In the age of gentle parenting, Walton Goggins mastered fatherhood with one conversation.
The White Lotus star—who shares son Augustus Goggins with wife Nadia Conners—revealed that he nipped his 14-year-old’s rebellious phase in the bud early on and set him on the right path.
“I’ve been a parent now for 14 years,” Walton said on the April 9 episode of Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, “and I’ve never had an argument with my child, ever.”
However, he added that “there was a moment when he was being an a–hole for a period of time. My wife had to go out of town for a couple of days, and we had a conversation about that—about two different roads that he could go down.”
As for what that conversation looked like? The Django Unchained actor encouraged his then-10-year-old son to really think about what he wanted his future to look like.
“’One, your life would look like this. And the other, your life would look like this,’” the 53-year-old recalled telling his son. “’This is maybe the first big decision you’re ever going to make.’”
And though the conversation got serious really quickly, Walton’s tranquil disposition made the heart-to-heart all the more comfortable and impactful for the tween.
“It was very measured and very calm,” Walton told host Amanda Hirsch, “and I said, ‘I just think tonight is a huge night in your life. It’s a big choice.’”
“’This is how you’ve been acting, and you can continue to act that way, and this is probably what your life is gonna look like,’” he continued. “’Or you could wake up with gratitude and really look around and be thankful for your life and participate in our life as a family—as an active member—and your life could look like this.’”
Not long after Walton advised his son to sleep on it before making any life-changing decisions, Augustus awoke in the middle of the night to make it clear to his father, “I know the answer.”
And upon seeing Augustus choose the path of gratitude, Walton couldn’t help but gush about his son’s astute character.
“’Wow, you are as wise as I thought you were,’” he told Augustus at the time. “’You are that guy, let me shake your hand.’”
After all, there is something truly beautiful about the endless possibilities a child’s future could hold.
“That’s what’s so great about growing up,” Walton said. “You have to think about this answer. Your decision is going to reverberate throughout the rest of your life.”
For more about Walton and the rest of the cast of The White Lotus season three, 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.
