Why Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola Made ‘The White Lotus’ Casting Director Nervous
When it comes to The White Lotus, HBO’s critically acclaimed series, the viewers are already used to jaw-dropping plot twists, sharp satire, and to be perfectly frank, story arcs that…
When it comes to The White Lotus, HBO’s critically acclaimed series, the viewers are already used to jaw-dropping plot twists, sharp satire, and to be perfectly frank, story arcs that make us squirm in our seats and ask under our breath, “how are they allowed to show these scenes?”
In a recent interview, the show’s casting director, Meredith Tucker, admitted that Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola’s roles had her and creator Mike White downright nervous.
The White Lotus Season 3’s Incest Scene
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tucker mentioned, “Finding the Ratliff children took a little more legwork, more auditions,” especially since she said they needed to tell the actors beforehand about the scene between the brothers. She added, “We said, ‘There is going to be some same-sex kissing and stuff. Are you comfortable with that?’ I think maybe one kid for Sam’s role dropped out, but some of these kids were barely 18, so I could understand.”
Producer David Bernad chimed in, “When we sent the scripts to Patrick and Sam, Mike and I were both like, ‘I hope they don’t drop out.’ Mike made me text Patrick. We were anxious.”
Fortunately, Schwarzenegger and Nivola both said yes, even if they had apprehensions at the beginning, especially Nivola who although said “Sure, yeah, I’ve never really done anything like that on camera — first time for everything,” admitted, “I was not expecting that!”
It certainly helped that Nivola had the trust and support of both Patrick Schwarzenegger and Charlotte Le Bon, especially considering this was his first sex scene. In an interview with Variety, the Pursuit of Love actor confessed he was very nervous about the scene. “Doing the sex scene was nerve-racking, and we were on a boat, and I get seasick, so that was f—ing stressful. The actual scene itself went smoothly. Mike White was sort of calming about it, and I really trusted Patrick and Charlotte.”
Nivola shared that they had an intimacy coordinator on set and shared a hilarious anecdote about her. “It’s funny the way intimacy coordinators talk. They’re always using anatomically correct vocabulary that feels stale and awkward. I’d be like, ‘I don’t know if I can grasp the s—t,’ and then Mike would be like, ‘Just j—k him off.’ And I’d be like, ‘OK, that I understand.’”
He also said how he considers intimacy coordinators as a “great innovation,” something that both of his actor parents (British actress Emily Mortimer and American actor Alessandro Nivola) didn’t have in the past.
The season 3 finale of The White Lotus will be released on HBO on April 6.
