The final three cast members for Season 4 of HBO's The White Lotus have been confirmed, with Ben Kingsley, Max Minghella and Pekka Strang each taking recurring roles in the upcoming season, according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline and The Wrap.
HBO described the additions as completing the ensemble. The season is currently filming in Cannes and Saint-Tropez, France, with some production also taking place in Paris and Monaco. It will be set against the backdrop of the Cannes Film Festival and marks the first time the series has featured two of its fictional luxury hotel locations in the same season. The Airelles Château de la Messardière in Saint-Tropez and the historic Hotel Martinez on the Croisette in Cannes are serving as the two White Lotus properties.
Variety reported that the cast will be divided into two rival film teams competing at the prestigious festival, with one group staying at a hotel on the Croisette and the other at a hilltop retreat. The season will also take aim at French customer service.
Executive producer David Bernad offered some thematic hints while speaking at Canneseries last month. "Early on, Mike talked about wanting to do Season 4 as the life of an artist – the loneliness and the pain," Bernad said. "That's a throughline that runs throughout the season. As we located the show at the Cannes Film Festival, this idea of fame popped up, and who has the world's attention? Who can grab it, and who is the plus-one in a relationship? What are the things that satisfy us? Is it the love of an intimate partner, the love of strangers? What do we prioritize in people?"
Specific details about the roles Kingsley, Minghella and Strang will play have not been released. Kingsley most recently appeared in Marvel's Wonder Man on Disney+ and the thriller The Thursday Murder Club. Minghella finished a run on HBO's Industry and has an upcoming role in the DC Studios film Clayface. Strang's credits include Netflix's The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die and Mister8.
The three join a cast that already includes Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Laura Dern, Kumail Nanjiani, Chris Messina, Rosie Perez, Heather Graham, Sandra Bernhard and more than a dozen other actors.
Dern came aboard as a late addition after Helena Bonham Carter departed the production. The Wrap reported an HBO spokesperson confirmed the departure, saying the character White had written for Bonham Carter "did not align once on set" and that her role "has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast." The spokesperson added that HBO and the producers "remain ardent fans and very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon." Dern's new role is being developed and written specifically for her.
The White Lotus is created, written and directed by Mike White, who executive produces alongside Bernad and Mark Kamine.
