Everything we know about 'The White Lotus' season 3, including that fan-favorite character's return (2024)

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus season 2.

What surprises await us during our next stay at The White Lotus? Mike White’s twisty comedy-drama/softcore-thriller will return to HBO and Max in 2025 — and we can’t wait. The second season’s over-the-top conclusion found Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid taking a fatal plunge after her two-faced husband, Greg (Jon Gries), whom she met during season 1, hired a gang to dispatch his wife.

The White Lotus season 3 will likely offer more campy twists and ironic misfortune, with at least one fan-favorite character returning to the eponymous resort. More awards buzz may also be in store for the series, which has already amassed 43 Emmy nominations and 15 wins, plus five Golden Globe nods and two wins.

With its 2025 premiere looming, here’s everything you need to know about The White Lotus season 3.

Where does The White Lotus season 3 take place?

The White Lotus season 3 will take place in Thailand. The anthology series' previous installments were set in locations of the titular resort chain, taking place in Maui for season 1 and Sicily for season 2.

"What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand," said an unknown character in an HBO teaser clip from earlier this year.

Production for season 3 happened in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok. "We are pleased to partner with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to execute Mike’s creative vision and showcase all that the beautiful country of Thailand has to offer, as the next group of guests check in to the White Lotus,” said Janet Graham Borba, EVP of Production, in a press release.

Filming commenced in February 2024, with the official White Lotus Instagram page posting a scenic image from the set captioned, "Unforgettable experiences are in the making at #TheWhiteLotus. We are eager to welcome new guests to our resort in Thailand."

What is The White Lotus season 3 about?

A precise plot description has yet to be released, but White told Entertainment Weekly that fans should expect “a supersized White Lotus.”

“It's going to be longer, bigger, crazier,” White promised. “I don't know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that's a good thing ... I'm super excited about the content of the season."

In a separate interview with Vanity Fair, White said that the new season will explore “Eastern versus Western religion, or Western people in an Eastern culture.” He added that it could have “something to do with spirituality,” suggesting that “after [all of season two’s] sex, it would be nice to have something that’s a little more celestial or something that’s a little more out of the carnal.”

Who joined The White Lotus cast for season 3?

In January 2024, HBO announced that Leslie Bibb (Iron Man), Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter franchise), Parker Posey (The Staircase), Michelle Monaghan (Bad Monkey), Dom Hetrakul (Bangkok Dangerous), and Tayme Thapthimthong (Skin Trade) were cast in The White Lotus season 3.

Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education), Patrick Schwarzenegger, Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest), Walton Goggins (Justified), and Nicholas Duvernay (Purple Hearts) will also appear in the upcoming season. Lalisa Manobal, better known as Lalisa in the K-pop group Blackpink, is making her acting debut in The White Lotus.

In March 2024, Deadline reported that Charlotte Le Bon would replace Francesca Corney's character in the upcoming season. Julian Kostov was also cast as a replacement for Miloš Biković due to the latter's support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the ongoing war in Ukraine. "Is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide and violates international law?" Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairstweeted at HBOfollowing Biković’s casting.

It’s unclear what roles the new actors will be playing, but Deadline reported that the third season "follows a new group of guests at another White Lotus property including a multigenerational gang with a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a country club wife, a misfit and a yogi."

Will any other cast members from the first two seasons return?

In April 2023, it was announced that Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda, last seen in the first season, will return for the third outing. The character, who was one of the White Lotus’ dutiful staff, had dreams of opening her own business and tapped Tanya as a potential investor.

Everything seemed hunky dory until Tanya rescinded her investment, seemingly consigning Belinda to a future of servitude at the resort... or did she?

"Belinda is back baby!!!" Rothwell tweeted about the news.

Rothwell’s arc on season 3 is unclear, and she is currently the only confirmed cast member from previous seasons.

What about Tanya?

Unfortunately, Tanya probably won't return from the dead for season 3.

Tanya died in the season 2 finale after she discovered her husband Greg’s plan and shot the men he had hired to assassinate her, including Quentin (Tom Hollander). In a cruel twist after surviving Greg’s goons, Tanya fell overboard and drowned while trying to escape.

Coolidge told EW that White informed her early on in season 2’s conception that she wouldn’t make it to the third round. “There was actually more than two people who thought it was like some sort of dream,” Coolidge explained of her character's fate. “They thought it was a dream even though I was in a body bag. They somehow thought it was all in Tanya's head or whatever. They didn't get that I was dead dead, forever. Dead in every sense.”

Greg, the only other character to appear in both previous seasons, is presumably alive and well, but it doesn’t appear that Gries will be back for season 3.

When does The White Lotus season 3 premiere?

HBO announced in November that The White Lotus season 3 will return in 2025, but a precise premiere date has yet to be announced.

Is there a trailer forThe White Lotusseason 3?

Yes! Well, sort of. On Nov. 11, 2024, Max releaseda teaser for its upcoming showsincluding the third season ofThe White Lotus. Though details are sparse, the teaser shows us Manoban’s character welcoming this season’s merry vacationers to the resort. The trailer also gives us a glimpse of Rothwell’s Belinda, who seems very excited to have made her way from Hawaii to Thailand.

The White Lotus season 3 premieres on Max in 2025.