Oscar and Emmy winning Star Wars actress Laura Dern has joined the cast of The White Lotus in an all new written for her role, stepping in for Helena Bonham Carter who exited the fourth series since “the character created for [her] did not align once on set”.
[Showrunner Mike] White has some experience writing for Dern: The two created the HBO cult favorite Enlightened, for which Dern earned a Golden Globe, and White wrote and directed the 2007 movie Year of the Dog that starred Dern, Molly Shannon and John C. Reilly.
Dern also has a long history with HBO, having starred in Big Little Liesand Recount in addition to Enlightened. She also has ties to The White Lotus: In season two, she voiced the (off-screen) estranged wife of Michael Imperioli’s character in a couple of phone conversations.
Season four of The White Lotus will be set during the Cannes Film Festival and will follow the guests and staff at two of the fictional luxury hotel chain’s locations in the south of France. The Airelles Château de la Messardière in Saint-Tropez will be filmed as the White Lotus du Cap, and the historic Hotel Martinez on the Croisette in Cannes will stand in as the White Lotus Cannes. HBO declined comment on whether the show will film during the real-life Cannes festival, which runs from May 12-23.
Season four of The White Lotus also stars Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Caleb Jonte Edwards, Dylan Ennis, Corentin Fila, Ari Graynor, Marissa Long, Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina, AJ Michalka, Kumail Nanjiani and Nadia Tereszkiewicz. Additional cast includes Chloe Bennet, Sandra Bernhard, Heather Graham, Max Greenfield, Frida Gustavsson, Charlie Hall, Jarrad Paul, Rosie Perez, Ben Schnetzer, and Laura Smet.
White is the creator, writer and director of the series and executive produces with David Bernad and Mark Kamine.
Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
