White Lotus star Leslie Bibb revealed that last night’s very timely conversation about Donald Trump was actually written several years ago — proving that, in the grand sweep of the Trump era, “timeliness” means nothing. (Some spoilers, obviously, ahead.)
The conversation in Episode Three marked yet another fissure in the complicated relationship between the three friends — Kate (Bibb), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) — who have reunited for a stay at the titular luxury hotel in Thailand. Basically, the trio starts talking about Christianity and the role of women, which leads Kate to discuss the church she attends with her family in Austin, Texas.
When pressed by her friends about some of her fellow congregants — “Bible thumpers” and Trump voters — Kate defends them as “nice people.” She then reveals her husband is a Republican, calls herself an independent, and redirects the conversation when asked if she voted for Trump herself.
It’s a conversation that could’ve happened in 2017, 2021, or last week. In the case of The White Lotus Season Three, Bibb revealed in a new interview with Variety that creator/showrunner Mike White wrote the scene in 2022.
“When we were filming it, it actually felt like it was going to be irrelevant,” quipped Bibb. “It’s randomly current.” (Production on Season Three of The White Lotus was set to begin in January 2023 but was delayed because of the actors’ strike; filming took place last year, meaning this scene would’ve been filmed at some point during the 2024 election cycle.)
Bibb went on to explain her take on the scene, saying, “I think it’s so easy to be divisive, and it felt like Mike — not that he wasn’t picking a side — was just showing that not everybody’s a villain. [Kate] wasn’t going to ruin this holiday over who she voted for.”
The actress also said she didn’t bother to think about how a conversation about Trump might resonate with viewers because that would be “putting the cart before the horse.” Of her character, she said, “I didn’t judge her. I love how she can never have silence, she doesn’t want to ruin anything, she always wants to keep this group together.”
Bibb added, “With these two women, they make her feel cooler than she is. She’s so worried about [her move to] Austin being perfect, she’s kind of bored and doesn’t really have a purpose. It’s all about the husband, and it’s all about the kids — she feels very held tight. There’s something about these women that makes her feel like she has a purpose.”
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