Carrie Coon shared the inspiration behind her now viral run from The White Lotus season 3 finale — and it’s all too relatable.
“There wasn’t direction,” Coon, 44, told Variety in an interview published on Monday, April 7, revealing that her character Laurie’s mad dash after hearing gunshots during the Sunday, April 6, episode was entirely her own doing.
The actress explained, “I knew the gunshot was going to happen, and we were going to run into the bushes, essentially.”
Warning: This story contains spoilers about the season 3 finale of The White Lotus.
The White Lotus continues to defy expectations by stacking each season with a star-studded cast. The HBO series, which debuted in 2021, focuses on the guests and employees at a fictional resort as they experience a slew of personal ups and downs while on vacation. The anthology series is also known for a mysterious death […]
Coon revealed that Laurie running away from the scene like a mad woman —head down without a second thought about her friends’ wellbeing after professing her love for them both — was inspired by her growing up in a country that, sadly, experiences mass shootings on an all-too regular basis.
“Look, I’m an American and I’m a New Yorker, and if you think I don’t know where the exits are in any building I’m in, then you’re not paying attention to the news,” Coon said. “I thought, ‘What would a person do?’ A person would f***ing run, would book it.”
She noted, “I’m fast. I’m not as fast as I used to be!” Still, her speed was evident in the memorable scene that quickly went viral after the finale aired.
The White Lotus featured a surprise appearance from Leslie Bibb‘s husband, Sam Rockwell, and his shocking story line included everything from gender identity to sexual experimentation and addiction. During the Sunday, March 16, episode of The White Lotus, Rick (Walton Goggins) traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, to reunite with a friend played by Rockwell. Rick expected […]
Coon recalled, “Some polite Thai workers were kind of scampering through in the background. I was like, ‘No, no, you need to have some Americans sprinting and hitting the deck and jumping in the lagoon.’ The Americans are not playing. They know what this means!”
During the season finale, Laurie, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) witnessed Rick (Walton Goggins) shooting Sritala’s (Lek Patravadi) husband, Jim (Scott Glenn), who is revealed to be Rick’s father, on a bridge in Thailand. The moment they heard the gunshot, all three women made a run for it.
Laurie led the way, sprinting from the scene like she was a college track star. Kate and Jaclyn weren’t far behind, screaming as they tried to find safety. There was also a splash as someone else jumped in the lagoon.
Shortly after the traumatic experience, the three friends boarded a boat, leaving Thailand. They were seemingly affected by the shooting, but didn’t speak about it. (They did, however, get closure during their last group dinner, when Laurie got real about her sadness and how much her friendships mean to her.)
Rick, for his part, died during the finale after he was shot during an altercation with Sritala’s guard. His girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), was also shot and killed during the fight.
“To be honest, I’m a bit of a head case right now. I’m crying in my car. This show is my whole life, then it’s over and I’m back in my house with my dog, trying to remember who my friends are and what did I do before the show,” creator Mike White told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday, April 2, teasing the finale. “I don’t want to become one of those crazy people who’s lost the plot.”
He added: “I had to take these MMPI psych tests, and they were like, ‘You’ve become one standard deviation less nice than you were in 2018.’ Yep, that sounds right.”
Charlotte Le Bon, who played Chloe on the show, revealed to THR at the time that, “People are going to hate Mike White” based on who he killed off.
The White Lotus is currently streaming on Max.
