Steve Coogan has spoken out about Helena Bonham Carter’s stay at The White Lotus being cut short, with the star admitting that it wasn’t “working”. Bonham Carter – who was set to star alongside Coogan in the HBO drama’s forthcoming series – left the show just one week into filming in April after finding that her character “did not align” with the story once on set.
The British actor, 59, was later replaced by Laura Dern, who made a brief cameo in the second season. Speaking out about the last-minute cast change at the Bafta TV Awards on Sunday (10 May), Coogan said that the story went in a “different direction”.
“It was like, sometimes you find that something isn't working the way you want it to, in terms of, like, the character and the dynamic of the whole story,” he told Deadline. “So that was just a mutual decision. The whole part was rewritten from scratch.”
Coogan also said that he was enjoying working with creator Mike White, adding: “He’s quite collaborative. He lets you embellish and improvise and so I’m in my comfort zone.” In February, HBO confirmed that Bonham Carter would no longer star in the series.
“With filming just underway on Season 4 of The White Lotus, it had become apparent that the character which Mike White created for Helena Bonham Carter did not align once on set,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks. HBO, the producers and Mike White are saddened that they won’t get to work with her, but remain ardent fans and very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon.”
Just days later, the channel confirmed that Dern would be taking over the “rewritten” role. The Independent’s Adam White wrote at the time that The White Lotus has faced its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama over the last few seasons – which may have contributed to Bonham Carter’s exit. He wrote: “By nature of the show’s premise – which required its stars to live together for months on end in an exotic locale – there were always rumors of behind-the-scenes hook-ups and occasional conflict. Just like a group holiday gone wrong.
“Season two stars Leo Woodall and Meghann Fahy met and fell in love (despite never sharing actual scenes on the show, such is the nature of The White Lotus’s off-camera living arrangements), while tabloids reported that the on-screen feuding between season one’s Murray Bartlett and Jake Lacy occasionally spilled over into reality (which they both denied).”
He added: “But it was with the show’s third outing last year that gossipy rumors seemed to become a gnarlier reality, with production for a Thailand-set season plagued by conflict both on and off the set.”
