Why Woody Harrelson Left HBO's The White Lotus
When the names in the cast of "The White Lotus" Season 3 dropped, the list wasn't quite what creator Mike White originally envisioned. For instance, the show recast the role of Chloe with Charlotte Le Bon, on account of White feeling that original actress Francesca Corney was too young for the part. However, there was another, bigger name who was originally in the Season 3 mix: three-time Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson, who unfortunately ended up turning down the opportunity to be a part of the show.
When a major name like Harrelson decides against appearing in a small-screen project, it's easy to start suspecting that money or ego might have something to do with it. In Harrelson's case, however, nothing could be further from the truth. As he told The Daily Beast, the reason behind his decision was a changed filming schedule, which coincided with a family event.
"I was set to do 'The White Lotus' and very excited," Harrelson said. "Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision."
Who would Woody Harrelson have played on The White Lotus?
Knowing that Woody Harrelson could have been a part of the incisive, chaotic, and entertaining "White Lotus" Season 3, a pretty obvious follow-up question arises: Who would he have played? While Harrelson was on the table for Rick Hatchett (played in the finished product by Walton Goggins), it seems that at the end of the day he would have tackled the role of Rick's friend Frank, who ended up being played by Sam Rockwell. Harrelson himself confirmed this to The Daily Beast, and admitted that Rockwell nailed the role. "Things must be meant to be though because I couldn't have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it," Harrelson said.
This falls in line with what Rockwell's partner and fellow "The White Lotus" Season 3 star Leslie Gibb told CNN about the actor taking the role of Frank on a very short notice. "He was a last minute," Gibb said about Rockwell's casting. "That came in last minute, like maybe two weeks before they were going to film it."
Considering Rockwell's masterful delivery of Frank's much-lauded monologue in the episode "Full-Moon Party," it's hard to see anyone else playing the role. Still, the idea of Harrelson on "The White Lotus" is an intriguing one. Perhaps the actor will find his way to one of the titular hotel chain's reliably dramatic resorts one of these seasons.