The White Lotus may have already booked a few guests for season 3. Series creator Mike White has apparently floated a few possibilities about having certain characters return, including Alexandra Daddario’s Rachel Patton.
HBO’s The White Lotus focuses on the guests at the тιтular H๏τel. For The White Lotus season 2, White chose to bring in a new cast of characters, except for Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya and Jon Gries’ Greg. It makes sense on a few levels because White’s series is a satirical take on the wealthy, and there are only so many storylines each character can provide. Additionally, coming up with a credible reason for all those guests reuniting in a separate H๏τel would be a tall task. But White isn’t averse to bringing back characters if there’s a story that calls for it.
According to Deadline, Jake Lacy and Daddario (who played newlyweds Shane and Rachel) have mentioned talking to White about being featured in a future episode. Daddario said the two would be “annoying everyone around us.” Lacy mentioned he had spoken in depth with White about an episode idea. “Mike texted Alex and I with this idea for an episode where the two of us are talking for a half hour; it’s just the banality of rich people on a boat,” Lacy said. He mentioned he hoped Molly Shannon would return – she played Shane’s mother, Kitty.
Meanwhile, Connie Britton, who played Nicole Mossbacher in The White Lotus season 1, was a bit more forthcoming. “[Mike White] wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character,” Britton said. “Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season and we’re hoping to do that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show.”
The White Lotus has already been renewed for season 3 at HBO, so Britton will probably return to the series when that season premieres. Her character had a fairly open ending in the season 1 finale. She and her husband Mark (Steve Zahn) had rekindled their relationship, but they didn’t solve the underlying issues in their marriage. Her daughter, Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) didn’t gain a new respect for her mother, and her son, Quinn (Fred Hechinger), had run off to experience more of Hawaii.
As for Lacy, he wanted his character’s return to be a moment of consternation for the audience. Both seasons of The White Lotus end in death. Lacy’s character was directly responsible for Armond’s (Murray Bartlett) death in the season 1 finale, and Lacy wanted fans to question why he was not yet on trial.