HBO has made its final announcement about the casting for season four of The White Lotus.
Oscar-winning Gandhi star Sir Ben Kingsley is one of the names newly joining the cast, alongside The Handmaid’s Tale’s Max Minghella and Finnish actor Pekka Strang.
Each season of The White Lotus is set at a different luxury hotel, with the forthcoming season taking places in Cannes, France, during the prestigious film festival.
The trio of new actors join a cast that includes Chloe Bennet, Sandra Bernhard, Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Heather Graham, Chris Messina, Kumail Nanjiani, and Rosie Perez.
One actor who won’t be featuring in the series is Helena Bonham Carter, who had been cast in the show but departed shortly after filming began.
Laura Dern, who previously worked with The White Lotus creator Mike White on the acclaimed HBO series Enlightened, was cast in Bonham Carter’s stead.
“With filming just underway on Season four of The White Lotus, it had become apparent that the character which Mike White created for Helena Bonham Carter did not align once on set,” an HBO spokesperson told Deadline.
“The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks. HBO, the producers and Mike White are saddened that they won’t get to work with her, but remain ardent fans and very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon.”
On the red carpet at the TV Baftas last week, Coogan was asked about Bonham Carter’s departure from the series.
“It was like, sometimes you find that something isn't working the way you want it to, in terms of, like, the character and the dynamic of the whole story,” he told Deadline.
“So that was just a mutual decision. The whole part was rewritten from scratch.”
Coogan spoke highly of his experience working with White. “He’s quite collaborative,” he said. “He lets you embellish and improvise and so I’m in my comfort zone.”
The first two seasons of The White Lotus were universally acclaimed by critics, with the third season, set in Thailand, receiving mixed reviews.
The White Lotus is available to watch in the UK on Sky, HBO Max and NOW.
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