Michelle Monaghan listens and doesn’t judge—especially when it comes to acting.
The White Lotus star’s character Jaclyn Lemon, shocked viewers on the March 16 episode when she betrayed her best friend Laurie (Carrie Coon) and slept with hotel staffer Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius)—the same man she’d seemingly been trying to set Laurie up with since the beginning of their Thailand vacation.
But Michelle isn’t one to raise eyebrows. “I never judge my character,” Michelle joked with E! News in an exclusive interview. “I just don’t do that, an actor never judges their characters.”
After all, there are many layers to this female friendship. “I think that she was really authentic in the sense that she really wanted Laurie to hook up with this guy, it was a perfect weekend for a fling,” the 48-year-old added. “And I think that one of the challenges of Jaclyn, and what the qualities that she needs to work on is the idea that she needs a lot of external validation.”
It’s why Jaclyn—who has a partner back home—still felt dissatisfied.
“I think she was a little bored,” Michelle speculated. “She wasn’t necessarily getting stimulated in the way that she needed to be at this detox White Lotus. And she was being a little ignored at home. And I think that she made a very impulsive decision, for better or for worse, and I think she just decided to have some fun at the end of the night.”
But there will be consequences with Laurie and Kate (Leslie Bibb).
“I think the next day she’s probably going to tell them what she did,” Michelle added, “and I don’t think she’s going to think it’s going to be a big deal. So, you know, we’ll see how the ladies take it.”
And while the drama continues to unfold onscreen, the cast was living it up offscreen. In fact, Michelle and Parker Posey became friends and roommates in Thailand.
“We had such a ball together,” Michelle gushed, noting she’d been a longtime fan Parker. “She’s an amazing woman, I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s very grounded but ethereal and wise, and she’s just someone I could sit and talk to for hours.”
Plus, Michelle—the first-ever ambassador for U Beauty and its new “Meet U In Your Moment” campaign—learned some helpful secrets from Parker, who, as she said, “travels with an apothecary of things.”
“She’s the type of gal who’s like, ‘You’re shooting all night? Oh, you’re gonna be tired, you need some ashwagandha,'” Michelle explained. “And I’m like, ‘Some what?’ and she’s like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll put it by your bed.'”
For more on the cast behind this season of The White Lotus, keep reading.
Lalisa Manobal
How you like that? The singer known mononymously as Lisa went from being a rockstar on world stages as part of K-pop group Blackpink—alongside Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé—to donning the White Lotus staff uniform for her big debut as Mook.
Jason Isaacs
Looks like Lucius Malfoy missed the train to Hogwarts and instead landed at The White Lotus. That’s right: He may look different without the luscious blond hair, but the Harry Potter star is returning to the screen as another uppity father figure, playing Timothy Ratliff, described as a “wealthy businessman vacationing with his wife and three children.”
Isaacs has also made more recent appearances on TV shows like Robot Chicken, The Great and Sex Education (alongside his White Lotus costar Aimee Lou Wood.)
Parker Posey
Don’t scream when you see it, but Posey—who plays Timothy’s wife Victoria Ratliff—may look familiar from her movies Superman Returns, Blade: Trinity, Scream 3 and Dazed and Confused. She’s also had brief stints on such TV shows as Parks and Recreation, New Girl, Portlandia and Search Party.
But the real rom-com fans will know her from the 1998 classic You’ve Got Mail, in which she played Joe Fox’s (Tom Hanks) girlfriend Patricia Eden.
Patrick Schwarzenegger
While you may know him best from family photos as the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver,he has already made a name for himself acting in Gen V, The Terminal List and The Staircase before playing Saxon Ratliff in season three.
Sarah Catherine Hook
Prior to taking on the part of the Ratliffs’ daughter Piper, Hook got her feet wet in the horror and fantasy genres, portraying Debbie Glatzel in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Juliette Fairmont in First Kill and Elena Milak in Monsterland.
You may also know her from the 2024 Cruel Intentions remake as Caroline Merteuil or from the Ryan Murphy cinematic universe, in which she played Catherine Allday Davis in Impeachment: American Crime Story about the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Sam Nivola
Nivola—who is dating Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann‘s daughter Iris Apatow—rounds out the Ratliff family as young Lochlan. But before hitting the shores of Thailand, he was in another show about a rich family at the beach: The Perfect Couple, playing Will Winbury, the son of Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber‘s Greer and Tag Winbury. He even costarred on the Netflix drama with White Lotus alum Meghann Fahy, who appeared as Daphne Sullivan on season two of the HBO show before playing Merritt Monaco on ThePerfect Couple.
Nivola has also acted in White Noise with Adam Driver, Maestro with Bradley Cooper and With/In with Anne Hathaway.
Natasha Rothwell
Of course, White Lotus fans will recognize Rothwell from season one, in which she played spa guru Belinda in Maui. Not only is she reprising the part for season three, but the actress has also graced the screen in Insecure, Wonka, A Year and Change and Love, Simon. Plus, she lent her comedy chops to Saturday Night Live as a writer from 2014 to 2015.
Leslie Bibb
The Iron Man alum is assembling to play Kate in The White Lotus after portraying Christine Everhart in the Marvel franchise. More recently, she starred in Palm Royale as Dinah Donahue and Jupiter’s Legacy as Grace Kennedy-Sampson.
Carrie Coon
The Gilded Age star—who may also look familiar from The Sinner, Fargo and The Leftovers—steps into the role of Laurie, who joins pals Kate and Jaclyn for a girls’ trip in Thailand this season.
Michelle Monaghan
While Monaghan plays TV star Jaclyn on The White Lotus, she’s also a TV star IRL, having been on True Detective, Bad Monkey, Messiah and The Path. On the big screen, she’s starred as Julia in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Angie Genaro in Gone Baby Gone.
Walton Goggins
You’ll feel justified in knowing that it’s not all in your head—Goggins really does look familiar. In addition to starring in two Quentin Tarantino movies (playing Billy Crash in Django Unchained and Sheriff Chris Mannix in The Hateful Eight), he is also known for being Boyd Crowder in Justified from 2010 to 2015.
Aimee Lou Wood
The English actress joins the cast in season three as free-spirited Chelsea, who has an age-gap romance with Goggins’ character Rick Hatchett. Yet, she is best known for her role as Aimee Gibbs on Netflix’s Sex Education and also appeared in Seize Them! and Daddy Issues.
Lek Patravadi
Her acting credits may trace back 50 years—starting with Grounded God in 1975—but she most recently portrayed Prani Chiraanan on In Family We Trust in 2018.
Tayme Thapthimthong
The singer and former military man has acting credits that include Mechanic: Resurrection, Skin Trade and Paradox, as well as playing Pao on the TV series Farang.
Christian Friedel
If 13 minutes wasn’t enough time to figure out where you recognize the German actor, allow us to refresh your memory. He played Rudolf Höss in The Zone of Interest, Reinhold Gräf in Babylon Berlin and Georg Elser in 13 Minutes.
