Steven Prusakowski
Each season of Mike White’s The White Lotus enthralls guests with its glorious settings, intricate character dynamics, and sharp social commentary. Season 3’s standout group is the women’s friend circle reuniting for a girl’s trip including Carrie Coon’s Laurie, Michelle Monaghan’s Jaclyn, and Leslie Bibb’s Kate who are the most fun and relatable of the ensemble – but there’s much more going on beneath the surface.
Coon’s Laurie captured viewers’ attention both with the big moments and the small. She delivers a layered portrayal of a woman whose life looks perfect while she is actually grappling with existential doubts. Her bold, attention-grabbing moments are symptoms of the heartbreaking insecurity and emptiness she is secretly fighting.
The talented actress joined me on the TV Topics podcast couch to discuss her work on The White Lotus but also the a lively talk about her relationship with TV viewing. Throughout the conversation one thing was evident, Coon puts a lot of thought into everything, from her entertainment to the state of the world to feeding her kids. She digs deep into her roles, even for moments that viewers may not put much thought into.
A prime example is this Laurie’s meme-worthy display of American fight-or-flight instincts in the finale. While some characters were still processing the unexpected gunfire, Laurie’s was already yards away sprinting to safety. This was not by chance; it was a conscious decision, making a statement about her character and the state of the world without a word.
“When I was standing by the monitor, when they were shooting some of the background stuff, people just running through the spa. And I remember seeing some very polite Thai background actors kind of just trudging through the background – and I was like, no, no, you need some just like white people running so fast. You know? These like privileged Americans on vacation sprinting through the resort because, you know, we’re all primed for a mass shooting.”
While her sprint caught the attention of the internet, it is in the quieter, smaller moments where Coon delivers a masterclass in raw honesty, revealing a woman struggling with lingering emptiness. From the first episode, where the polished and confident Laurie is enjoying some laughs and cocktails with her best friends only to step away and watch her facade crumble, tears streaming down her face as she succumbs to a breakdown, revealing deep-seated pain – the source of which is unknown. It is heart wrenching.
This This idyllic vacation only amplifies her insecurities as she measures herself against Kate’s poised perfection and Jaclyn’s effortless charm, forcing her to confront regrets with a bit of an over correction. Laurie, who always held the background player role of the friendship throws her inhibitions aside as she competes with Jaclyn for the temporary stake of the alpha role.
This leads to another much-discussed moment where Carrie Coon’s Laurie leaps from a second-story window to escape an enraged girlfriend of Aleksei, the man she just slept with. The near-injury added to the insult of the situation, as moments earlier, her one-night stand brazenly asks her for money while still in bed. Coon masters the physicality of the performance while highlighting her emotional vulnerability with stunning depth.
“It’s a rock bottom in a way. It’s humiliating. It’s humiliating. And all of her worst fears and insecurities, which she has voiced earlier when her friends are trying to encourage her to get together with Valentin, all of those insecurities feel true, right? He didn’t actually want to sleep with her. He wasn’t really interested in her. He just thought she had money,” said Coon. “That’s really humiliating. So Laurie walks away from that encounter with kind of her worst fears validated. And so she hits a bottom and then there has to be, it’s a dark night of the soul, right? Mike White has put Laurie through a dark night of the soul.”
In the finale, Coon delivers a memorable monologue that lays bare Laurie’s despair: she confesses she’s “so sad” and has lost faith in her “religion” of work, love, and motherhood. Professing that time with her flawed, competitive friends gives her life meaning, despite their subtle rivalries. It was one of the most divisive moments of the season.
“I feel like it’s a tiptoe into something, into a transformation for her, where she’s being more honest about her life, where she’s being more honest about how she feels in her life. And she’s more honest about maybe having played the victim a little bit about, she’s actually made decisions that have caused the consequences she’s experiencing, but she has not been thus far willing to take responsibility for her part.” Viewers debated where Laurie finished the season and Coon would not have it any other way.
“I think some people, if you’re cynical, you could look at that as just justifying where she’s ended up. And if you’re less cynical or more hopeful person, you may see that as like a real spiritual shift in Laurie, where she comes to value her friendships in a new way, where she understands the power of other people bearing witness to her life, people that will always see her from, see the scope of her whole life,” explained Coon.
“I just I think it’s really interesting what an ambiguous ending reveals about the person who’s watching it. To me, that’s much more interesting than a piece of art where you just and you finish it and you say, all right, well, you know what? What’s my stack going to be before bed? That it’s actually forcing a little bit of contemplation. I love that kind of art. I’ve become the queen of ambiguous endings, but I like them. I appreciate them. And that’s what art does. You say what you think.”
One thing not up for debate is whether Coon would return for another season of The White Lotus, as Jennifer Coolidge and Natasha Rothwell did in the past. Coon’s response to the question was an enthusiastic yes, praising Mike White’s leadership and deep understanding of his characters. “Oh, I mean, gosh, if I was so lucky as to be asked, I would love to work with Mike again. He’s a marvelous director and such a compassionate leader on set. He just knows all the characters better than anyone because he wrote them. So yes, I would love to say yes to that.”
And if you are wondering if Laurie’s time in Thailand changed her, Coon shared her thoughts on who Laurie might return to the resort with, she mused, “That’s a good question. I like to believe she’s moved herself along the continuum a little more. Maybe with a new partner, new problems. Or maybe she’s with her kid—maybe they’ve grown into some form of repair.” No matter who she returns with, Coon’s stellar performance and Laurie’s relatable struggles make her a character plenty of fans would love to see again, navigating new complexities in White’s astute world.
Be sure to listen to the full TV Topics podcast where Carrie provides tremendous insight into her work on The White Lotus, but also her consumption of television through questions that had her thinking from beginning to end. From the straightforward to some fun hypotheticals – all will give you a fresh perspective on the gifted actress. Her answers included a memorable list of shows including The Leftovers, Halt and Catch Fire, ER, Atlanta, and many more. The shows making the list may only be outdone by the list of shows she did not watch. It is an entertaining and thoughtful conversation that also takes some dark, complex turns – what else would you expect from the great Carrie Coon.
Season three of The White Lotus is now streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.
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