Natasha Rothwell teases her White Lotus return

Forthcoming series will see beloved spa manager on an exchange program in Thailand

For each season of Mike White’s Emmy-winning wealth satire The White Lotus, a fresh group of wealthy guests check into the fictional hotel, but there will be one returning character in the forthcoming new series.

The satirical series follows the exploits of rich and troubled guests and charismatic employees at the luxury resort chain, The White Lotus. While the setting seems tranquil, things quickly descend into chaos as the lives of the holidaymakers unravel into a darker reality.

Natasha Rothwell will be reprising her role as spa manager Belinda Lindsey for season three, moving from The White Lotus Hawaii (season one’s location) to the Thailand resort (season three’s location) on an exchange programme to learn more about the wellness treatments on offer in Thailand.

In a new interview, Rothwell shared details about Belinda’s place in the forthcoming series for the first time.

The exchange programme means that Belinda stays in the hotel as a guest, which will see her mix further with the visiting holidaymakers.

“She’s going to be a guest for the first time, even though she’s taking classes and it’s a work trip,” Rothwell told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s staying at the hotel, which is something that she hasn’t done before, and so we get to see her really dip her toe in the other side of life of the upstairs/downstairs of White Lotus.”

Rothwell continued: “She’s like, ‘Oh, someone’s going to come in and clean my room and I don’t know them?’ She gets a firsthand look at some of the things that I think went unnoticed by her [in] season one. It’s a really cool exploration of status and her journey and reconciling the fact that her dreams of owning the spa never came to fruition, so what do you do? ‘I’m going to pick myself up and learn something new,’ and still grow in her own way.”

Natasha Rothwell in ‘The White Lotus’ season three (HBO Max)

In season one, the wealthy fan-favourite character Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) leaned on Belinda for support after the death of her mother, and made an unfulfilled promise to provide Belinda with financial support to launch her own wellness centre.

At the end of season two of the series, which is set at the fictional White Lotus Sicily, Tanya slipped on a boat and died in a shocking death.

“She was so devastated by Tanya taking what little hope she had and shattering it,” said Rothwell. “Over the course of the Italy season of White Lotus in the world that we’ve created, she’s been trying to dig herself out of that sadness and really be inspired again. Her purpose for coming to Thailand is to have a dream again.”

Asked whether Belinda knows about what happened to Tanya at the end of the previous season, Rothwell said: “I can’t confirm or deny.”

Another detail Rothwell added is that Belinda’s son is introduced in season three, which “raises the stakes” for her character.

Natasha Rothwell and Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus season one (HBO)

“I can’t get into particulars, but her son is older. He’s finishing up school. It’s that weird part of life when you realise your parents are human and you’re an adult, and there’s this kind of friendship that develops,” said Rothwell. “I’m excited for audiences to see Belinda in relationship to her son and how they grow together over the course of the season.”

The forthcoming season’s cast includes Aimee Lou Wood, Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Tayme Thapthimthong.

Throughout its first two seasons, The White Lotus has won 15 Emmy Awards, including the award for outstanding limited series or anthology. Coolidge earned two consecutive Emmy wins for her performance as Tanya.

The White Lotus season three will air on 16 February on Max.