Just days after hotel guests checked out of The White Lotus in Thailand, fans are already speculating about what’s to come.
Season 4 of Mike White’s Emmy-winning HBO series was green-lit ahead of season 3 premiere in January, but most aspects of the next season remain unknown — including the location, the plot and the cast. Already having ventured to Hawaii, Italy and now Thailand, HBO programming executive Francesca Orsi teased this to Deadline in February: “I can’t really say where we’re going to land, but chances are somewhere in Europe.”
Based on timelines from previous seasons, according to Forbes, production will likely begin sometime in 2026 and start airing later that year or in early 2027.
No actors have been confirmed to return and new cast members have yet to be announced, but that isn’t stopping fans from making their pitches for who should check in to the fictional hotel next. Parker Posey’s character, North Carolina matriarch Victoria Ratliff, survived the season 3 finale, and viewers are begging for more of her twangy Southern drawl. Sydney Sweeney and Aubrey Plaza, who acted in seasons 1 and 2, respectively, are another pair that fans would love to see stay at the resort again. There are also plenty of new names making their rounds on fans’ “dream cast” lists, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Pedro Pascal and Marcia Cross.
The White Lotus surely gained a lot of music-loving viewers for season 3, thanks to the addition of LISA to the cast. As Mook, a hotel worker and love interest to security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), the BLACKPINK star made her acting debut in the latest season, which took place in her home country. BLINKs, of course, would love to see her return — and see if her relationship with Gaitok lasts after he became the man she wanted him to be in that shocking finale — but if she doesn’t, it would be interesting to see another musician act in her place.
To celebrate the end of another great season of The White Lotus, Billboard has rounded up eight musicians/actors we’d love to see take part in season 4. Check it out (in no particular order) below.
Fresh off her first acting gig starring alongside Keke Palmer in buddy comedy One of Them Days, how fun would it be to see SZA make her foray to television screens as an obnoxious White Lotus guest, or maybe even a free-spirited hotel manager? She did announce she’s taking a break from live performances after a huge tour and a couple of major festival gigs… so getting more into acting wouldn’t be completely off base.
Billie Eilish comes from a family of filmmakers — her mom, Maggie Baird, was an actress who wrote and co-starred in a movie titled Life Inside Out in 2013 alongside her son and Eilish’s music-making brother, Finneas. Eilish herself has also acted before, guest starring in an episode of Amazon Prime’s satirical thriller Swarm as the leader of a cult inspired by NXIVM. We’d love to see her continue her string of dark characters (which she has also portrayed in her music videos), maybe as the emo outcast only daughter of a cheery wealthy family.
After making his acting debut in 2019’s Uncut Gems, The Weeknd is also no stranger to HBO — we can’t forget he co-created and starred in The Idol with Lily-Rose Depp. Now that his album trilogy is complete following the release of Hurry Up Tomorrow at the start of the year, we wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to continue building up his IMDb profile. A suggestion for Mike White: perhaps he could play an A&R exec on a much-needed vacation, but can’t catch a break from his label’s needy biggest star.
In her 2024 Billboard cover story, Charli xcx shared she’s unsure where her music career will go next, sharing “I really want to act.” A few months later, it was revealed she is producing — and possibly starring in — a movie called The Moment with film studio A24. Sounds like she might have some busy months ahead, but how fun would it be to see our favorite 365 party girl amidst The White Lotus chaos?
From one BLACKPINK star to another! After LISA made waves in season 3, we think JENNIE would also make an interesting addition to The White Lotus cast — especially after making her acting debut on HBO’s The Idol a couple of years ago. We could see her as a soft-spoken hotel staffer who takes a surprising turn as a villain (a direction many fans wrongly predicted for LISA’s character).
Megan Thee Stallion made her acting debut in 2022 by bringing her musical persona Tina Snow to life on Starz drama P-Valley. At the time, she told The Cut that her dream role would be to play Isis (Gabrielle Union) in a hypothetical reboot of Bring It On. Maybe her role on The White Lotus could bring both those characters together — playing a confident, brutally honest stripper-turned-cheerleader on vacation with her best girlfriends.
We all know Ariana Grande got her start as an actress, landing her first gig on Broadway at age 14 and starring on Nickelodeon’s Victorious a couple of years later. She then, of course, went on to become one of the biggest pop stars of the 21st century but has now gone back to her roots, most recently portraying Glinda in the film adaptation of Wicked. In almost all her roles, she has remained a singer — so whether she’s on the hotel staff or is one of the guests, we’d predict her hypothetical White Lotus role would follow suit.
Kendrick Lamar’s year has been major — so why not cap it off by announcing his arrival on one of the most talked-about shows of the decade? Lamar first showed off his acting chops on an episode of Power in 2018 and most recently played himself in Pharrell’s autobiographical animated film, Piece by Piece. We’d be interested to see Lamar as himself in The White Lotus, too — taking his much needed break and getting away from the drama surrounding his ongoing beef with Drake.
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