SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7 of “The White Lotus,” now streaming on Max.
If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother, as Freud would say.
The Austrian shrink would’ve loved this week’s episode of “The White Lotus,” the penultimate of a third season filled with existential dread, taboo sex and, unfortunately for the hotel’s guests, not enough drunken pool days in Thailand.
We’ve finally arrived at one of the confrontations the season has been barreling toward: Rick (Walton Goggins) has weaseled his way into an audience with the man who murdered his father — or so he was told by his mom when he was a child.
Related Stories
Rick has abandoned his plus one Chelsea (the divine AImee Lou Wood) for Bangkok, recruited a black market 9mm pistol from a sketchy old buddy (Sam Rockwell) and conned Sritala (Lek Patravadi), the spouse of his father’s killer, to exact fatal revenge. More importantly, we finally catch a glimpse of this long-teased adversary, and it’s a satisfying reveal — HBO royalty Scott Glenn is suited up in the resortwear of Jim Hollinger, wealthy husband and bankroller of the global White Lotus franchise.
Popular on Variety
Prestige drama fans will recognize Glenn, 86, as Kevin Garvey Sr., police chief and father to Justin Theroux’s Jr. for three seasons on “The Leftovers.” A journeyman actor and salty dog like no other on TV, Glenn’s casting itself signals that show creator Mike White always had something big in store for this narrative thread with Goggins, regardless of how late in the season it broke.
Variety caught up with Glenn to discuss joining the “White Lotus” family, his extensive research into the inner life of his character and a pretty convincing theory on who, in this fictional world, came up with the name of the hotel itself.
It’s wonderful to see you back on a juicy HBO drama. I have a theory that when you get cast by HBO, you work for life. Does that sound accurate?
I’ve had two really good experiences with “The Leftovers” and “Lotus.” I hope it keeps up.
How did you land this part?
I got a call from David Rose, my agent and my friend who said the show was asking for my availability. He told me if they offered me anything, I should do it because there’s no other show on TV like it. I’m the world’s worst audience. I watch too much news and sports and dancing shows. I watched the first episode of “White Lotus” Season 1 and almost immediately I realized, “This is a dance.”
A dance?
For the second episode, I was in my bedroom and got up on the floor and literally started dancing, from the beginning through the entire hour. At the end, I was precisely on beat. There’s a rhythm to the writing. It’s the palms blowing on the ocean. The dance is like a lot of dances: very seductive, sexy and dark and edgy and tempting, but it’s also funny. Even more important, you find yourself laughing during this dance at things that are not comfortable. Should I really be laughing at this guy’s drug addiction? Should I be laughing at Sam Rockwell when he talks about wanting to be a Thai hooker? Whether I should or shouldn’t, I am currently laughing so hard I’m gonna pee in my pants. And I get to be a part of this traveling circus.
That’s so lovely. How did Mike White help you understand this mysterious character?
There’s a rock singer not that well known, named Johnny 2 Bags. He has a song, and the opening lines are, “I’ve got one foot in the gutter, and one foot kicking in the door to heaven.” For me, that’s the show.
Jim Hollinger is a focal point of the entire season, off-screen, and you’ve really got to deliver. There’s something nice and lived-in about your work with your scene partners. Even the briefest, like Patravadi Mejudhon, who plays Jim’s wife Sritala.
She was a great help to me during the show. Not to give anything away, and it may have been cut out, but I have scene where I saw a few pissy lines to my bodyguards in English. Mike yelled “Action!” and I stood there for a long time and didn’t do anything. My character has been in Thailand steadily for 50 years, with a Thai wife and daughters. Why in God’s name is he speaking English to these two guys?
Fair.
Patravadi is not only a really talented actress and a great woman, she’s also a teacher and has a school. I asked her quickly how to say my lines in Thai, and I asked her to really lean on me so I got it right.
Your chemistry with Walton Goggins was also an important thing to nail down.
He and Sam Rockwell are infinitely more talented than I’ll ever dream of being.
The moment of truth, when Walton reveals your character killed his father, has some terrifying face work from you. What is Jim feeling in that moment?
There are two things going through my mind. The first is, I don’t want to get hurt. Nor do I want my wife to get hurt. I’m with this stranger in my study, and I don’t know who this person is. The other thing happening is, where is this guy getting this insane theory about his father? None of it is true.
There’s a moment when Walton reveals his mother’s name – Gloria Hatchett – and it seems there is a glimmer of recognition in your eyes.
You see very wisely.
Why do you think Rick spares you and flees the house? His obsession for six episodes has been killing you.
I think he needs resolution. Personal resolution. It’s not just that he’s going through his own damaged past. Everyone on the show is doing that, in one way or another. Through Sam Rockwell, Walton’s character was just exposed to the depth and compassion of Thai Buddhism. He’s been given this odd philosophical offramp for his problems. That’s something I’ve had the fun of getting to research for my character, who has been entrenched in the culture for decades. My guess is that [Jim Hollinger] named the hotel chain the White Lotus.
That’s fascinating. What makes you think he did?
Turns out, the lotus is the ultimate symbol of enlightenment. The red lotus represents love and compassion. The blue lotus is wisdom and intelligence. The most important and rarest of all is the white lotus – it stands for mental purity and spiritual perfection. I believe that Jim has lived with the rhythms of Thailand for so long, that he’s come to accept all of this.
On balance, there’s a great moment at the beginning of the confrontation with Walton where Jim talks about early days building his empire. I believe he says in the decades before, “roadblocks” were much easier to push through as a man looking to make a fortune. Do you think he has a history of violence? Was he a scoundrel?
I think he has a history of being near-violent and is willing to move things around to his advantage. Mike and I discussed this. I know Thailand from having worked there on a project in 1988 for a month. And I’ve been there for things I don’t want to talk about. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the northern region was the epicenter of the world’s opium trade — Thailand was flooded with drug cash in those days. I proposed to Mike that Jim was over there somehow around that time, and he got his hands on some of that cash.
Wow.
Mike wondered if he might have been CIA. I thought, no, if I was a CIA ground operative that scene with me and Walton would never have happened. Those guys wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near my house. I, as a Marine, learned right away that in a violent encounter you run away from a blade and toward gunfire. If you run away from a firearm, you’re a target. No way in the world you’re going to outrun a 9mm.
I appreciate how much thought you put into Jim’s past.
That’s where all the heavy lifting is for me.
I must ask if you got to spend any time with Carrie Coon, and had a “Leftovers” reunion?
Yes, I know Carrie not only from “The Leftovers,” but also from one of the best and most tense acting experiences of my life. We did an off-off-Broadway play called “Killer Joe” for about six months, written by Tracy Letts. He’s married to Carrie Coon, and I really love them both. I also knew Michelle Monaghan from a show I’m on called “Bad Monkey.” Two friends who are way more talented than me on set.
You mentioned you’re currently watch this season with the rest of us. If you could invade any other storyline other than yours, which would it be?
The relationship that interests me most is Gaitok and Mook.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
