forever." 

So, how does Goggins relate to this tragic story? Roughly two decades ago, he went to Thailand to find peace. He revealed that he felt "lost" after his first wife, Leanne Knight, died by suicide. 

Goggins was in Thailand with his current wife, Nadia Conners. While he was fortunate enough to have her by his side, it didn't change the fact that he was emotionally wounded like his "White Lotus" character.  

"I went to Thailand 18 years ago after a trauma in my life, looking for peace, looking for some resolution that was not so dissimilar from what Rick was looking for," Goggins told Vulture. "The circumstances were dramatically different. I was a year into a relationship with my now-wife, and I was as lost as Rick is lost. I had nothing for my partner. I understood, intimately, Rick’s frame of mind. I read it on the page and I thought, 'The universe brought this to me for a reason, because I understand him, and I love him, and I love people like him. I don’t think he’s alone in the world.'" 

Goggins continued, "Rick Hatchett is not a fictional character to me. He’s a real person consumed by something that happened to him that he had no control over. From an actor’s perspective, no, it never entered my mind that this guy might be my father. How could you abandon a child? I am a father and I could never conceive of something like that." 

Fans of "The White Lotus" are hoping Goggins gets award buzz for his moving performance as Rick Hatchett.