For those dearly missing murder mysteries set within the most luxe locations, The White Lotus Season 3 is next bringing some Thailand-set twists to HBO, even if it won’t show up within the 2024 TV schedule proper. It’s the kind of show that pretty much anyone would want to be in, and not just randos like myself, but Hollywood faves like Conan O’Brien.
In fact, while interviewing new Season 3 cast member Walton Goggins on his A+ podcast Conan Needs a Friend, the former late night mainstay revealed that he met up with creator Mike White in the months after filming in Thailand for his binge-worthy travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go, and before White Lotus started filming again. O’Brien apparently pitched himself for a Season 3 appearance, with White having…uh…a pretty specific idea in mind. As the host put it:
I said, ‘Hey, so the next season of White Lotus, you're going down to Thailand, right?’ And I said, ‘I was there. I had a great time. I made a lot of friends. And then I said, ‘If there’s a part for me, you know, I'm available.’ And he looked at me, and he said, ‘You know, there's a lot of sex work there.’ And I said, ‘I could do that. I could play a part where I'm a sex [worker], a male gigolo.'
As it usually goes with Conan O’Brien, it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly how much of this exchange was legitimate, though I’d lean into the belief that it happened as is. I mean, I’m sure Mike White said other things before bringing up the country’s sex work, such as a salutation.
But there’s no questioning why the White Lotus boss would immediately jump to the concept of “Conan O’Brien as a sex worker in Thailand,” right? I mean, the red hair alone would make him right at home. Or the exact opposite. Regardless of whether he would look the part or not, Walton Goggins gave the pitch his stamp of approval, saying:
Yes, yes, you could do that. Yeah, I believe that you could do that.
Such a gentleman! Even when asked to clarify whether he thought O'Brien could pull off playing a sex worker on TV or actually being a sex worker in real life, Goggins charmingly kept the positivity going.
Well, I think you could do both. I think you could play that part and you could be that person in real life. Absolutely I believe in you.
I kinda think Walton Goggins would be amazing to have as an alarm clock. He'd probably wake people up in the least jarring way before offering encouraging words about how the rest of the day will go. A Conan O'Brien alarm would be cool, too, but probably more self-deprecating than motivational.
The chances are not very high for any former late night hosts to show up on The White Lotus in Season 3, which wrapped production in the first week of August 2024. But I suppose they're not entirely negligible, so never say never.
While waiting for the third season to introduce audiences to characters played by Walton Goggins, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb and others, the first two seasons are available to stream with a Max subscription.
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