Woody Harrelson didn’t ride in on the boat for the third season of The White Lotus, despite having been considered for both Walton Goggins’ and Sam Rockwell’s roles—and now he’s clearing the air about why.
The Hollywood Reporter’s oral history of the show published Wednesday revealed that Harrelson had tried to increase his offered pay, going so far as to meet one-on-one with Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. The answer was “no,” and Harrelson bailed—prompting speculation that the actor declined the role he was offered over money. However, the Daily Beast has learned that was wrong. “It’s not about money,” Harrelson’s reps said.
According to his reps—and Harrelson himself—the actor had signed on to do the show anyway, until a scheduling conflict arose. Harrelson explained in his own words in a statement provided by his team, “I was set to do White Lotus and very excited. Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.”
THR revealed Wednesday that Harrelson was originally considered to play Rick Hatchett, the role Walton Goggins plays in the series. However, the Daily Beast has also learned that Harrelson ultimately signed on to play Sam Rockwell’s character as Rick’s buddy Frank—the mysterious drifter who delivers that shocking sex monologue. His reps did not offer a reason for the role change, but clarified, “He was set to do the show and they moved the date. And because they moved to date, he was no longer available so they recast. That part was the Sam part.”
Harrelson added of Rockwell in his statement, “Things must be meant to be though, because I couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it.”
Rockwell talked about being nervous he wouldn’t “have enough time to prep and get into the headspace of this character,” since he was already filming another project and would have mere weeks to do so by the time he was approached for the role. He actually “passed at first,” producer David Bernad told THR. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull this off,” Rockwell explained to the site, since “the monologue… was a lot.” Ultimately, Bernad said, “We just didn’t let him pass.”
As for the speculation Harrelson passed on the role due to the pay, which sources told THR is likely around $40,000 an episode, Bernad told the site every cast member is “paid the same.” So Harrelson signing on, even for a different role, indicates he was, as he said, “very excited” to join The White Lotus cast at the Thailand resort this season.
