- A second trailer for The White Lotus season 3 is here
- The show debuts on 16 February 2025 on Max
- There will be familiar faces appearing in the new series
The White Lotus season three is on the way and a second trailer has arrived to whet the appetite for things to come.
The show, written and created by Mike White, first burst onto screens in the winter of 2021. It was initially devised as a mini-series to satirise wealthy people on holiday. However, its popularity spurred it to become bigger than intended.
The HBO show has since scooped up many prestigious awards, such as Emmys, Golden Globes and the like.
Is there a trailer for The White Lotus season 3?
A second, longer trailer for The White Lotus season 3 arrived in late January 2025. It shed more light about our next trip away – and who we’ll be spending it with.
As with every season of White’s hits show, not everything is as it seems in these idyllic surroundings. Will our new cast of wealthy holidaymakers find tranquillity and peace or is something sinister awaiting them?
The first trailer for The White Lotus season 3 dropped on 16 December 2024.
It invited us on a trip to Thailand with a group of new characters each searching for inner peace but seemingly finding the opposite.
While no murder was teased, the show’s short trailer did hint at plenty of chaos as a group of Westerners experience a less-than-relaxing trip.
Watch the trailer above.
When is it airing?
The White Lotus season 3 will air on 16 February 2025. The show will be available to watch on MAX in the United States.
While unconfirmed, viewers in the United Kingdom can find the show airing on Sky Atlantic.
Who is starring in the third season of The White Lotus?
Indie movie darling Parker Posie was announced as a cast member for The White Lotus’ third season back in January 2024. Upon this news breaking and being asked for more details, she revealed she was sworn to secrecy.
Posey told Entertainment Tonight, “I can’t tell you anything. I signed an NDA. I can’t say anything. It’ll be six months in Thailand. It’s the third [season], so that’s when they get all the juices going, I guess. I got to read it. I love it. I’m really excited.”
Read more: Who is starring in The White Lotus season 3?
This update was followed by casting news for Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb, Tayme Thapthimthong, and Dom Hetrakul.
A few days later, on 9 January, Carrie Coons was added to the list with The Zone of Interest’s Christian Friedel. Other included names were Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Charlotte Le Bon, Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravičius.
Sex Education breakout Aimee Lou Wood and Blackpink singer Lisa were also added to the call sheet.
Any casting controversies?
Serbian-Russian star Miloš Biković had been linked to the project but left after it was uncovered that he had praised the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His part, touted as a flirty yogi, was recast with Julian Kostov.
Any familiar faces?
Warning: The White Lotus season 2 spoilers follow…
For reasons obvious to anyone who watched the show’s last season, Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya won’t be in attendance. Her character was the only one to return from the first season in the second. Unfortunately, she came to her demise after escaping her murder, which her husband orchestrated, in season two.
We did get the excellent reaction meme of “these gays are trying to murder me” out of it. However, she could appear in flashbacks, you never really know.
In addition to this, Natasha Rothwell is back as beleaguered hotel spa manager Belinda. Variety first reported the news, which was later confirmed. Details about her storyline have been thin on the ground.
There was also a guess that there could be a return for Connie Britton’s Nicole Mossbacher. The mom and girl-boss CEO could return, and it was suggested that she should be in the second season. Viewers will know that it never materialised.
She told Deadline in 2022, “Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season, and we’re hoping to [do] that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show.”
Meghann Fahy teased a return for her character Daphne Sullivan and her husband Cameron, played by Theo James. However, the seriousness of this suggestion didn’t seem very high.
She did hint that White had plans for putting the Sullivans on a boat with the Pattons from season one. Alexandra Daddario and Jake Lacey played those roles.
Fahy told Deadline, “He did once say that he’d like to do an episode with Theo, me and the couple from the first season—Alex and Jake; the four of us on a boat. Just one episode of that.”
As it stands, this is all just rumor.
What was the holdup with the third season of The White Lotus?
The last time this hit show hit screens was back in 2022. What caused the lag in new episodes? Well, production of the latest instalment was delayed by the SAG-AFTRA and the WAG strikes of summer 2023.
According to HBO studio chairman Casey Bloys, The White Lotus “probably would have been” out in 2024. However, they were forced to wait until 2025.
Where was The White Lotus filmed?
Like the preceding series, it was set in a luxurious hotel chain. However, while the last two were set in Haiwaii and Sicily respectively, the third was shot and set in Thailand.
A source told Bloomberg it was filmed in Phuket. To be exact, it was shot at the Anantara Mai Khao Villas Phuket.
An HBO source confirmed this to several outlets.
There was even speculation from Johnny Knoxville that White was contemplating setting it in Tokyo.
He told Vulture, “Mike White is a very close friend of mine. He and I had been in Tokyo together. I think that’s where the next … oh, I’m not giving anything away.”
What is the plot?
Like the previous seasons, it will follow a set of guests staying at a luxury hotel. White has hinted that the show will explore Western approaches to “eastern religion and spirituality.”
White said, “The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex, and I think the third season, it would be a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. And it feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round of White Lotus.”
In November 2023, White teased a “supersized” third season as he was “seriously finishing scripts.”
He added, “It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier. I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing….I’m super excited about the content of the season.”
Will there be a murder?
There will most definitely be a killing. White has commented before how murder drives a lot of the show and isn’t going to ditch the winning plot device. He also reflected on how he enjoys his work getting the attention it deserves.
“It clearly is something that drives interest in the show. People will decide at the conclusion whether it’s satisfying or it feels just device-y, but at this point, I’m excited about the finale,” White told NPR.
“As somebody who’s been working in the margins, it is kind of nice to have viewers.”
