Much of the success of HBO's dark comedy anthology series The White Lotus is thanks to the spot-on casting. The first two seasons saw names such as Jennifer Coolidge, Steve Zahn, Michael Imperioli, and Aubrey Plaza inhabit the evidently deadly setting of the fictional resort chain. And apparently fans came close to having Conan O'Brien turn up in the third season; if O'Brien had anything to do with it, anyway.
While speaking with Season 3 star Walton Goggins on the latest episode of his podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, the late night host recalled running into The White Lotus creator Mike White before production began on the upcoming season and making a pitch. But alas, it does not sound like White was moved by the effort.
O'Brien said that he had been in Bangkok filming his Max travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, when he encountered White.
"Before you guys started shooting The White Lotus, I run into none other than Mike White in a restaurant, and we start chatting because we've met each other once or twice before, he's a very funny, cool guy," the 61-year-old recalled. "And I said, 'Hey, so the next season of The White Lotus, you’re going down to Thailand, right?' And I said, ‘I was there. I had a great time. I made a lot of friends.'"
"And then I said, ‘If there’s a part for me, I’m available.' And he looked at me and said, 'You know, there’s a lot of sex work there.' And I said, 'I could do that, I could play a part where I'm a male sex—you know, a male gigolo or something.'"
At this point in the conversation, both Goggins and O'Brien's co-hosts, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley, seemed baffled into laughter. "This is the last podcast you will ever do, Conan," Goggins quipped. "Yes, you could do that. I believe that you could do that," he added.
O'Brien then interjected to clarify whether Goggins thought he could play that part, or if he thought he could actually be a gigolo. "Well, I think you could do both. I think you could play that part and you could be that person in real life," the Justified star reasoned, to which O'Brien said, "I appreciate that."
In addition to Goggins, next season of The White Lotus will feature returning Season 1 standout Natasha Rothwell and new faces including Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood.
