The actress says cast feared illness while filming real Thai New Year celebration: “I was like, ‘We’re all getting diarrhea.'”
The White Lotus may deliver high drama and laughs on-screen, but according to star Leslie Bibb, one chaotic season three scene had the cast worrying more about stomach bugs than Emmy nominations.
Appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Bibb described the mayhem behind filming the episode four water gun sequence, where her character Kate — alongside best friends Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) — gets caught in a soaking festival celebration in Thailand during Songkran, the country’s traditional New Year.
“What you saw on screen? That was real,” Bibb told Meyers. “There were 300 extras, all armed with water guns. And then I look around, and even our crew had them. I was like, ‘This is a nightmare.’”
Determined to fully immerse herself in the moment, Bibb said she initially leaned into the chaos, method-acting her way through the fun. But reality set in fast: “Suddenly, I became like my character. I was like, ‘Where is this water coming from?’ It’s not bottled. This isn’t Evian.”
Her biggest fear? The tap water. “They kept saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s bottled,’ but I was like, ‘No way. We’re all getting diarrhea. This is going nowhere good,’” she joked, recalling her panic over the potential consequences of being sprayed in the mouth and face.
Despite the water worries, Bibb noted that the shoot had a festive tone behind the scenes, marking a milestone moment in the production. “I think it was Carrie’s last day, so it actually felt really celebratory. Everyone was in this mischievous mood,” she said.
Filming eventually wrapped, and Bibb was reunited with her husband, actor Sam Rockwell, who also made a brief appearance in the latest season. “Then Sammy showed up in Bangkok,” she smiled.
As always with The White Lotus, the drama doesn’t stop when the cameras cut — and in this case, neither did the water.