The HBO TV show, The White Lotus, has gotten political during season three. However, actress Carrie Coon, starring as Laurie in this season revealed that there was in fact much more to it, which was later omitted as a result of President Donald Trump‘s 2024 election victory.
In one episode, Laurie and Jacylyn (played by Michelle Monaghan) are visibly shocked upon learning that their friend Kate (played by Leslie Bibb) may have voted for Donald Trump.
But the political tension deepens in a now-deleted scene, where Kate’s alleged vote for Trump becomes more personal for Laurie, who recently found out that her daughter was non-binary.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar Coon revealed that there was “a bit more context to her [character’s] home life”.
Coon said, “You originally found out that her daughter was actually non-binary, maybe trans, and going by they/them.”
Read up on why people are deleting their X accounts.
“You see Laurie struggling to explain it to her friends, struggling to use they/them pronouns, struggling with the language, which was all interesting.”
This scene added more complexity and emotional depth to Kate’s political stance and made it personally painful for Laurie.
She continued, “It was only a short scene, but for me, it did make the question of whether Kate voted for Trump so much more provocative and personally offensive to Laurie, considering who her child is in the world.”
Coon revealed that this scene of The White Lotus was shot before the elections and was omitted following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US elections.
Trump is famously known for his anti-LGBTQ+ stances. Just a few hours into office, he signed executive orders limiting gender recognition to solely male and female, explicitly limiting gender fluidity.
He also retracted funding from DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs across the states.
The White Lotus’ director Mike White, who has always been vocal about such issues, ultimately decided to cut the scene.
Coon revealed that he felt that the topic was too “big” to cover it in such a “short” scene and that “it wasn’t the right way to engage in that conversation.”
White’s personal background also plays a role in his sensitivity to LGBTQ+ narratives, his own father came out as a gay man in the evangelical church, which was not easy as many were not supportive of him.
Carrie shared, “Mike White grew up in the evangelical church. He grew up in some pretty specific communities, some of which were maybe not as welcoming to him, ultimately,”
“His father wrote a very influential book about what it was like to come out as a gay man himself in the evangelical church as an adult, which a lot of young men have read and was a very meaningful text for them in their own journeys.”
“That’s why it’s fun to watch Mike’s characters. They’re not just one thing.”
Actress Leslie Bibb also commented on the Trump scene in White Lotus, sharing with Variety that “When we were filming it, it actually felt like it was going to be irrelevant,” Bibb said. “It’s randomly current.”
