The White Lotus viewers are watching Walton Goggins and Sam Rockwell play Season 3 roles that Woody Harrelson originally circled, and now Harrelson is explaining why he dropped out of the project.
Harrelson’s Season 3 near-miss came to light in a recent Hollywood Reporter story as White Lotus producers discussed paying all members of the show’s ensemble the same rate. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Harrelson was going to play Rick Hatchett, now played by Goggins, and reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to see if his salary could be negotiated. He found out it couldn’t, THR added.
The original report did note that Harrelson signed on to appear in Season 3 anyway but then had to drop out due to scheduling issues. Nevertheless, onlookers have speculated that Harrelson dropped out because of money, according to The Daily Beast, which got a statement to the contrary from the actor himself.
“I was set to do White Lotus and very excited,” Harrelson told the site. “Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.”
The Daily Beast reports Harrelson was booked to play Rick’s friend Frank, now played by Rockwell, by the time he bailed. “Things must be meant to be though, because I couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it,” Harrelson added in his statement.
Representatives for Harrelson reiterated that the decision was “not about money” in their own statement to The Daily Beast. “He was set to do the show and they moved the date,” the reps said. “And because they moved to date, he was no longer available, so they recast. That part was the Sam part.”
Harrelson has had roles in two movies released this year, The Electric State and Last Breath. He’s also teaming up with True Detective costar Michael McConaughey in an upcoming Apple TV+comedy series titled Brother From Another Mother, and he’ll star in the upcoming film Ella McCay and the forthcoming Now You See Me sequel titled Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
The White Lotus, Season 3 Finale, Sunday, April 6, 9/8c, HBO & Max
