What’s Going On With The White Lotus Season 4?

2 weeks ago

There's drama afoot in Saint Tropez

This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more

What's Going On With The White Lotus Season 4?

Mike White’s landmark HBO dramedy has fans across the globe and, it seems, across each section of society. As season 3‘s spirituality-focussed drama drew to a close, we said a reluctant goodbye to another higgledy-piggledy batch of moneyed guests, including Jason Isaacs as the tortured Timothy Ratliff, Parker Posey as his Southern belle wife Victoria, Walton Goggins as haunted Rick Hatchett and plenty more. And though the series sadly missed out on all 10 of its Emmy nominations, season 4 was always on the cards.

The hit series has taken us from Hawaii to Sicily to Thailand as we hop between the titular luxury hotel chain’s glamorous resorts, watching as a new batch of moneyed guests get muddled up in murder. But where to next? In September 2025, the team behind The White Lotus revealed it had settled on France for its fourth season, with HBO exec Casey Bloys confirming the news on the Emmys red carpet and creator Mike White reportedly all set up in the land of cheese and wine, writing away. And now, we’ve got word on the exact hotel where the season 4 drama will play out, with the show moving away from the Four Seasons group for the first time.

Here’s everything we know so far about The White Lotus season 4 – plus a peek at the drama unfolding on set.

Patrick Schwarzenegger as Saxon & Sam Nivola as Lochlan Ratliff in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

The White Lotus Season 4: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

The White Lotus was renewed for season 4 ahead of the season 3 premiere in February 2025 (with Variety revealing the season 4 renewal on 22 January 2025), meaning a whole new ensemble of troubled yet exuberantly wealthy tourists will land in a glitzy destination sometime in the future.

And, come summer, there’s no where glitzier than the south of France, home to Cannes Film Festival, abundant lavender fields and vineyards and UHNWIs spilling out of Monaco. This is where The White Lotus season 4 will be set – specifically affluent Saint-Tropez.

the exterior of San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel with mount etna

The White Lotus season 2 was filmed at San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Resort.

Filming Location

It’s official: we will soon be checking into Le Lotus Blanc. That is to say The White Lotus season 4 will be set in Saint-Tropez, France. Like previous seasons, one hotel will serve as the main setting, and we now know which one has the pleasure: the 19th century hotel Château de la Messardière – not, as many fans suspected, the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons hotel further up the coast between Nice and Monaco.

Season 1 was filmed at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Hawaii, season 2 at San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel, Sicily, and season 3 at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, Thailand – so The White Lotus season 4 marks the very first time Mike White has strayed from the trusted American brand. Instead Château de la Messardière is operated by French hospitality brand Airelles, and since opening in 2019 has established itself as one of the most luxurious abodes on the French Riviera.

Saint Tropez, France, Unsplash

With its dramatic hilltop setting, fairytale pastel pink facade and Rolls-Royce chauffeur service, this Château feels like the perfect setting for The White Lotus and its characteristically glamorous guests. Originally built by 19th century cognac merchant Gabriel Dupuy d’Angeac as a wedding gift for his daughter, the Château now boasts five restaurants and a jaw-dropping spa.

Despite being predominantly set in Koh Samui, in The White Lotus season 3, Rick (Goggins) embarked on a side quest in Bangkok, and additional filming took place in Phuket – Thailand’s home of Muay Thai. And it seems The White Lotus season 4 will also have a sub-plot, this time in Paris, with the team reportedly scouting suitably swanky properties in the French capital, too. This includes Le Lutetia (a Mandarin Oriental hotel) and The Ritz, both preceded by their luxurious reputations.

(L-R) Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Theo James and Meghann Fahey in The White Lotus season 2, courtesy of Warner Media.

The Cast

Speaking of filming in Saint-Tropez, production is officially underway – with one huge spanner in the works. British star Helena Bonham Carter was the first name in the rumour mill to star in The White Lotus season 4, before being officially announced at the end of 2025. After locking the shoot into her calendar, she and series creator White set to work creating her character. All that was left was to fly down to the South of France and film the show. But all is not so simple…

Bonham Carter has officially exited The White Lotus season 4 – after filming had already kicked off – due to ‘misalignments’ with the character created for her, HBO recently revealed in a statement. ‘The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks,’ the broadcaster confirmed. ‘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.’

Her replacement? None other than Big Little Lies star Laura Dern, who takes on a new, adapted form of the lead role. Her casting in season 4 is a long time coming, after she voiced Dominic Di Grasso’s (Michael Imperioli) wife Abby through the phone in The White Lotus season 2. Taking over the role just days after Bonham Carter unexpectedly left, it’s clear White has this star on speed-dial.

Laura Dern currently stars in Palm Royale on Apple TV.

While these are the headlines, Dern is of course not the only star set to feature in The White Lotus season 4. Brit Steve Coogan will also star – the comic actor best known for his character Alan Partridge. Elsewhere American star AJ Michalka is also on the call sheet, the actor-singer who rose to fame as one half of pop rock duo Aly & AJ with her sister. She is joined by American model Marissa Long who follows in season 3 star Lalisa Manobal’s footsteps, making her acting debut in The White Lotus. They are joined by fellow American Chris Messina (another comic actor familiar from the telly), Aussie newcomer Caleb Jonte Edwards, and Canadian actor Alexander Ludwig who rose to fame as Cato in The Hunger Games (2012).

The full cast we know so far is as follows:

Laura Dern
Steve Coogan
AJ Michalka
Caleb Jonte Edwards
Chris Messina
Marissa Long
Alexander Ludwig
Max Greenfield
Chloe Bennet
Sandra Bernhard
Vincent Cassel
Dylan Ennis
Corentin Fila
Heather Graham
Ari Graynor
Frida Gustavsson
Charlie Hall
Kumail Nanjiani
Jarrad Paul
Rosie Perez
Tobias Santelmann
Ben Schnetzer
Laura Smet
Nadia Tereszkiewicz

The White Lotus has a reputation for attracting established stars (think Jennifer Coolidge, Tom Hollander, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, Aubrey Plaza, F.Murray Abraham, Parker Posey and Michael Imperioli) and stellar newcomers alike. Everyone from Sydney Sweeney and Leo Woodall, Aimee Lou Wood, Sam Nivola and Patrick Schwarzenegger found increased international attention here, while stars like Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe and Michelle Monaghan have had a little career boost.

The casting process relies on this reputation, and the prestige of the show in general: all main stars are offered an equal flat fee, usually around $40,000 per episode.