Mike White’s Emmy Award-winning The White Lotus has returned for its third season, taking viewers to a new luxury resort, this time in Thailand.
For Lisa, a global superstar and one quarter of K-Pop girl group Blackpink, and Tayme Thapthimthong, a British-born Thai actor, joining the cast was a no-brainer. Lisa, whose full name is Lalisa Manoban, plays Mook, a health mentor at the resort, and Thapthimthong plays Gaitok, a security guard at the resort.
The series is the first major Hollywood role for Thapthimthong and the first-ever acting role for Lisa. “I was really nervous on set, to be honest,” the pop superstar tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Everybody [was] so nice [and] so supportive,” she says. “They helped me a lot.”
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Below, the pair speak with The Hollywood Reporter about joining the series, how they built their dynamic together on screen and what they hope fans take away from the eight-episode season.
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What excited you about joining The White Lotus?
LISA I’m a big fan of The White Lotus, and as soon as I heard that I got an opportunity to audition for this role, I just went straight away and did it. I’m just so lucky and happy to be part of The White Lotus family. They’ve been so nice to me. We’re like a big family.
TAYME THAPTHIMTHONG When I got the casting I honestly hadn’t heard of The White Lotus. I only watched action stuff before this. I had a very good casting and went straight home to watch season one, and immediately just fell in love with it. It took me a few episodes to understand what was going on. But when I got it, it was like, “Wow, I’m just so impressed with the writing and how he [Mike White] could build so much tension between the characters.” It definitely made me very excited, especially when I got the call back and got to really go for it. I was just over the moon.
You have a great dynamic on screen. Tayme, you previously said you got the direction to stop smiling so much when you were [with Lisa]. How did you build your partnership for the show?
THAPTHIMTHONG Our first meeting was at the cast dinner, where Mike White got us all together. All the main cast together where we meet the producers, and Mike himself. The ice was broken from that night because she [Lisa] turned up. At first I was very nervous, but she was such so nice. She shook my hand and said, “Yeah, let’s get a drink.” We hit it off from there. What made it really authentic on screen I think is just because of the time we hung out with each other off camera. She made such a nice effort to get me involved in lots of activities with her; lunch, dinners and different activities around the island. That’s what really helped with the onscreen chemistry.
What are you both most excited for viewers to see ahead? Is there one part of the show you’re most excited about?
LISA I think they’re going to love our storyline because it’s just so sweet. It’s like a break from the [other storylines]. (Laughs)
THAPTHIMTHONG It’s like a breath of fresh air when you get to our scenes (laughs).
This is such a large cast. What was it like getting to film with so many other actors and getting the chance to interact with each other in different ways?
THAPTHIMTHONG With the character being a security guy, he gets to observe and see different guests doing their thing, and because of that, I got to have scenes with Jason Isaacs, Walton Goggins and even [Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan]. Just to see all the ways of getting into character and to observe that on set and then apply it to myself… I’ve never really had acting lessons before, so I never really had different techniques of how to get into character. It was really nice to observe them without having to ask them, “How do you do this? How do you do that?” There was a little bit of that off set, but on set, it was just nice to observe and then apply to myself.
Lisa, this is your first big role. What was your experience like? What do you think Blinks and Lilies [names for fans of Blackpink and Lisa as a solo artist, respectively] are going to think when they see you?
LISA I think they’re not going to be that shocked (laughs) because Mook… This role is really sweet. It’s not something too crazy for Blinks and Lilies to watch. It’s my first time acting, so I was really nervous on set, to be honest. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to expect. Everything is so new. It was like, “Oh my god. it’s a whole new experience.” But I really had fun. Everybody [was] so nice, so supportive, such a professional [environment] and they helped me a lot. Tayme helped me a lot as well.
THAPTHIMTHONG We helped each other a lot on set for different things, for sure.
What was the feeling like when you finally wrapped shooting?
LISA For me, it [was] a bittersweet moment. I felt relieved that, “Oh, I’m finally wrapping this.” But also, I was just feeling so sad because I don’t know when I’d get to see these people again. We had a lot of fun together. We had a lot of great memories. I was a little bit sad, and now it’s coming out soon, so I’m excited. I’m so excited for the audience to watch.
THAPTHIMTHONG It was a very bittersweet moment when this is your last day of filming, it’s almost like I didn’t want it to end. But I know it had to end, otherwise this will never come out. It’s that feeling, knowing we would get to do this premiere and junket made us really look forward to it.
LISA Exactly. All together again.
THAPTHIMTHONG That’s a great feeling.
Was there a moment during the series that you learned something about yourself or your craft?
THAPTHIMTHONG This is the first role where I had to act a lot more gentle and loving. Even though I’ve never had a role this big, the roles I’ve had before have all been a little darker sort of natured roles, a little heavier. Getting to play this kind of role, at first, it was a challenge to be so smiley and be such a nice guy on camera. What it taught me is like, “OK, well I can do a bit of everything. I can just tweak it and seeing myself be so smiley on camera.” It’s like, oh, “OK. Yeah, I guess it looks kind of cute.”
When fans of yours watch this show, what do you hope they take away from your characters or the story as a whole?
THAPTHIMTHONG I hope from seeing us on screen it’ll make people just feel nice and…
LISA Warm.
THAPTHIMTHONG Warm and cuddly or whatever. I hope that people will want to visit Thailand more. I know Thailand’s already a very well-known place for its beauty and its beaches, but definitely when people watch this through the nvision of Mike White and his team, I think they’re going to be even more into Thailand. Because when we watched it back, it was like, “Wow, I want to go back to the south of Thailand again.”
LISA I miss that place so much.
THAPTHIMTHONG It’s just so beautiful.
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The White Lotus season three releases new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO and Max. Follow along with THR’s season coverage.
