The White Lotus Star Michelle Monaghan just wants justice for Jaclyn

Speaking of high school, I was curious where the friends were from. Do you know?

We were thinking the Midwest because we all went really different directions. Like Kate went to Austin, Laurie to New York. So their values changed all dramatically.

That was my guess, too, a swing state.

Yeah. It’s funny. One of the first things that we did as a trio when once we realised we were all in our respective roles, we started our group chat. We said, let’s all share a picture of us when we were 14. We were trying to really create our own backstory and have a sense and idea of who we were. We shared stories about all of those experiences that you tick off as young adults and really tried to get to know each other personally. So when we all arrived in Thailand, it was really special.

We still have it going on. I woke up this morning to, I don’t know, a Carrie or Leslie voice note, and I haven’t had a chance to read it.

That’s amazing, I love that.

It’s always good. It’s always coming up. I think Carrie sent me something the other day. She was like, “Oh my God, I loved your seduction scene of Valentin.”

I’m also glad to hear there’s just one group chat, not three separate ones where you can all talk shit about each other.

Exactly. No, we are all in.

So what do you think Jaclyn’s motivation was in hooking up with Valentin, if she wasn’t being a pick-me?

My inspiration for her was a butterfly. Sometimes with certain roles, I’m like, if she were an animal, who would she be? She was a butterfly because she’s very colourful and very vibrant, and has a lot of energy. She comes into a room and demands attention because of her energy. But beyond that, a butterfly’s life is very short-lived.

I feel like she inhabits that idea because she’s an actress and she’s so focused on youth and beauty, and she still wants to be young and hot and fun. Those are her things that she’s fearful of. Those are real things. I don’t know if it’s necessarily any kind of specific to male validation, but I think because it’s her line of work she is used to getting attention.

Do you think she was feeling insecure? Especially after being sent to the old-people pool in episode five?

Yeah. I love that scene. I love episode five because she’s affected, and I love that we got to see her really kind of lean into how affected she is. There was a scene that was cut out where we look like drowned rats from the Songkran Festival, and we went to the club and the three women that you see in the dancing scene were making fun of us (coincidentally, I had my U Beauty Plasma Lip Compound in my purse for the scene).

And I’m like, F**k this. We got to get ourselves cleaned up. We got to get our shit together. We all hightail it to the bathroom at the club. And there’s this whole scene, this montage where we’re all fixing each other. It’s a real mission that we are on. We’re like, “We’re going to go show them.” So then when you see us at the club, I clock them and then I’m like, “Yeah, look at me now.” So actually, it’s not about the guys.