“The White Lotus” season 3 star Sam Nivola didn’t know exactly what he was getting himself into when he accepted the role of Lochlan Ratliff.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for season 3 of “The White Lotus.”
During episode 6 of the HBO series’ third season, which aired on Sunday, March 23, Lochlan and his brother, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), wake up from a night of drug-fueled partying.
They slowly realize that they did some decidedly unbrotherly things while under the influence. (Let’s just say that it made their episode 1 chat about masturbation seem wholesome by comparison.)
During an interview with Variety published on Sunday, Nivola shared that he hadn’t read the script for episode 6 when he booked season 3 of “The White Lotus.” Therefore, his only inkling about the incestuous plot line was something that Schwarzenegger said to him.
“When I got the part, I remember talking to Patrick Schwarzenegger, and one of his audition scenes was the scene with Chloe [Charlotte Le Bon] where she’s like, ‘Your brother jerked you off last night. You don’t remember?’ … So, he told me that, and I was like, ‘Weird … I wonder what that’s all about,’” Nivola recalled. “Then we both had to sign in our contracts that we were comfortable with nude scenes on camera. Then we got the scripts about a week later, and I read all of them in one sitting, on the plane to Thailand.”
While Schwarzenegger was armed with more information than Nivola before booking the role, he didn’t know Saxon and Lochlan’s full story either.
READ MORE: ‘The White Lotus’ producer defends incest story line, says it’s not just for ‘shock’ value
“I didn’t know anything. … I had no idea,” Schwarzenegger said during a Sunday appearance on the official “White Lotus” podcast. “I got the audition, it was a couple pages, three different scenes. … And then when I booked it, they were like, ‘Here’s the scripts, you can read it now.’ … Then I started to read it and read it, and episode five came, and then six came, and I was like, ‘What the f– is going on? This is just absurd.’”
Schwarzenegger and Nivola got very close while filming the show, to the point where their sex scene felt truly incestuous to them.
Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola on season 3 of “The White Lotus.”HBO
“It was very weird kissing Patrick because he’s a really good friend of mine. And, you know, I’m straight, he’s straight. It’s already weird,” Nivola told Variety. “Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of f—ed up.”
The brothers’ story line has been one of the most talked about aspects of the season, with fans floating different theories about Lochlan’s motivations. Nivola told Variety that he doesn’t think his character is actually sexually attracted to his brother.
“I think it’s something else,” he explained. “He tries to connect with [Saxon] in whatever way he can. … Looking at Saxon while he’s jerking off is not a sexual thing — it’s more that he’s studying him: ‘Who is this guy? How can I get him to like me? How can I become more like him?’ What he learns over the first few episodes is that Saxon is the sex guy. … So, [this is] Lochlan’s tragically misguided attempt at being like, ‘So, you’re the sex guy. Let’s do something in that realm and try to connect in some way.’”
“The White Lotus” airs on HBO and MAX Sundays at 9 p.m. EST.
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