Jason Isaacs says ‘friendships were lost’ throughout White Lotus season 3 filming
Jason Isaacs has revealed that friendships were both “made” and “lost” on the set of The White Lotus’s third season.
The British actor, 61, plays wealthy financier Timothy Ratliff, who is caught up in a money laundering scheme that unravels while he is on holiday in Thailand with his wife Victoria (Parker Posey) and their three grown-up children, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola).
Isaacs described the experience of filming the latest instalment of Mike White’s black comedy as “a cross between summer camp and Lord of the Flies but in a gilded cage”.
The series was filmed in Thailand over the course of seven months, with the cast and crew staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Koh Samui, which doubles up as the hotel on screen.
In an interview with Vulture, Isaacs said that despite the stunning backdrop, filming the show “wasn’t a holiday”.
“Some people got very close, there were friendships that were made and friendships that were lost,” he said.
“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.
“They say in the show, ‘What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand,’ but there’s an off-screen White Lotus as well, with fewer deaths but just as much drama.”
When he was asked to share further details of that “drama”, the Harry Potter star declined, explaining: “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.”
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Isaacs’ co-star Aimee Lou Wood, who plays spiritual hotel guest Chelsea, has also been candid about her experiences during filming, describing the unusual set up as “like a social experiment”.
“I don’t know whether I’d describe it as fun,” she told The Guardian. “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.”
“I will never have an experience like that again,” she added. “It was so extreme. So the fun bits were unbelievable, so special. The ocean, the landscape, it was majestic. Mike is a genius. Everyone involved is amazing. It’s just the circumstances are quite extreme.”
The final episode of The White Lotus’s third season is set to air in the UK on Monday 7 April.
