- Sam Rockwell stole the show in latest episode of The White Lotus
- Rockwell played a friend from Walton Goggins’ character’s past
- Goggins and Rockwell have been friends for 15 years
Walton Goggins has revealed what it was like to sit opposite his friend and fellow Emmy nominee Sam Rockwell during THAT monologue on this week’s episode of The White Lotus.
Goggins’ character, Rick, arrived in Bangkok with a lot already on his plate, being that he is there to avenge his father’s death by assassinating his dad’s alleged murderer. But then, when meeting up with his longtime friend Frank, Rick is presented with a) the revelation that his hard partying friend is now 10 months sober and an enlightened Buddhist and b) just honestly the most insane, brilliant monologue you will ever see or hear.
Between that monologue by Sam Rockwell and the cut scenes to Walton Goggins, just an all time television moment
— RGF (@rgfray1) March 17, 2025
#TheWhiteLotus
pic.twitter.com/CgE5sQZYf8
Unsurprisingly, Rockwell’s episode-stealing cameo has been the main talking point from an episode that also included full frontal male nudity and a pretty incestuous kiss between two brothers. And Walton Goggins has now been discussing how the show is almost mirroring some of his own journey to Thailand 18 years ago, as well as his 15-year real life friendship with Rockwell.
The pair first got to know each other while filming Cowboys and Aliens in 2011 and have remained close ever since. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the Righteous Gemstone star explained how that monologue scene came about and how he approached the shooting of it.
When Rick Met Frank
“We did it a number of times, like seven or eight times, and everything was different every single time. The only thing that I can say is that I had no judgment. It took me a moment to wrap my head around this particular life experience, so it was like, ‘wow, wow, okay.’ But without judgment – I think that’s so beautiful about it.
“I just can’t highlight enough what this particular episode meant to me, not only as an artist, but as a friend. To see these two people play these two characters that are friends in life, and for it to be about what it’s about and what is being said. Here’s a person who you think judges f*****g everyone at The White Lotus, but when he connects, there is no judgment and there’s just listening. It was really one of the greatest opportunities and privileges to get to go through this experience with Sammy Rock.”
Given that Goggins’ Rick has already released a room full of venomous snakes while stoned, causing his girlfriend, Chelsea, (played by the incredible Aimee Lou Wood) to be bitten and rushed to hospital and has now been made privy to his best friend’s wild sexual and religious awakening, before we’ve even got to the part where he is given a pistol by Frank to go off and serve himself up a whole heap of dead dad vengeance, we are predicting that the remaining episodes don’t get any less insane for Rick. We cannot wait.
