The White Lotus - Season 4 Dreamcast

Now that Season 3 has concluded, I always like to spitball actors and actresses that I'd love to see in the next season. Way back in the day after Season 2 (before the Bean's Blog days) I wrote about how awesome it'd be to see Walton Goggins in a season - and look what the hell happened in S3 (granted I wish his character was better). So today I'm going to throw out some ideas for brand new characters -- while also doing my picks for the "All-Star" cast that has been teased by actors and Mike White in recent weeks.

Location of Season 4

The locations we’ve seen so far are Hawaii, Italy, and Thailand — all of which had beaches, but felt very distinct. Everyone and their mother has suggested a ski resort season, and I’m absolutely on board with that, but I heard on a podcast (I believe The Prestige TV Podcast or The Watch — but know it was The Ringer) that Mike White hates the cold. If he’s spending months upon months there filming, I think cold weather is a long-shot, but there is no shortage of places that I think would be great.

Potential Locations

Important note on these locations - it's known that the first 3 seasons all featured a Four Seasons hotel. They filmed at other hotels as well in S3, but it would be a fair estimation that they won't go to a city without a 4 Seasons to film. Not all of the ones below do, I'll try to note which do as better candidates though.

Geneva, Switzerland — A European option and a beautiful 4 Seasons, wouldn't be beach-heavy which White's expressed wanting to get away from, Swiss neutrality seems like a theme he’d pursue.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming — ski resort fans anyone? I don't necessarily expect a domestic Season 4, but this would fit the bill of getting away from beaches and a new climate. Not sure how strong the celebrity attraction is to this area/hotel though.
French Riviera, France — This would get us back to Europe in a different way to a location popular amongst real celebrities/wealthy people. They have a terrific 4 Seasons.
Dubai, India — probably too close/similar to Thailand as a setting, but known for luxury and would lend itself to intriguing storylines.
Australia — don’t have a city in mind, but would be a very different culture and setting from previous seasons, presents a different form of danger, lots of Aussie actors out there.
Cape Town, South Africa — huge cultural change, different continent, luxury, corruption, wealth, history: checks a lot of boxes (call in Charlize Theron). I think Has a 4 Seasons.
Marrakesh, Morocco — IDK dick about Morocco, but would be a new continent and culture, and I saw a crazy looking hotel there. Has a 4 Seasons.
Tokyo, Japan — non-ski resort Japanese location, feels like there’s too much culture and intriguing plots in a place like this not to consider. Has a 4 Seasons.
Athens, Greece — one of the nicest 4 Seasons in the world, luxurious and historic city, beautiful landscape and architecture: good formula.
Whistler, Canada — Ultimate Mountain Resort is the first thing you see on Google searching their 4 Seasons. If Mike White Doesn't want to beach it in S4, this looks like a prime candidate.

Dreamcast - New Actors/Characters

It's hard to put together something without know the types of characters Mike White is going to write into Season 4, but I've got some actors in mind and ideas for characters that hopefully would fit the bill. Not going for accuracy, but to have some fun and give actors I like a shoutout, and trying to come up with a Character or story that would make sense.

The Family

Matthew McFadyen (Succession, Pride & Prejudice)

Linda Cardellini (Bloodline, Dead to Me)

Gabriel Labelle (Saturday Night, Snack Shack)

Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys, Mean Girls)

Every season of The White Lotus, to me, needs the family at the middle of it. The Mossbachers, The Di Grasso's, and the Ratliffs helped center the story with multiple groups and characters running around, and this is my pick for Season 4's family.

McFadyen, aka Tom Wambsgans from Succession, is my Patriarch of this hypothetical family. He's a British actor known for drama, but has one of the funniest TV performances as Tom (and his pal Greg will pop up again later). Cardellini is the prototypical mom in most of her roles - but Mike White doesn't write cookie-cutter moms in his show, and she's a good enough actor to handle whatever he'd throw at her. It's difficult finding young actors to play the kids, but Labelle and Rice are 22 and 24, and routinely play younger. They've played comedic and dramatic roles, are budding stars (if not already stars) and think they'd fit in well with the kids that have come before them.

Mother-Daughters Trip

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, VEEP)

Allison Brie (GLOW, Community)

Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls, Thor)

We've seen the couples trip and the grandpa/dad/son dynamic in S2, Honeymooners in S1, and the girls trip in S3: but we've never seen a mother/daughter trip dynamic. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is my #1 overall pick if we're drafting a White Lotus season from scratch. She's a hilarious Super-Star that would be top of the call sheet with this cast. She could be used in numerous ways, but my first instinct was her leading a mother-daughter trip. Plenty of candidates, but I wanted actresses who have proven their chops in comedy, because I envision this being a funny group. I love Allison Brie from Community (she's in an interesting-looking body-horror movie with her husband Dave Franco soon called Together), and Kat Dennings fits the vibe I'm seeking for the 2nd daughter.

Pro Athlete and Entourage

Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves, Hustle)

Damson Idris (Snowfall, F1)

Nicholas Braun (Succession, Saturday Night)

Zack Fox (Abbott Elementary)

This is my biggest swing by far, and easily the most unrealistic. But every season we are seeing extraordinarily wealthy characters showing up to these hotels, but we've never seen a pro athlete. And it would make sense to bring in a retired player -- and would make much more sense for a multi-month shoot -- but in theory, I think bringing a current athlete in would be incredibly fun.

Anthony Edwards is my first choice based on his villainous role in Hustle, but also because he has a magnetic personality. It would also bring so many viewers in that haven't watched previous seasons if there was a current NBA player involved. And I think he'd have to have an entourage with him, which could be a laundry list of different actors, but I chose 3 lesser-known actors that I think would crush it.

Damson Idris - known for dramatic roles but has crazy range. He'd be the serious, tough guy in the crew who's skeptical about other hotel guests and causes issues.
Nicholas Braun - told you Cousin Greg would come up again later. He has token white-guy energy, is fucking hysterical, sticks out like a sore thumb and would make Edwards not stick out as much.
Zach Fox - Tariq from Abbott Elementary. If you're unfamiliar, look up a Youtube video of his funny moments. His timing/delivery are great, definitely has a hype-man vibe, and hasn't really been in anything else - which to me is a feature not a flaw.

Hotel Manager and Crew

Tramell Tillman (Severance)

Taylor Dearden (The Pitt)

Josh Peck (Drake & Josh, Oppenheimer)

What Season 3 of The White Lotus was missing most (and what brought it down overall for me) was not having the big personality hotel manager. Mr. Milchick from Severance Tramell Tillman is the perfect candidate. Sure, he plays a similar role as manager of the severed floor, so maybe wouldn't agree to doing it again. But he has so much range and composure, I can foresee an absolute meltdown scene that he wouldn't be allowed to do as Milchick.

These other two are silly but this is my fucking list. Taylor Dearden plays Dr. King on The Pitt and is my favorite character on that show. She plays a sweet, innocent, people-pleasing Doctor, and I think those qualities would carry over as a good hotel worker. I wanted to do like a social media star for the last one, and as a Good Guys listener, Josh Peck fits the bill. I also think it's good to get well-known names to drum up interest, but to be fair, The White Lotus already has that prestige.

Dreamcast - All-Star Season

Obviously can't do any characters that are dead for an All-Star cast, so don't come after me thinking I didn't want to put Murray Bartlett's Armond or Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya on here because I did. But these are the characters I'd love to see again that would make sense (almost make sense at least).

The Mossbacher Family (season 1)

Steve Zahn (Mark)

Connie Britton (Nicole)

Sydney Sweeney (Olivia)

Fred Hechinger (Quinn)

My favorite group of characters that have been introduced in any season of The White Lotus. Also incredible casting by White foreseeing Sweeney and Hechinger becoming big stars (at least Sweeney). Steve Zahn’s Mark is a top 2 character (next to Armond in S1, RIP) in the show's run, Connie Britton's Nicole is interesting, and it would be the easiest explanation for returning characters as a wealthy, in-tact family.

Victoria and Saxon Mother/Son Trip (season 3)

Parker Posey (Victoria)

Patrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon)

No offense to Jason Isaacs, but I thought he was a boring performer who's character is going to be in jail anyways (and sounds like Isaacs isn't chomping at the bit to return to a White Lotus set). And Piper and Lochlan don't do it for me. Maybe Victoria meets a new middle-aged rich bachelor that takes her on a trip (How about John Stamos or Patrick Dempsey), but I need Saxon back continuing his journey that Chelsea set him off on as well. Can’t imagine Saxon wouldn’t be a fan of Olivia (Sweeney’s character).

The Couples (season 2)

Aubrey Plaza (Harper)

Theo James (Cameron)

Meghann Fahy (Daphne)

Will Sharpe (Ethan)

Honestly, I could give or take Will Sharpe's Ethan character, but considering where we left both couples in S2, I'd be excited to see them all return. Plaza's Harper and James' Cameron are the heavy-hitters in this crew, but I was endlessly entertained by Fahy's Daphne, so all 4 would be good to me.

Laurie on a Solo Vacation (season 3)

Carrie Coon

I liked the dynamic of the 3 women Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie in S3 as much as any storyline. But I don't think there's much juice left to squeeze in the story of all 3 -- while I think there's plenty of meat on the bone for Laurie. She's tried every other religion - let's try finding religion in your own happiness in S4. Maybe even throw her daughter in the mix (Elle Fanning, Anya Taylor-Joy, Millie Bobby Brown? Let's set our sights high if it's all returners that they could bring in a star).

Rachel and Shane(season 1)

Alexandra Daddario (Rachel)

Jake Lacy (Shane)

Everyone's favorite couple coming back to the White Lotus Hotel! Obviously Shane sucks, as did his mother, but I think them coming back still together after the events of Season 1 would be an interesting dynamic. Plus, with Saxon in the mix, Cameron lurking around, who knows what could happen. Also think there'd be fun storylines with Rachel and Nicole from S1 that were undiscovered and could be interesting.

Dominic Di Grasso (season 2)

Michael Imperioli

After the distress of his Italy trip with son and father, I want Dominic to return to a White Lotus resort on his own. Maybe he's trying to work out his demons, maybe he's going solo for a work trip, or maybe he has a new character to accompany him (a new actress to the series as his escort). Or throw him in a room with Laurie and see what the hell happens.

Frank, because Frank (season 3)

Sam Rockwell

I don't care how or why. Just bring Sam Rockwell back. Guy fucking rocks.

Comment Below an actor/actress you'd like to see in Season 4 or a location you'd like to see as the setting of Season 4!

Had to close the book on The White Lotus with a bang while we await Mike White's next plot - which we'll of course cover here at Bean's Blog.