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SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus,” now streaming on Max.
Aimee Lou Wood still hasn’t recovered from the ending of “The White Lotus.” The actor got choked up, nearly crying, within the first two minutes of a cast panel on Sunday night following the episode.
“It liked exactly how it felt, which is really strange,” she said of Chelsea’s death scene, which she said was hard to watch. “There was a lot in that episode that made me fucking sob. From the beginning, Saxon’s sad face… I feel achy!”
On Sunday night, many members of the cast gathered for “The White Lotus at Four Seasons Presented by American Express,” an immersive event to celebrate the third season. After the screening, Wood, Leslie Bibb, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs, Sam Nivola, Tayme Thapthimthong, Jon Gries, Charlotte Le Bon and Nicholas Duvernay came together for a Q&A, moderated by “Queer Eye” star Tan France.
“At first I thought, ‘I don’t want to shoot him in the back’… but we had a decision,” Thapthimthong said of Gaitok shooting Rick, who was carrying Chelsea’s body. Luckily, creator Mike White reassured him. “He was like, ‘Trust me, it will be justified.’ And I felt like it really was.”
During this conversation, Wood mouthed to Bibb — the only member of the cast who didn’t watch the episode — “It’s crazy!”
Bibb, for her part, admitted that when she started reading the script, she worried, “Our storyline is kind of boring,” speaking about her character’s arc with Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon. When the crowd gasped, she clarified: “I mean, compared to jerk-offs!”
“It’s ironic because we were comparing like the ladies do, like ‘Oh my God, it’s not enough,’” she said. Then one of the grips on set told her the three women’s storyline was his favorite. Soon, she started hearing how others were really relating to it. “I don’t think we thought it was going to take off the way it is. I think that’s a testament to Mike… I think it’s all Mike.”
Below are a few other fun tidbits from the panel:
Gries said that he spent “so much time” after Season 2 justifying that Greg didn’t kill Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge). “They could never prove it in a court of law… I walked up to Mike one day and I was like, ‘I’ve been spending so much time convincing myself that I didn’t intend to kill her… I’ve got to talk to you about it.’ He goes, ‘You know who you are. You’ve played this guy.’” He then said to the creator, “I have one question, though. Psychopath?” White responded, “Psychopath.”
Gries lied to all his friends and family about filming the show, when they repeatedly asked: “I told them I was doing the remake of ‘The Sand Pebbles,’ an old movie with Steve McQueen, and I was shooting in the Philippines.”
Duvernay on Belinda’s big move: “Finally getting a little bit of justice for Tanya was amazing — over three seasons to finally give her that closure.”
The White Lotus at Four Seasons Presented by American Express
Isaacs on what’s next for his character: “The Ratliff wing at Duke University was probably pulled down!”
Isaacs, not wanting to answer whether he would be able to go back to a White Lotus resort: “There were enough legal problems wearing the Duke t-shirt!” (Side note: he was wearing another Duke shirt during the panel.)
Schwarzenegger said his character “went through the wringer.” He added, “These two girls and my brother really put me through it.” Issacs quickly quipped, “There was some relief in it!”
Hook on her character admitting she actually is spoiled at the end: “I’m ready for her to be a ho now, so watch out!”