April 4, 2025 • 35 mins
In thrilling news, the stars of The White Lotus, undoubtedly the biggest TV show in the world right now, landed in Australia this week.
From spying them on red carpets to sitting down with the cast to hear their juiciest secrets and stories from set, here’s exactly what happened when The Spill had a chat with the stars of The White Lotus.
And don’t worry, there are no big spoilers here when it comes to the finale.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
So much.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and borders
that this podcast is recorded on from Mamma Mia. Welcome
to the Spill, your daily pop culture fix. I'm Laura
Brodnick and today I'm joined by Seni Lukitchen.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I'm filling in for m Vernon again today.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Just hanging out with us all week.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We love that and I love coming for you guys.
Just love it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Oh, we love to hear that.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We're not feuding behind the scenes or anything like that.
That's more of an Emily and I think I'm joking. No,
I like both of you, but who do you a
little bit more? Well, I've done more shows with you,
that is the correct. But I did really enjoy recording
with MS. We'll talk about that off air. Yeah, on
today's show, we have not me ruining our lovely introduction
with a bit of drama. I just always think it's
(01:02):
fun to listen to the pod being like, what's going
on behind the wa You're not sitting on the couch
with me today. You're sitting over in a separate yellow
chair and I'm the orange couch By myself.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I know, but I've got my pillar. I gave you
a really great setup though.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I know, guys, we're having some fun in the studios
at my Mirrre at the moment, So just a bit
of shuffling around, bit of having to find unique.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Places to record.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So you know, we've just set up home in Mere
Freeman's office.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Cute of us.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Anyway, On today's show, The White Lotus, I think it's
safe to say the biggest TV show in the world
right now. We're into season three. The season three finale
is airing this Monday night. I don't know what people
are going to do with themselves because so many people
in my life and myself included, have been like so
wrapped up in this show for the last couple of
weeks that it's been on air, because you know, it's
(01:46):
the weekly drop, it's the mystery, it's an all star cast,
especially this time around, are just losing their minds with
theories and who is the killer? Because if you're not
across the White Loatus, it was written, creative, produced all
those things by Mike White. We're in the third season now.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
All I was going to say is.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That is the theme song.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
That's a person Tradition season two. Now, I'm gonna be
honest with you here. Okay, I've only seen season one
and two because I'm waiting for all of the episode
to drop it once so i can do a bing
no no.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
So many people I know are doing that, So don't worry, guys,
there's no spoilers in this episode. So the idea of
the series, and it's so clever, is that it's this
imagined luxury hotel franchise, the White Loaders, and they have
locations all over the world, so each season is set
in a different location with a different car. So the
first one was in Hawaii, the second one was in Sicily,
and now the third one has been in Thailand. And
(02:41):
we've done a few chats on this podcast about like
breakout storylines, the incest plot, different characters, all those sort
of things. We're building up to the finale. And to
celebrate Max and new streaming service launching in Australia, some
of the cast the White Loaders made their way over
to Australia, so we had Leslie Bibb, Natasha Rothwell, MORGANA
O'Reilly and Patrick Schwarzenegger and now Patrick Swarzenegger I didn't
(03:04):
get to talk to, but he seems like a lovely
chap Actually, he was at the Last of Us premiere
because the stars of The White Lotus were at that
as well. And it's so funny because he walked into
the lobby after doing the Red carpet and he has
become such a breakout star of this show. People just
rushed towards him. There were cameras everywhere, and he kind
of looked quite shell shocked because even though he's grown
(03:24):
up with a famous father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, this role has
catapulted him to fame. So even though he's grown up
in the spotlight, he seems quite overtaken by this new
fandom that he has. But I guess having people run
up and put a phone your face is going to
be creepy no matter what.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Man, he's a real babe. I love him.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
I haven't again, I haven't seen this series yet, so I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Excited to hear this.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
But I'm glad that you told everyone that there's not
going to be any spoilers in this. But this is
basically going to be the interviews that you did.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yes, because the day before the big premiere of the
Last of us that these White Lotus stars were at will,
they were here in Australia. I sat down with a
few of them. So Leslie Bibb, who plays Kate in
the series, you've probably seen this around because their storylines
have been huge. There's this tree of three best childhood
friends who are in the White Lotus on this resort together,
(04:12):
and their storylines have been quite juicy this season. And
I also sat down with Natasha Rothwell, who plays Belinda. Now,
she was in the first season, so you would know her.
She worked at the hotel in the first season and
she was the one who befriended Jennifer Coolich's character and
they were going to go into business together.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
They were going to do the salon together.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, before Jennifer Coolich's Tanya character just fell in love
with a terrible man.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And before I left her timely demid yes and left
her high and drive.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
The Gazer try to kill them.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It was such a good season.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And so she's back in season three and she's quite
a juicy storyline because that murder plot from season two
has come back in a massive way in season three.
But before we get to those interviews and please stick
around for them, because these women are some of the
greatest interviews I've ever done. And I don't say that
lightly because I've interviewed a lot of people, but you
(05:04):
know what it's like, because you've done a lot of
these junkens and interviews as well. When you walk into
a room and the energy is chaotic, and you know,
you get all these answers you weren't expecting, and it
just is just such a great experience.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, when you walk out of the room and you're like,
I got it, and you're smiling ear to ear. You've
got those precious cards in your pocket and that was
really great. And when you walk out with like a
bit of an adrenaline rush and you're like, there was
just good energy in the room.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, absolutely, Nana. So we have those interviews coming up
later in the podcast. But first of all, I wanted
to play another interview with another star of The White
Lotus season three and her name is MORGANA. O'reiley. So
you might not know that name, but you're about to
because she has become the absolute breakout star of The
White Lotus season three. She plays Pam. So Pam is
(05:51):
someone who works at the White Lotus and she's looking
after the Ratlift family. She's like their wellness expert. So
the Ratlift family is obviously you've got the dad Tim,
who's the one who's lost all his family's money, and
then he's married to Parker Posey's character who's been a
breakout star. And they're three wealthy, dysfunctional children who are
having some light incest storylines are with them and keeping
(06:13):
them all together, bringing them blenders, taking their phones away
from them and looking after this crazy, rich, rude family.
Is Pam, who's played by She's a New Zealand actress,
but Australia has claimed her as we do.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We do that all the time.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I am all for like championing our Australian and Keiwi
actors and when we see them doing really well, I
want to hear from them absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And morgana o'rally has such a fascinating story of how
she landed this role in The White Lotus, which we
talk about. Obviously, she already had quite a profile. She
was on Neighbors for many years, she was in a
sitcom called Mean Moms. She was in Wentworth, which is
such a huge Australian show, and I think most people
woul probably know her from neighbors. And in this interview,
we talked about the life changing call that she got
(06:59):
about landing the role in The White Lotus, what it
was like to film with all of these celebrities in Thailand.
We're all like living on top of each other. She
also talks about the one celebrity from the cast who
really looked after her, what it means for her career,
and she also gave me all these little details of
things that the cast were doing in the background. I
was like, oh my god, I have to go back
and rewatch the show now because I feel like I've
missed all these little storylines that are happening in the background.
(07:22):
So here's my interview with The White Loadus season three
star MORGANA. O'Reilly. It's really interesting now to sort of
be in the lead up to the finale of this season,
and I wanted to sort of take you back to
the beginning of the I Guess Your White Loatus journey
and ask what the audition process was like, because I
imagining when you get the call that that opportunity is
on the horizon, it would bring up a lot of
(07:44):
excitement or stress.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Yeah, well, it was actually a really straightforward process. I
got an NDA first, which I signed, promptly sent back
to my agent.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
It had like a code name, but it was pretty
obvious what it was.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
And my agent message back and was like, oh my gosh,
I've never seen a NDA come back so fast. Yeah,
no audition, stand it off and off it goes as usual,
never to be heard from again.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
And then I was actually at a friend's wedding in
Los Angeles and she had been very lovely and let
me be a bit of an honorary bridesmaids that day
because I traveled so fast, so I'd been hanging out
with them all getting ready, and I was just about
to go and take my seat and sort of go, okay,
well you're going to go get Harry down, and I'm
going to go out and be with everybody while you
(08:36):
guys do the last little bit. And I got this
text from my agent to say like, oh my goodness,
we've just had this incredible feedback from casting for White
Lotus Wow, and that they loved you and they wanted
to reiterate the shoot dates, and I was.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Like, stop the wedding. Yeah, everybody is.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
More important, obviously, I couldn't do that, but I really
wanted to, and so that was kind of amazing, and
I I remember I went and sat in my seat
forwarded that message to my husband In New Zealand. Like
o which is delicious, actors, I often say, it just
people with a terrible addiction to hope. So any little
(09:15):
like morsel like that is just delicious and you just
live off it.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
It's yeah, yam.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
Dopamine doesn't come from the present. Dopamine happens when the
opportunity of the present, the you know, arises. And so
I sat with that, and then about two weeks later,
my agent gave me an update which, in her words,
she sort of said there's still strong interest in Morgana,
that Mike doesn't really do callbacks, and that this role
(09:44):
would likely go straight to offer and that we should
hear in the next few days. And again I was like, Oh,
this is heaven, like no back and forth, no waiting
and turmoil, and because when you're it's not the no
that hurts, it's a maybe, like maybe it's.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Dangling in front of you and not knowing if you're
going to reach it.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Because what the maybe does is that you start to
try and be really pragmatic about it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You go listen. If don't get it, that's fine. And
I might not, And I guess the reason why I
might not is and those reasons.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Are usually really mean because you're just too old and
you're too crap, right, And that's.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
What your brain is ill to that information or like that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, just your brain.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Use your brain is left in anguish trying to figure
out why they could possibly not cast you the.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Reasons they're going to give you into the worst ones.
So it was none of that.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
And then literally it was next morning, at about seven
thirty on a Saturday morning, because it was still Friday
in the States. I guess my agent called me and
said it's yours, which was also so nice because she
had been the.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Deliverer of some real crushing ones.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, you know, and even she says now like she's
like that was a real book in because she was like,
one of the hardest nos I've ever had to deliver
was one that I was on hold for a fancy
film with fancy people, and I had.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Been on hold for two months. Maybe I'm like, we're
going to hear Yeah, I heard.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
From from the other cast that it's quite a unique
experience in terms of, like, you're shooting these long days,
but then you're all together in this really close knit environment.
And I've heard stories about karaoke and partying and all
that sort of stuff. What was it like kind of
integrating with this big group of all these different cast
members and having to sort of, I guess, find that
rhythm with them all.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Yeah, well, I guess it's more like, because there's so
many storylines, sometimes people are really busy and they're working. Wow,
a whole bunch of other people are waiting around, which
is fine because it's a lovely place to write.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Which place to wait?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And so yeah, everyone was out and about, and I like,
I came back and forth a bit.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
But I think like if I was like some of
the younger actors did, and I didn't have kids, I
would have just stayed there. People went off to Cambodia
and you know, go to Japan and things like that,
I would have That would have been great. And then
you know, Parker was a wonderful connector. She just pulled
me into her vortex and made sure that, you know,
(12:11):
so I wasn't alone.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was really awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So she would say She's one of the people that
you bonded with.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
She would She was the first one that went come
with me, and then she was that you should hang
out with Natasha. You're both writer creators, You'll love each other.
And so she connected to me and made sure which
was fun.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, yeah, really lovely. And so getting into the character
of Pam, who has become such a fan favorite. Have
you seen all those like the pamfam online and all
those things like that that's really bubbled up, Especially when
it's a show with so many movie parts and so
many moving characters. When people attach themselves to someone, that
must mean it's it's quite a special performance.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, I'm so pleased. I mean, that's all I could
hope for. So great.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
And what was the story behind creating the characters? And
not obviously Mike White's written it and she has a
very particular, you know role within this New White Lotus world.
But were you able to sort of bring any of
your own tweaks and ideas or anything like that to
creating her.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Yeah, because actually I'm when I spoke with Mike about it,
I think he writes it and then he kind of
goes just like you figure it out, you know. So
I have my own backstory for her, and I thought
a lot about in the audition process because I got
two scenes and a very small character description. But I
(13:30):
know that in the White Lotus world, the staff are
often at odds with what they're feeling inside, whilst having
to put a very firm mask of civility over the.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Top of it, which is also anybody who hospitality knows.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Very sometimes very difficult rich people who are they always
have to be right, and which is like a delicious
thing to play as an actor when you get to
play that smile of love.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
And I listened to the music a lot, which tonally
I feel like really got me in that world. And
then yeah, I just I did so much in the background.
Now I watch it and I feel proud that she's
a very full character because I just decided I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Go in there and I'm going to give it.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
I'm going to give every moment everything so that they
always have something to work with, and because I'm often
in big group scenes in the back, and I just
tried to make myself laugh or tried to make like
that blender gag I did.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's a great moment for pan quite quin things.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
So Basically, the family have to have a scene and
I bring in the blender. I'm like, what am I
going to do back here? I'm just going to struggle
with opening the blender. But two of the Thaie department
boys were just offscreen just cracking out just that end
of that. So I had my little audience and they
would do cut, and of course they're all concentrating on
the main actors, and I'm just looking at those guys, going, I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Just doing this for you, okay. So if I get
in trouble, Mike, there you.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Go, and or like behind Mook, behind Lee and the
welcome scene, you kind of see it like it's out
of focus. But I have much satisfaction in knowing that
Jess behind her me and the same outfit as her.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
When Chelsea says to her, you're so pretty every.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Time, I just played it like I thought she was
saying that to me, it's such a good life, realizing
that she wasn't and getting really embarrassed, and honest standing
next to me was enjoying that gag.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So I just.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Tried to give her life at every moment possible.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
How do you think this is going to kind of
shape your career going forward now that you've got like
maybe a bit more of an international audience.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I just don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
There's a chance that this is the way things are
for the moment and then things received like a like
the tide on a beach. But what I'm hoping, well,
I think it's unlocked doors that initially were really hard
to open.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And that's all I can ask for.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
If I can have more to work with clever people,
if I can have more access and to get my
own work produced. You know, you need a certain amount
of marketability, which is like it seems so futile when
you yeah, because it was only a few years ago
that I was going. I have done this for so long,
(16:31):
and I'm coming into an age bracket of really interesting
characters and I will definitely get passed up on for
actors who are more recognizable, and now I can be that,
but maybe more access.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Ah, I know.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So that's kind of the brutal reality.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
But if it can just open up some more doors,
be awesome, and maybe make some more money. Maybe I
can afford a Sparkle one day.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I mean, that is the dream.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Come on state a wellness resort to get it.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah, she's such a funny actress and just can't wait
to see what she does next now she has more
of this global profile.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Now we need to hear the next interview you did
with Leslie Bibb and Natasha Rothwell, can you set it
up a bit for us?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yes, So, as I was saying, Leslie Bibb plays Kate
in the show. She's from Austin, Texas. She's on this
trip of a lifetime with her two girlfriends and the
drama and the tension between them is like bubbling over.
She gives me a little bit of an idea of
what is going to happen in the finale and also
takes me through why they had to change some of
the scenes things that happened when they were filming. She
(17:39):
just got such an interesting take on this character in
this show, and she's literally one of the funniest people.
You see the end when I'm trying to leave and
she's like she jumps out and stops me and asks
me about a very controversial moment of the show that
she wanted to bring up.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Also does that have to do with.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And I think she's been holding onto this for so long.
I think maybe just no one has asked her, and
she's like, I want to talk about this thing. So also,
Natasha rothwell as Belinda in the series, is so incredible,
and we get into how she kept all these secrets.
She tells me a little bit about the finale and
just what it was like to bring this character to life.
And so here's Natasha and Leslie and you just have
(18:18):
to listen to everything that these wild, crazy creative women say.
So I wanted to start by asking you both about
the filming process because White Lotus very infamously as I'm
sure you already knew very unique filming experiences with the
amount of content you have to shoot, but you're all
the way in this almost camp like environment. And the
(18:38):
cast of season two very infamously said that they were
the hardest PARTI is that they were always off doing
having adventures. How did the season three casts stuck up
to that? Did we have any stories?
Speaker 6 (18:49):
I think we probably had better adventures?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Can we share one? What's the most memorable?
Speaker 6 (18:54):
My god, there were so many. There's a lot of fun.
There was a lot of fun. There was always a
good boat trip happening.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Yeah, and everyone be like, I'm going out who wants
to snort and a lot of always karaoke.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, I was the ringleader.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Yeah, I went to Japan with Amy. A lot of
us went to Cambodia. Yeah, I don't know. I think
that I had heard there they were big partiers.
Speaker 8 (19:17):
Yeah, but I feel like the truth with all of
us is that we're all sort of we're all like
acting now that they're not actors actors, but like we're
such little nerves, Like we would never show up hungover. Yes,
I mean I don't. That's not my that's not my jam.
That was like literally gives me anxiety.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
Literally, you know when the Little Mermaid says, you know,
I want to be where the people are, that's not me.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
I don't want to be where the people are. That's
where my people are.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (19:51):
I think out of all the cast, I think we
were probably very codependently.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Well well yeah, season one, we had to be right
because we were on lockdown.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
We weren't allowed to leave the hotel.
Speaker 7 (20:03):
It was very much like you know, it was beautiful,
but it was definitely like a five star prison.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
We could, you know, like we could leave.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
This season, it was gorgeous, but they've turned off her
key cards.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Like I heard that story was locked in.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
Yeah, because that was it was COVID like pre vaccination.
We didn't know what it was going to become.
Speaker 8 (20:22):
So we're just like, oh, so you couldn't if you
got out, if you left your car, couldn't get back in.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
Carts stopped working, so they knew if you were being
a sneaky sneak.
Speaker 7 (20:32):
So now this time around, we could we could go everyone,
but we chose each other like that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
And speaking of that correlation from season one, obviously we're
seeing your character come back and complete her art, which
fans are so excited about because we all felt very protected.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Do you know that she completed her did you do
you know something that maybe.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Even just seeing you come back now and I mean,
you'd like to tell me how to strugg I'm seeing
the second part of her story. What was that like
to come back and see this character again. You know,
she's still trying to build a business and she's raising
her son, and she's like almost in a crossroads of
her life.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
She's going to go next.
Speaker 7 (21:07):
I mean it's I mean, it's tantamounts are sort of
like you you go in your closet and there's an
outfit that you had on before and you loved it,
and you get to put it on again, you know,
And I was just so excited to be able to
continue that story and having the world see that, you know,
Tany didn't break her. You know, she found resilience and
she found sort of like.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
The ability to bring back joy in her life.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
You know, she chose to take herself on this solo
trip to Thailand at the beginning solo trip until her
son joins her. And as someone who travels solo in
real life, it's a really scary thing to do if
you haven't done before, and you're really kind of you're
being asked to sort of you know, show up for
yourself in ways that you don't you know, you had before.
And so it's really wonderful to see her in this
new light. And you know, sometimes you know, I hear
(21:53):
people saying, oh, she's she's a different person, you know
this season. I'm like, all of that existed before, but
she never let it out. So it's just nice to
see her be able to open herself in this way.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Also, she's a different person because of what happened. Correct, Yes,
it's so change changes you.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, So you are.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
Seeing a woman changed from and allowing herself to did
her dirty, did her so dirty?
Speaker 7 (22:18):
And I think you take those bad things that happen
in life and you can decide to move differently.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
And I think that's how it changed her.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
You know, I think who she is was there, but
she's made the decision to allow other people to see
it and give zero f's about, you know, and.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Confronted with her past, with meeting up with Greg. Yeah,
we're not loving him. I know you can't give away
too much. Are we going to get some sort of
satisfactory resolution as an audience?
Speaker 6 (22:47):
So I mean I can't.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
I can't speak to other people's satisfaction, you know what
I mean, And you can't do that. That's but I
do think that like the finale will not disappoint. I
remember reading it and I had to remind myself to
breathe while I was reading it because I was just
(23:10):
this attention page after page.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
He just it's beautifully executed.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
And Leslie with your character, I mean, there's so many
crazy plots going on in this season. We've got some
murder and intrigue and love stories and some light incest
between this breakdown as an audience girl enjoying. But it's
the dynamic between these three friends that has really captured
people's attention. That's been the most think pieces, the most
(23:36):
TikTok video is the most everything.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
It's so wild to me, not to me, I don't
know how you knew that for me to jump I
said it to Dave. I was just like, this story
is powerful. Oh, it's so cool.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
The three of us were like, oh gosh, are we
Is it even gonna like translate to people like because
will it be like overshadowed because these other stories.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Were so so big and like, and what do you
think it is about that dime that friendship?
Speaker 8 (24:02):
I think because it's relatable because you can put yourself
in that and you can see yourself in that, whether
it be a woman or a man, because I've had
both come up to me and say, oh, I sort
of is that how I relate to my friends? It's
sort of like, well, it's interesting. It's like a holding
up a mirror, and mirrors are big theme this year,
(24:25):
and in that imagery of doppelgangers, you know, and vulnerability
and how to walk through this life like without apologizing
for your truth, which I think is what Frank's doing
in that monologue that he has is like, because I
you know, the girls, we laughed. We're like, God, if
(24:45):
we just come in with some Frank energy and just
said our truths.
Speaker 6 (24:49):
Your storyline would be done done. It wouldn't be anything.
We'd just be drinking rose and having a.
Speaker 8 (24:55):
Good time and doing a lot of yoga because we
can't because it's so scary to be vulnerable. I mean
that's something I think like even the vulnerability that you
come into this with pornchies really beautiful and that for you.
I love that, Mike, that's how he sort of went in.
(25:15):
I just love that that theme and how it resonates
through your storyline is really and I will.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
Say this about the girl's storyline. I went to school
for theater nerd Alert and Tennessee Williams. He's known for subtext.
And it's like plays before there was air conditioning, you
know what I mean, where it's just like people were
just saying the bare minimum, but you know they were
feeling the most. And so you have them doing this
sort of like old school KT on a hot tin
(25:44):
roof where no one they're saying, like past the salt,
it's a nice day. But the subtext is like deep
and you feel it when you watch them and when
you want and that's the relatability, because we all know
what it's like to move through the world and not
say the thing yeah, and just so see these women
move that way. It's just like you feel almost seen
when you watch it.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
You're like, oh wow, yeah, yeah's.
Speaker 8 (26:06):
And I think like, like for Kate like that, like
Mike said something to us, I've said this before, but
like we came in with the girls, were the first
ones to shoot and start in Thailand, and we did
our first villasine like literally like here's the Thailand, and we.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Sort of motored through the scene. It's like a five
page scene.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
And then Mike County is like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
slow down, slow down, slow down, which you don't often
hear in television, and it just sort of for me
was like, oh, yeah, it's not it's what we're not saying.
He's like, I'm okay with silences. Just such a beautiful thing.
And for me, I think it was the real turning
(26:46):
point where everything sort of I don't even know if
I was aware consciously, but subconsciously something shifted with the
work I'd already started to prepare for Kate.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I know it.
Speaker 8 (26:58):
It changed, not the course, but it just it's like
I got a couple extra paddles yea for my canoe,
and I was like, okay, now let's go up stream.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Yeah yeah yeah, And.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
On that relate ability that you both told came out again.
It's a very small scene that has gone quite viral.
I don't know if you've seen the stories around it.
A writer at our network wrote a story that we've
never had. We've had thousands of comments from the pool
scene where the group of friends go to the pool
and then the Jacqueline in particular looks around and says,
wait a second, is this how the world sees us
in this whom category? Where we see ourselves in this
(27:29):
completely different life stage and you see kind of push
against that. So what was it like to feel that
scene or was that a conversation that you were having
on set on that thing of like being put into
an age group that you.
Speaker 6 (27:39):
Well, I think that we were.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
I mean, first off, Michelle Carey and I would never
there would only be one of us, right, They only
like they'll cast like more men in the same age,
I find usually, but if it's like it's one woman
orient you are the woman of color, or you're the
woman with the blonde.
Speaker 6 (27:57):
Hair, you're this, or you're that, and you're one.
Speaker 8 (28:01):
So to be able to go work with two women
that I really admire and I would never get to
have this, I'd never be in the same playing field
with them, was really exciting. So also, Mike writes, great
women who are twenty two years old. Now you write
all they're great women who are twenty in their twenties
on the show, But there are a lot of women
(28:23):
who would be by Hollywood standards older.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Yeah, And Mike just writes for us. And it's not
scene in particular.
Speaker 7 (28:33):
It's like to see the three of them juxtaposed with
like older women, and it's kind of the intersection of
like how they're being perceived and how they perceive themselves
and the tension.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Of that of like is this us and then bucking
it and yeah, I'm like, yeah, I mean I sometimes
do that. I mean I look in the mirror.
Speaker 8 (28:55):
I mean, that's the weirdest thing with aging, Like in
my head, i still think I'm an entren and I'm like, no, girl.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
But I think we all do it.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
But I also don't want to believe the number that
to sign.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
To me because I think there.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
I remember my mom said something to me like she's like, well,
I'm in the twilight of my years and I was like, Mom,
you're sixty five.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
That's not a lot of life.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Lift.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Yeah, but I think the power of believing that is
how old would you be if you didn't know how
old you were? And I think there is our minds
are really powerful. So I try not to think about that.
So I kind of love Jacqueline like lifting up and
being like where the world and she's like, let's go.
(29:44):
And then I know she can be Jacqueline can be
a tricky friend sometimes like maybe you don't want your
men around her.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Yeah, but but she is a good time and she
does have like she's like, let's do it. We're not dead,
let's go.
Speaker 8 (30:01):
And so there's some part of I think all the women,
like all of us, have like things that are assets
and things that are maybe their achilles that they.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
Can work on, and every kind of friendship group, each
person has their own sort of superpower. Yeah, And Jacquelin's
is like let's go and You're just like, we're not
going to wake up.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
You know we have to.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
Yeah, yeah, she's not going to let you make that
bad of a decision. I'm surprised she didn't go, Like
if she could have, she would have probably knocked on
and like stop.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
That, I'm going to sleep.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
Guy.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
I made a choice because I wasn't supposed to. But
I was like, Kate does not like Valentine, yes, because
it wasn't supposed to. And I just suddenly I was like,
he is ruining our vacation. So I was like every
time he comes, Kate's always like oh Hill.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
And as we moved towards the finale, and I can
tell the careful you both been not to give anything
away because people are so desperate to know. How hard
does it mean to keep these secrets. I mean you're
saying that you're reading the script and you're really passed
yet and you're having to keep your secrets and Sammy
and also with your part coming in and having what
are the lengths we go to?
Speaker 7 (31:19):
It is I've lied to like my mother's face, like
I just I won't tell anyone. And I was announced
as being returning when they thought we were shooting the
end of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
But the strikes happened.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
So I was out on a limb by myself for
a year before anyone else had to carry the burden
of like knowing what was going to happen. And so
I think it's going to be such a cathartic experience
to have the world finally, But I don't.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Want it to end.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
I love lying to your loved ones as well. How
many lives?
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Yeah, I just don't. I just I just looked down.
Speaker 8 (31:54):
Yeah, I just went down, and I'm like, y yeah yah,
yeah yeah yeah yeah sure yeah.
Speaker 6 (31:59):
Also too, was there something that happened?
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Am I making this up that once we all sort
of read the scenes that then they they sent out
like fake sides.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
Oh you would have to. There's fakes rats.
Speaker 7 (32:14):
On set pages with different endings, and just to make sure.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
In case we could catch someone sharing, So you shut
your mouth because they really will set you up.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Well, we can't wait to see the finale. And also,
just this season has been so incredible and you're both do.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
You like the music? I actually did?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Each each season should have its own times.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
It should love that.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Sorry, I love it's really good. I feel like people
are now catching on. Like I think Cyst was like
it's don't worry, it's gonna make sense.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, yes, no, I loved it. And again, thank you
both so much, Thank you so much, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Oh okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Look, I think I just am so hooked on that
theme song from the second season. But I do agree
it does need to be different for each season. It's
got to fit the vibe. But I think that second
one just had such a good like I want to
dance to it, Like it really gets in your head,
that one.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Even though obviously when I said to Leslie there like
I don't know, I liked it, and I did. I
was not one of those people who were so thrown
by the theme song. Maybe at first I was a
bit like ah, but especially as it's gone on, it's
really grown on me. Like she's been doing so many interviews,
you know how, like when you're doing these junkers, you
get the really intense wrap up like get like cut
the interview, get out of the room. Now. I was
getting that, and so I'm trying to end it, you
(33:33):
probably hear, and then she just kind of jumps in
with like what did you think of the theme song,
So it must be the one question that no one
had asked her about that she was really wanting to
get into. But yes, those were all these three women
so incredible. So the last episode of The White Lotus
Season three is going to air this Monday on Binge,
and then I guess you, people like you, people like
you can go back and watch the entire mate, watch
(33:55):
you season people who have somehow not had the entire
show ruined. How you had the entire show ruined for
you so far a day after? All I see is
every plot point from the show. It means and things.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
I know that there's some sort of incest thing. I
know that there's like some murder thing.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, that doesn't like Also, I don't mind a spoiler,
like a yeah yeah. I'm one of these people that
I can read the last page of a book and
still go and read it, like I don't mind knowing
such different people. I don't mind knowing the ending. So
it hasn't really bothered me.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I just like to Binge, well, that's what you're gonna
be able to do after this Monday, because then you'll
have all of season three and you can just go
and watch it all in one go and you'll be
having all of these experiences that we've been having for
the last couple of weeks, but it'll be a wild ride.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
It's yeah, I look. I loved listening to those interviews,
so great job on those.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Well. Thank you so much for listening to this spill today,
And if you want more from the Spill, make sure
you're following us on Instagram at the Spill podcast because
we've posted clips from our interviews with the White LOADUS stars,
clips from the events we've been to this week. We
also share TV recommendations and articles that you'll like. It's
just a really fun time. And thank you so much
to Casaniel for joining us this week and jumping in
(35:01):
all the hot important topics from Megan Markle to NEPO babies.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
It's all been happening and I love it. Thank you
for having me again.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
The Spill is produced by Nen Green with sound production
by Scott Stronik and we'll see you back here on
your podcast feed at three pm on Monday.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Bye bye.
So much.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and borders
that this podcast is recorded on from Mamma Mia. Welcome
to the Spill, your daily pop culture fix. I'm Laura
Brodnick and today I'm joined by Seni Lukitchen.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I'm filling in for m Vernon again today.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Just hanging out with us all week.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We love that and I love coming for you guys.
Just love it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Oh, we love to hear that.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We're not feuding behind the scenes or anything like that.
That's more of an Emily and I think I'm joking. No,
I like both of you, but who do you a
little bit more? Well, I've done more shows with you,
that is the correct. But I did really enjoy recording
with MS. We'll talk about that off air. Yeah, on
today's show, we have not me ruining our lovely introduction
with a bit of drama. I just always think it's
(01:02):
fun to listen to the pod being like, what's going
on behind the wa You're not sitting on the couch
with me today. You're sitting over in a separate yellow
chair and I'm the orange couch By myself.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I know, but I've got my pillar. I gave you
a really great setup though.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I know, guys, we're having some fun in the studios
at my Mirrre at the moment, So just a bit
of shuffling around, bit of having to find unique.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Places to record.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
So you know, we've just set up home in Mere
Freeman's office.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Cute of us.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Anyway, On today's show, The White Lotus, I think it's
safe to say the biggest TV show in the world
right now. We're into season three. The season three finale
is airing this Monday night. I don't know what people
are going to do with themselves because so many people
in my life and myself included, have been like so
wrapped up in this show for the last couple of
weeks that it's been on air, because you know, it's
(01:46):
the weekly drop, it's the mystery, it's an all star cast,
especially this time around, are just losing their minds with
theories and who is the killer? Because if you're not
across the White Loatus, it was written, creative, produced all
those things by Mike White. We're in the third season now.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
All I was going to say is.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That is the theme song.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
That's a person Tradition season two. Now, I'm gonna be
honest with you here. Okay, I've only seen season one
and two because I'm waiting for all of the episode
to drop it once so i can do a bing
no no.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
So many people I know are doing that, So don't worry, guys,
there's no spoilers in this episode. So the idea of
the series, and it's so clever, is that it's this
imagined luxury hotel franchise, the White Loaders, and they have
locations all over the world, so each season is set
in a different location with a different car. So the
first one was in Hawaii, the second one was in Sicily,
and now the third one has been in Thailand. And
(02:41):
we've done a few chats on this podcast about like
breakout storylines, the incest plot, different characters, all those sort
of things. We're building up to the finale. And to
celebrate Max and new streaming service launching in Australia, some
of the cast the White Loaders made their way over
to Australia, so we had Leslie Bibb, Natasha Rothwell, MORGANA
O'Reilly and Patrick Schwarzenegger and now Patrick Swarzenegger I didn't
(03:04):
get to talk to, but he seems like a lovely
chap Actually, he was at the Last of Us premiere
because the stars of The White Lotus were at that
as well. And it's so funny because he walked into
the lobby after doing the Red carpet and he has
become such a breakout star of this show. People just
rushed towards him. There were cameras everywhere, and he kind
of looked quite shell shocked because even though he's grown
(03:24):
up with a famous father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, this role has
catapulted him to fame. So even though he's grown up
in the spotlight, he seems quite overtaken by this new
fandom that he has. But I guess having people run
up and put a phone your face is going to
be creepy no matter what.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Man, he's a real babe. I love him.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
I haven't again, I haven't seen this series yet, so I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Excited to hear this.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
But I'm glad that you told everyone that there's not
going to be any spoilers in this. But this is
basically going to be the interviews that you did.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yes, because the day before the big premiere of the
Last of us that these White Lotus stars were at will,
they were here in Australia. I sat down with a
few of them. So Leslie Bibb, who plays Kate in
the series, you've probably seen this around because their storylines
have been huge. There's this tree of three best childhood
friends who are in the White Lotus on this resort together,
(04:12):
and their storylines have been quite juicy this season. And
I also sat down with Natasha Rothwell, who plays Belinda. Now,
she was in the first season, so you would know her.
She worked at the hotel in the first season and
she was the one who befriended Jennifer Coolich's character and
they were going to go into business together.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
They were going to do the salon together.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, before Jennifer Coolich's Tanya character just fell in love
with a terrible man.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And before I left her timely demid yes and left
her high and drive.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
The Gazer try to kill them.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It was such a good season.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And so she's back in season three and she's quite
a juicy storyline because that murder plot from season two
has come back in a massive way in season three.
But before we get to those interviews and please stick
around for them, because these women are some of the
greatest interviews I've ever done. And I don't say that
lightly because I've interviewed a lot of people, but you
(05:04):
know what it's like, because you've done a lot of
these junkens and interviews as well. When you walk into
a room and the energy is chaotic, and you know,
you get all these answers you weren't expecting, and it
just is just such a great experience.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, when you walk out of the room and you're like,
I got it, and you're smiling ear to ear. You've
got those precious cards in your pocket and that was
really great. And when you walk out with like a
bit of an adrenaline rush and you're like, there was
just good energy in the room.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, absolutely, Nana. So we have those interviews coming up
later in the podcast. But first of all, I wanted
to play another interview with another star of The White
Lotus season three and her name is MORGANA. O'reiley. So
you might not know that name, but you're about to
because she has become the absolute breakout star of The
White Lotus season three. She plays Pam. So Pam is
(05:51):
someone who works at the White Lotus and she's looking
after the Ratlift family. She's like their wellness expert. So
the Ratlift family is obviously you've got the dad Tim,
who's the one who's lost all his family's money, and
then he's married to Parker Posey's character who's been a
breakout star. And they're three wealthy, dysfunctional children who are
having some light incest storylines are with them and keeping
(06:13):
them all together, bringing them blenders, taking their phones away
from them and looking after this crazy, rich, rude family.
Is Pam, who's played by She's a New Zealand actress,
but Australia has claimed her as we do.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We do that all the time.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I am all for like championing our Australian and Keiwi
actors and when we see them doing really well, I
want to hear from them absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And morgana o'rally has such a fascinating story of how
she landed this role in The White Lotus, which we
talk about. Obviously, she already had quite a profile. She
was on Neighbors for many years, she was in a
sitcom called Mean Moms. She was in Wentworth, which is
such a huge Australian show, and I think most people
woul probably know her from neighbors. And in this interview,
we talked about the life changing call that she got
(06:59):
about landing the role in The White Lotus, what it
was like to film with all of these celebrities in Thailand.
We're all like living on top of each other. She
also talks about the one celebrity from the cast who
really looked after her, what it means for her career,
and she also gave me all these little details of
things that the cast were doing in the background. I
was like, oh my god, I have to go back
and rewatch the show now because I feel like I've
missed all these little storylines that are happening in the background.
(07:22):
So here's my interview with The White Loadus season three
star MORGANA. O'Reilly. It's really interesting now to sort of
be in the lead up to the finale of this season,
and I wanted to sort of take you back to
the beginning of the I Guess Your White Loatus journey
and ask what the audition process was like, because I
imagining when you get the call that that opportunity is
on the horizon, it would bring up a lot of
(07:44):
excitement or stress.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Yeah, well, it was actually a really straightforward process. I
got an NDA first, which I signed, promptly sent back
to my agent.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
It had like a code name, but it was pretty
obvious what it was.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
And my agent message back and was like, oh my gosh,
I've never seen a NDA come back so fast. Yeah,
no audition, stand it off and off it goes as usual,
never to be heard from again.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
And then I was actually at a friend's wedding in
Los Angeles and she had been very lovely and let
me be a bit of an honorary bridesmaids that day
because I traveled so fast, so I'd been hanging out
with them all getting ready, and I was just about
to go and take my seat and sort of go, okay,
well you're going to go get Harry down, and I'm
going to go out and be with everybody while you
(08:36):
guys do the last little bit. And I got this
text from my agent to say like, oh my goodness,
we've just had this incredible feedback from casting for White
Lotus Wow, and that they loved you and they wanted
to reiterate the shoot dates, and I was.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Like, stop the wedding. Yeah, everybody is.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
More important, obviously, I couldn't do that, but I really
wanted to, and so that was kind of amazing, and
I I remember I went and sat in my seat
forwarded that message to my husband In New Zealand. Like
o which is delicious, actors, I often say, it just
people with a terrible addiction to hope. So any little
(09:15):
like morsel like that is just delicious and you just
live off it.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
It's yeah, yam.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
Dopamine doesn't come from the present. Dopamine happens when the
opportunity of the present, the you know, arises. And so
I sat with that, and then about two weeks later,
my agent gave me an update which, in her words,
she sort of said there's still strong interest in Morgana,
that Mike doesn't really do callbacks, and that this role
(09:44):
would likely go straight to offer and that we should
hear in the next few days. And again I was like, Oh,
this is heaven, like no back and forth, no waiting
and turmoil, and because when you're it's not the no
that hurts, it's a maybe, like maybe it's.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Dangling in front of you and not knowing if you're
going to reach it.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Because what the maybe does is that you start to
try and be really pragmatic about it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You go listen. If don't get it, that's fine. And
I might not, And I guess the reason why I
might not is and those reasons.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Are usually really mean because you're just too old and
you're too crap, right, And that's.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
What your brain is ill to that information or like that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, just your brain.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Use your brain is left in anguish trying to figure
out why they could possibly not cast you the.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Reasons they're going to give you into the worst ones.
So it was none of that.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
And then literally it was next morning, at about seven
thirty on a Saturday morning, because it was still Friday
in the States. I guess my agent called me and
said it's yours, which was also so nice because she
had been the.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Deliverer of some real crushing ones.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, you know, and even she says now like she's
like that was a real book in because she was like,
one of the hardest nos I've ever had to deliver
was one that I was on hold for a fancy
film with fancy people, and I had.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Been on hold for two months. Maybe I'm like, we're
going to hear Yeah, I heard.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
From from the other cast that it's quite a unique
experience in terms of, like, you're shooting these long days,
but then you're all together in this really close knit environment.
And I've heard stories about karaoke and partying and all
that sort of stuff. What was it like kind of
integrating with this big group of all these different cast
members and having to sort of, I guess, find that
rhythm with them all.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Yeah, well, I guess it's more like, because there's so
many storylines, sometimes people are really busy and they're working. Wow,
a whole bunch of other people are waiting around, which
is fine because it's a lovely place to write.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Which place to wait?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And so yeah, everyone was out and about, and I like,
I came back and forth a bit.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
But I think like if I was like some of
the younger actors did, and I didn't have kids, I
would have just stayed there. People went off to Cambodia
and you know, go to Japan and things like that,
I would have That would have been great. And then
you know, Parker was a wonderful connector. She just pulled
me into her vortex and made sure that, you know,
(12:11):
so I wasn't alone.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
It was really awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So she would say She's one of the people that
you bonded with.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
She would She was the first one that went come
with me, and then she was that you should hang
out with Natasha. You're both writer creators, You'll love each other.
And so she connected to me and made sure which
was fun.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, yeah, really lovely. And so getting into the character
of Pam, who has become such a fan favorite. Have
you seen all those like the pamfam online and all
those things like that that's really bubbled up, Especially when
it's a show with so many movie parts and so
many moving characters. When people attach themselves to someone, that
must mean it's it's quite a special performance.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, I'm so pleased. I mean, that's all I could
hope for. So great.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
And what was the story behind creating the characters? And
not obviously Mike White's written it and she has a
very particular, you know role within this New White Lotus world.
But were you able to sort of bring any of
your own tweaks and ideas or anything like that to
creating her.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Yeah, because actually I'm when I spoke with Mike about it,
I think he writes it and then he kind of
goes just like you figure it out, you know. So
I have my own backstory for her, and I thought
a lot about in the audition process because I got
two scenes and a very small character description. But I
(13:30):
know that in the White Lotus world, the staff are
often at odds with what they're feeling inside, whilst having
to put a very firm mask of civility over the.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Top of it, which is also anybody who hospitality knows.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Very sometimes very difficult rich people who are they always
have to be right, and which is like a delicious
thing to play as an actor when you get to
play that smile of love.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
And I listened to the music a lot, which tonally
I feel like really got me in that world. And
then yeah, I just I did so much in the background.
Now I watch it and I feel proud that she's
a very full character because I just decided I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Go in there and I'm going to give it.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
I'm going to give every moment everything so that they
always have something to work with, and because I'm often
in big group scenes in the back, and I just
tried to make myself laugh or tried to make like
that blender gag I did.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's a great moment for pan quite quin things.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
So Basically, the family have to have a scene and
I bring in the blender. I'm like, what am I
going to do back here? I'm just going to struggle
with opening the blender. But two of the Thaie department
boys were just offscreen just cracking out just that end
of that. So I had my little audience and they
would do cut, and of course they're all concentrating on
the main actors, and I'm just looking at those guys, going, I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Just doing this for you, okay. So if I get
in trouble, Mike, there you.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Go, and or like behind Mook, behind Lee and the
welcome scene, you kind of see it like it's out
of focus. But I have much satisfaction in knowing that
Jess behind her me and the same outfit as her.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
When Chelsea says to her, you're so pretty every.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Time, I just played it like I thought she was
saying that to me, it's such a good life, realizing
that she wasn't and getting really embarrassed, and honest standing
next to me was enjoying that gag.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So I just.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Tried to give her life at every moment possible.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
How do you think this is going to kind of
shape your career going forward now that you've got like
maybe a bit more of an international audience.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I just don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
There's a chance that this is the way things are
for the moment and then things received like a like
the tide on a beach. But what I'm hoping, well,
I think it's unlocked doors that initially were really hard
to open.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And that's all I can ask for.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
If I can have more to work with clever people,
if I can have more access and to get my
own work produced. You know, you need a certain amount
of marketability, which is like it seems so futile when
you yeah, because it was only a few years ago
that I was going. I have done this for so long,
(16:31):
and I'm coming into an age bracket of really interesting
characters and I will definitely get passed up on for
actors who are more recognizable, and now I can be that,
but maybe more access.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Ah, I know.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So that's kind of the brutal reality.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
But if it can just open up some more doors,
be awesome, and maybe make some more money. Maybe I
can afford a Sparkle one day.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I mean, that is the dream.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Come on state a wellness resort to get it.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah, she's such a funny actress and just can't wait
to see what she does next now she has more
of this global profile.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Now we need to hear the next interview you did
with Leslie Bibb and Natasha Rothwell, can you set it
up a bit for us?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yes, So, as I was saying, Leslie Bibb plays Kate
in the show. She's from Austin, Texas. She's on this
trip of a lifetime with her two girlfriends and the
drama and the tension between them is like bubbling over.
She gives me a little bit of an idea of
what is going to happen in the finale and also
takes me through why they had to change some of
the scenes things that happened when they were filming. She
(17:39):
just got such an interesting take on this character in
this show, and she's literally one of the funniest people.
You see the end when I'm trying to leave and
she's like she jumps out and stops me and asks
me about a very controversial moment of the show that
she wanted to bring up.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Also does that have to do with.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And I think she's been holding onto this for so long.
I think maybe just no one has asked her, and
she's like, I want to talk about this thing. So also,
Natasha rothwell as Belinda in the series, is so incredible,
and we get into how she kept all these secrets.
She tells me a little bit about the finale and
just what it was like to bring this character to life.
And so here's Natasha and Leslie and you just have
(18:18):
to listen to everything that these wild, crazy creative women say.
So I wanted to start by asking you both about
the filming process because White Lotus very infamously as I'm
sure you already knew very unique filming experiences with the
amount of content you have to shoot, but you're all
the way in this almost camp like environment. And the
(18:38):
cast of season two very infamously said that they were
the hardest PARTI is that they were always off doing
having adventures. How did the season three casts stuck up
to that? Did we have any stories?
Speaker 6 (18:49):
I think we probably had better adventures?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Can we share one? What's the most memorable?
Speaker 6 (18:54):
My god, there were so many. There's a lot of fun.
There was a lot of fun. There was always a
good boat trip happening.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Yeah, and everyone be like, I'm going out who wants
to snort and a lot of always karaoke.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, I was the ringleader.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Yeah, I went to Japan with Amy. A lot of
us went to Cambodia. Yeah, I don't know. I think
that I had heard there they were big partiers.
Speaker 8 (19:17):
Yeah, but I feel like the truth with all of
us is that we're all sort of we're all like
acting now that they're not actors actors, but like we're
such little nerves, Like we would never show up hungover. Yes,
I mean I don't. That's not my that's not my jam.
That was like literally gives me anxiety.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
Literally, you know when the Little Mermaid says, you know,
I want to be where the people are, that's not me.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
I don't want to be where the people are. That's
where my people are.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (19:51):
I think out of all the cast, I think we
were probably very codependently.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Well well yeah, season one, we had to be right
because we were on lockdown.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
We weren't allowed to leave the hotel.
Speaker 7 (20:03):
It was very much like you know, it was beautiful,
but it was definitely like a five star prison.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
We could, you know, like we could leave.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
This season, it was gorgeous, but they've turned off her
key cards.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Like I heard that story was locked in.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
Yeah, because that was it was COVID like pre vaccination.
We didn't know what it was going to become.
Speaker 8 (20:22):
So we're just like, oh, so you couldn't if you
got out, if you left your car, couldn't get back in.
Speaker 6 (20:28):
Carts stopped working, so they knew if you were being
a sneaky sneak.
Speaker 7 (20:32):
So now this time around, we could we could go everyone,
but we chose each other like that.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
And speaking of that correlation from season one, obviously we're
seeing your character come back and complete her art, which
fans are so excited about because we all felt very protected.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
Do you know that she completed her did you do
you know something that maybe.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Even just seeing you come back now and I mean,
you'd like to tell me how to strugg I'm seeing
the second part of her story. What was that like
to come back and see this character again. You know,
she's still trying to build a business and she's raising
her son, and she's like almost in a crossroads of
her life.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
She's going to go next.
Speaker 7 (21:07):
I mean it's I mean, it's tantamounts are sort of
like you you go in your closet and there's an
outfit that you had on before and you loved it,
and you get to put it on again, you know,
And I was just so excited to be able to
continue that story and having the world see that, you know,
Tany didn't break her. You know, she found resilience and
she found sort of like.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
The ability to bring back joy in her life.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
You know, she chose to take herself on this solo
trip to Thailand at the beginning solo trip until her
son joins her. And as someone who travels solo in
real life, it's a really scary thing to do if
you haven't done before, and you're really kind of you're
being asked to sort of you know, show up for
yourself in ways that you don't you know, you had before.
And so it's really wonderful to see her in this
new light. And you know, sometimes you know, I hear
(21:53):
people saying, oh, she's she's a different person, you know
this season. I'm like, all of that existed before, but
she never let it out. So it's just nice to
see her be able to open herself in this way.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Also, she's a different person because of what happened. Correct, Yes,
it's so change changes you.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, So you are.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
Seeing a woman changed from and allowing herself to did
her dirty, did her so dirty?
Speaker 7 (22:18):
And I think you take those bad things that happen
in life and you can decide to move differently.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
And I think that's how it changed her.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
You know, I think who she is was there, but
she's made the decision to allow other people to see
it and give zero f's about, you know, and.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Confronted with her past, with meeting up with Greg. Yeah,
we're not loving him. I know you can't give away
too much. Are we going to get some sort of
satisfactory resolution as an audience?
Speaker 6 (22:47):
So I mean I can't.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
I can't speak to other people's satisfaction, you know what
I mean, And you can't do that. That's but I
do think that like the finale will not disappoint. I
remember reading it and I had to remind myself to
breathe while I was reading it because I was just
(23:10):
this attention page after page.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
He just it's beautifully executed.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Yeah it is.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
And Leslie with your character, I mean, there's so many
crazy plots going on in this season. We've got some
murder and intrigue and love stories and some light incest
between this breakdown as an audience girl enjoying. But it's
the dynamic between these three friends that has really captured
people's attention. That's been the most think pieces, the most
(23:36):
TikTok video is the most everything.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
It's so wild to me, not to me, I don't
know how you knew that for me to jump I
said it to Dave. I was just like, this story
is powerful. Oh, it's so cool.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
The three of us were like, oh gosh, are we
Is it even gonna like translate to people like because
will it be like overshadowed because these other stories.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Were so so big and like, and what do you
think it is about that dime that friendship?
Speaker 8 (24:02):
I think because it's relatable because you can put yourself
in that and you can see yourself in that, whether
it be a woman or a man, because I've had
both come up to me and say, oh, I sort
of is that how I relate to my friends? It's
sort of like, well, it's interesting. It's like a holding
up a mirror, and mirrors are big theme this year,
(24:25):
and in that imagery of doppelgangers, you know, and vulnerability
and how to walk through this life like without apologizing
for your truth, which I think is what Frank's doing
in that monologue that he has is like, because I
you know, the girls, we laughed. We're like, God, if
(24:45):
we just come in with some Frank energy and just
said our truths.
Speaker 6 (24:49):
Your storyline would be done done. It wouldn't be anything.
We'd just be drinking rose and having a.
Speaker 8 (24:55):
Good time and doing a lot of yoga because we
can't because it's so scary to be vulnerable. I mean
that's something I think like even the vulnerability that you
come into this with pornchies really beautiful and that for you.
I love that, Mike, that's how he sort of went in.
(25:15):
I just love that that theme and how it resonates
through your storyline is really and I will.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
Say this about the girl's storyline. I went to school
for theater nerd Alert and Tennessee Williams. He's known for subtext.
And it's like plays before there was air conditioning, you
know what I mean, where it's just like people were
just saying the bare minimum, but you know they were
feeling the most. And so you have them doing this
sort of like old school KT on a hot tin
(25:44):
roof where no one they're saying, like past the salt,
it's a nice day. But the subtext is like deep
and you feel it when you watch them and when
you want and that's the relatability, because we all know
what it's like to move through the world and not
say the thing yeah, and just so see these women
move that way. It's just like you feel almost seen
when you watch it.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
You're like, oh wow, yeah, yeah's.
Speaker 8 (26:06):
And I think like, like for Kate like that, like
Mike said something to us, I've said this before, but
like we came in with the girls, were the first
ones to shoot and start in Thailand, and we did
our first villasine like literally like here's the Thailand, and we.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Sort of motored through the scene. It's like a five
page scene.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
And then Mike County is like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
slow down, slow down, slow down, which you don't often
hear in television, and it just sort of for me
was like, oh, yeah, it's not it's what we're not saying.
He's like, I'm okay with silences. Just such a beautiful thing.
And for me, I think it was the real turning
(26:46):
point where everything sort of I don't even know if
I was aware consciously, but subconsciously something shifted with the
work I'd already started to prepare for Kate.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I know it.
Speaker 8 (26:58):
It changed, not the course, but it just it's like
I got a couple extra paddles yea for my canoe,
and I was like, okay, now let's go up stream.
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Yeah yeah yeah, And.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
On that relate ability that you both told came out again.
It's a very small scene that has gone quite viral.
I don't know if you've seen the stories around it.
A writer at our network wrote a story that we've
never had. We've had thousands of comments from the pool
scene where the group of friends go to the pool
and then the Jacqueline in particular looks around and says,
wait a second, is this how the world sees us
in this whom category? Where we see ourselves in this
(27:29):
completely different life stage and you see kind of push
against that. So what was it like to feel that
scene or was that a conversation that you were having
on set on that thing of like being put into
an age group that you.
Speaker 6 (27:39):
Well, I think that we were.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
I mean, first off, Michelle Carey and I would never
there would only be one of us, right, They only
like they'll cast like more men in the same age,
I find usually, but if it's like it's one woman
orient you are the woman of color, or you're the
woman with the blonde.
Speaker 6 (27:57):
Hair, you're this, or you're that, and you're one.
Speaker 8 (28:01):
So to be able to go work with two women
that I really admire and I would never get to
have this, I'd never be in the same playing field
with them, was really exciting. So also, Mike writes, great
women who are twenty two years old. Now you write
all they're great women who are twenty in their twenties
on the show, But there are a lot of women
(28:23):
who would be by Hollywood standards older.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Yeah, And Mike just writes for us. And it's not
scene in particular.
Speaker 7 (28:33):
It's like to see the three of them juxtaposed with
like older women, and it's kind of the intersection of
like how they're being perceived and how they perceive themselves
and the tension.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Of that of like is this us and then bucking
it and yeah, I'm like, yeah, I mean I sometimes
do that. I mean I look in the mirror.
Speaker 8 (28:55):
I mean, that's the weirdest thing with aging, Like in
my head, i still think I'm an entren and I'm like, no, girl.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
But I think we all do it.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
But I also don't want to believe the number that
to sign.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
To me because I think there.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
I remember my mom said something to me like she's like, well,
I'm in the twilight of my years and I was like, Mom,
you're sixty five.
Speaker 6 (29:22):
That's not a lot of life.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Lift.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Yeah, but I think the power of believing that is
how old would you be if you didn't know how
old you were? And I think there is our minds
are really powerful. So I try not to think about that.
So I kind of love Jacqueline like lifting up and
being like where the world and she's like, let's go.
(29:44):
And then I know she can be Jacqueline can be
a tricky friend sometimes like maybe you don't want your
men around her.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Yeah, but but she is a good time and she
does have like she's like, let's do it. We're not dead,
let's go.
Speaker 8 (30:01):
And so there's some part of I think all the women,
like all of us, have like things that are assets
and things that are maybe their achilles that they.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
Can work on, and every kind of friendship group, each
person has their own sort of superpower. Yeah, And Jacquelin's
is like let's go and You're just like, we're not
going to wake up.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
You know we have to.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
Yeah, yeah, she's not going to let you make that
bad of a decision. I'm surprised she didn't go, Like
if she could have, she would have probably knocked on
and like stop.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
That, I'm going to sleep.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
Guy.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
I made a choice because I wasn't supposed to. But
I was like, Kate does not like Valentine, yes, because
it wasn't supposed to. And I just suddenly I was like,
he is ruining our vacation. So I was like every
time he comes, Kate's always like oh Hill.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
And as we moved towards the finale, and I can
tell the careful you both been not to give anything
away because people are so desperate to know. How hard
does it mean to keep these secrets. I mean you're
saying that you're reading the script and you're really passed
yet and you're having to keep your secrets and Sammy
and also with your part coming in and having what
are the lengths we go to?
Speaker 7 (31:19):
It is I've lied to like my mother's face, like
I just I won't tell anyone. And I was announced
as being returning when they thought we were shooting the
end of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
But the strikes happened.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
So I was out on a limb by myself for
a year before anyone else had to carry the burden
of like knowing what was going to happen. And so
I think it's going to be such a cathartic experience
to have the world finally, But I don't.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Want it to end.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
I love lying to your loved ones as well. How
many lives?
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Yeah, I just don't. I just I just looked down.
Speaker 8 (31:54):
Yeah, I just went down, and I'm like, y yeah yah,
yeah yeah yeah yeah sure yeah.
Speaker 6 (31:59):
Also too, was there something that happened?
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Am I making this up that once we all sort
of read the scenes that then they they sent out
like fake sides.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
Oh you would have to. There's fakes rats.
Speaker 7 (32:14):
On set pages with different endings, and just to make sure.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
In case we could catch someone sharing, So you shut
your mouth because they really will set you up.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Well, we can't wait to see the finale. And also,
just this season has been so incredible and you're both do.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
You like the music? I actually did?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Each each season should have its own times.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
It should love that.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
Sorry, I love it's really good. I feel like people
are now catching on. Like I think Cyst was like
it's don't worry, it's gonna make sense.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, yes, no, I loved it. And again, thank you
both so much, Thank you so much, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Oh okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Look, I think I just am so hooked on that
theme song from the second season. But I do agree
it does need to be different for each season. It's
got to fit the vibe. But I think that second
one just had such a good like I want to
dance to it, Like it really gets in your head,
that one.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Even though obviously when I said to Leslie there like
I don't know, I liked it, and I did. I
was not one of those people who were so thrown
by the theme song. Maybe at first I was a
bit like ah, but especially as it's gone on, it's
really grown on me. Like she's been doing so many interviews,
you know how, like when you're doing these junkers, you
get the really intense wrap up like get like cut
the interview, get out of the room. Now. I was
getting that, and so I'm trying to end it, you
(33:33):
probably hear, and then she just kind of jumps in
with like what did you think of the theme song,
So it must be the one question that no one
had asked her about that she was really wanting to
get into. But yes, those were all these three women
so incredible. So the last episode of The White Lotus
Season three is going to air this Monday on Binge,
and then I guess you, people like you, people like
you can go back and watch the entire mate, watch
(33:55):
you season people who have somehow not had the entire
show ruined. How you had the entire show ruined for
you so far a day after? All I see is
every plot point from the show. It means and things.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
I know that there's some sort of incest thing. I
know that there's like some murder thing.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, that doesn't like Also, I don't mind a spoiler,
like a yeah yeah. I'm one of these people that
I can read the last page of a book and
still go and read it, like I don't mind knowing
such different people. I don't mind knowing the ending. So
it hasn't really bothered me.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I just like to Binge, well, that's what you're gonna
be able to do after this Monday, because then you'll
have all of season three and you can just go
and watch it all in one go and you'll be
having all of these experiences that we've been having for
the last couple of weeks, but it'll be a wild ride.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
It's yeah, I look. I loved listening to those interviews,
so great job on those.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Well. Thank you so much for listening to this spill today,
And if you want more from the Spill, make sure
you're following us on Instagram at the Spill podcast because
we've posted clips from our interviews with the White LOADUS stars,
clips from the events we've been to this week. We
also share TV recommendations and articles that you'll like. It's
just a really fun time. And thank you so much
to Casaniel for joining us this week and jumping in
(35:01):
all the hot important topics from Megan Markle to NEPO babies.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
It's all been happening and I love it. Thank you
for having me again.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
The Spill is produced by Nen Green with sound production
by Scott Stronik and we'll see you back here on
your podcast feed at three pm on Monday.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Bye bye.
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