Natasha: I didn’t audition. This is the difference between season one White Lotus and season three White Lotus. [Filming season one], no one knew what it was, and we were shooting pandemic, pre-vaccination, so we’re all just happy to be working. We didn’t know it was going to turn into what it is now. I don’t think I could get an audition for it now, so I’m glad I got in when I did.
Aimee [to Natasha]: When you read the [season one] script, were you like, “Oh, shit, this could be really good”?
Natasha: I did, but I think for me, so much of Belinda is this quiet internal struggle, and so much of what I think made the role what it is is how it was shot. Especially in season one, the visual storytelling was exceptional, and Mike [White, The White Lotus creator and director] is so good with that. It’s totally different now, now it’s like White Lotus capitalised.
Aimee: Yeah, and that’s a bit scary as well, isn’t it?
Natasha: Yeah.
Aimee: It’s the first time I’ve ever been in something that I’m a fan of already, and you just have to forget about it, don’t you? You have to turn up. And it’s quite helpful because my character doesn’t really know what The White Lotus is, so I have to just be like, “Well, Chelsea doesn’t know, so Aimee can’t know.” Chelsea doesn’t know what the resort is, and it kind of helped me not think about the show, actually.
Natasha: I love that.
GLAMOUR: Natasha, do you feel like your character Belinda is more empowered this season?
Natasha: I think this season Belinda is more empowered. I think we also see her as a guest at The White Lotus, and I think that so much of her introduction to that world was through hospitality. And so we get to see her as a person outside of the work mask, and we get to see her unmask in that way, which is really cool.
GLAMOUR: Aimee, it seems like your character Chelsea has a bit of a toxic partner and relationship. What was that like to play for you, and why was that role appealing to you?
Aimee: So the thing that I love about Chelsea is that she’s definitely in this quite toxic dynamic, probably quite dysfunctional, but I had to not see it from that angle at all, because to her she’s romantic with a capital R, and to her it is true love. So I just have to play it from that angle, and that was actually very freeing, because I love Esther Perel, I love talking about how to make relationships healthy and communicative and safe. And so it’s quite fun to go for a little while, delete all that…
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