Woody Harrelson Clarifies Why He Turned Down ‘The White Lotus’ Role

Woody Harrelson has shared why he turned down a role on The White Lotus season three, and it transpires it wasn’t about the money.

The actor was in the running to play either Rick – who is played by Walton Goggins – or his friend Frank, who is played by Sam Rockwell.

There was previous speculation that Harrelson had turned down a role on the project, due to producer David Bernad’s stipulation that all cast members’ salaries be the same.

Now the actor has given a statement to The Daily Beast, explaining his rejection of the work:

He said:

“I was set to do The White Lotus and very excited. 

“Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.

“Things must be meant to be though because I couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it.”

The third season of The White Lotus finds the usual assortment of privileged guests on vacation, this time in Kao Samui in Thailand. Stars include Posey Parker, Jason Isaacs and Aimee Lou Wood. Goggins plays Rick, ostensibly on holiday like everybody else but in fact pursuing the man he believes murdered his father. Rockwell’s character Frank is drafted in to assist.

Wood previously described the experience of living on location for six months filming the series as like taking part in a social experiment, that at one point she lost purchase on where her character Chelsea ended and her own began.

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