By now, we should be used to the shock factor that The White Lotus creator Mike White employs in each season of the compelling drama. However, judging by the reaction to the latest episode, which featured brothers Saxon and Lochlan Ratliff engaging in a sex act, we’re never ready for the cooked shit White has up his sleeve.
Following the explosive response to the episode, the actor who plays Lochlan Sam Nivola has dished the dirt on what it was like to shoot the scene behind the scenes.
Also, if it wasn’t inherently clear, this article contains spoilers for The White Lotus episode six so tread carefully.
If you’re not worried about cheeky spoilers, let me give you a quick rundown. The Ratliff brothers joined fellow hotel guest Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and her friend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) for a night out at a full moon party. They got on the piss, took drugs and ended up back on Chloe’s private boat where things escalated.
At first, the gals kiss and then encourage the boys to smooch. However, eventually, Chelsea bows out to remain loyal to her boyfriend Rick (Walton Goggins) while Chloe hooks up with both of the brothers.
In the harsh light of the day after their drug-fuelled session, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger)starts to remember that his brother literally jerked him off. Although the bros pretend they both blacked out and have no memory, oh boy, they do.
Speaking to Variety, Nivola shared what it was like for him and for his co-star Schwarzenegger when they first found out about the scene.
“When I got the part, I remember talking to Patrick Schwarzenegger, and one of his audition scenes was the scene with Chloe where she’s like, ‘Your brother jerked you off last night. You don’t remember?’ And he’s like, ‘No, I totally blacked out’,” Nivola recalled.
“So he told me that, and I was like, ‘Weird… I wonder what that’s all about’. Then we both had to sign in our contracts that we were comfortable with nude scenes on camera. Then we got the scripts about a week later, and I read all of them in one sitting, on the plane to Thailand.”
For Nivola, shooting the scene was nerve-racking. Not because it was controversial, but because it was the first sex scene the 21-year-old had ever filmed.
“I was totally nervous. I’m a very anxious person, so I’m always nervous, especially on a big job like that,” he continued.
“Doing the sex scene was nerve-racking, and we were on a boat, and I get seasick, so that was fucking stressful.”
Before filming the scene, Nivola and Schwarzenegger had spent a lot of time on set together, forming a brotherly relationship off-screen too. Nivola says it made shooting the incest scene even stranger.
“It was very weird kissing Patrick because he’s a really good friend of mine,” he admits.
“And, you know, I’m straight, he’s straight. It’s already weird. It would have been easier if that was the first time we were meeting. Weirdly, it was easier to do things with Charlotte because there were no stakes. It’s just this person I’ve just met.
“But Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of fucked up.”
Thankfully for Nivola and the entire cast, intimacy coordinators were used on set to make sure everyone felt supported during these particular scenes. While some actors aren’t a fan of intimacy coordinators, Nivola thinks they’re a wonderful addition to the industry.
“I do think intimacy coordinators are a great innovation,” he told Variety.
“Both of my parents are actors, and they’ve told me stories of having to do that kind of stuff without someone who has your best interests at heart, with directors who are maybe less supportive and kind and caring as Mike White. I’m definitely happy they exist.”
You can watch The White Lotus on BINGE.
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