Helena Bonham Carter joins the cast of ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4, along with two new casting announcements.
Credit: ITVX
It’s no surprise that casting announcements for HBO’s hit dramedy, The White Lotus, are always a big deal. This is the show ever actor wants to be on, young or old, regardless of whether they’re a hot ticket or relative unknown.
We’ve already had a few casting reveals over the past couple months. Prior to today’s announcement, four actors had already been cast for Season 4 of The White Lotus:
- Alexander Ludwig (Vikings)
- AJ Michalka (Super 8)
- Steve Coogan (I’m Alan Partridge)
- Caleb Jonte Edwards (Black Snow)
Today, HBO revealed three more actors. We’ll go one-by-one.
Helena Bonham Carter Joins ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4
Helena Bonham Carter
Credit: 20th Century Fox
Helena Bonham Carter was reportedly in talks to join The White Lotus’s fourth season for some time, but today it’s been officially confirmed. Bonham Carter has been acting in movies for almost as long as I’ve been watching them, but my favorite of her roles include Marla from Fight Club, Ophelia from Hamlet and the wicked Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter movies. She received Oscar nominations for her roles in The King’s Speech and The Wings of the Dove, and nine Golden Globe nominations for roles in shows and movies like The Crown and Sweeney Todd.
There’s no word on who the English actress will play in The White Lotus Season 4, or any of the other newly announced cast members, but an eccentric upper-crust white middle-aged woman on vacation seems like a perfect match.
Chris Messina and Marissa Long Cast In ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4
Chris Messina is one of those actors who I’ve seen in a bunch of different things over the years, but still don’t really know much about. This is not his first HBO series. He starred in the excellent limited series, Sharp Objects, with Amy Adams. He’s also appeared in Julie & Julia, The Mindy Project, Six Feet Under and more.
Like Bonham Carter, the 51-year old New Yorker was reportedly in talks to join the Season 4 cast but that’s officially confirmed today.
Marissa Long is making her television debut in the fourth season of The White Lotus. The new season takes place in France, including Paris and various locations along the French Riviera. No doubt, we will see some familiar faces from previous seasons, but each season stars a mostly new cast. The cast of Season 3 were each paid the exact same amount per episode.
While we don’t know any more details about Season 4 of The White Lotus, it is once again being written and produced by Mike White and will undoubtedly feature a murder or murders and a mystery that unfolds over eight episodes. Each season follows a similar formula, and each explores different themes, though there is a great deal of crossover when it comes to heady topics like sex, death and wealth disparity.
I wasn’t a big fan of The White Lotus Season 3 despite a very strong cast. I found it indulgent, aimless and unsatisfying, though it had some great moments. I still have hope, however, that Season 4 will return to the kind of filmmaking and storytelling that made the first two seasons so much fun. So far, no character in this show has been able to match the sheer unbridled energy and debauchery of hotel manager, Armond (Murray Bartlett) in Season 1.
There is no current release date for The White Lotus Season 4, but given production schedules and previous season timelines, we’re likely looking at sometime in 2027. Composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, whose theme song set the show’s tone so perfectly, will not be returning. You can listen to his version of the Season 3 theme in a capella below:
Who are you hoping to see join The White Lotus? What themes would be a good fit for France? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.