Woody Harrelson turned down the most-memed role in ‘The White Lotus’ but not for the reason you’d expect

We’re all waiting with bated breath ahead of the release of The White Lotus’ season three finale (is it the monkeys?) but in the meantime, we’ve been given a slice of behind-the-scenes casting news, and it involves Woody Harrelson. 

That’s right, we learned from a recently published oral history of the HBO show that the veteran actor was in talks to appear in the third installment before the plans fell through. News of Harrelson’s would-be casting came courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, who claimed that The Hunger Games star was being eyed for the role of Rick Hatchett, the shady and perpetually downtrodden hotel guest who was ultimately played by a scene-stealing Walton Goggins.

Woody Harrelson almost joined Mike White in Thailand for “The White Lotus” Season 3, but his own family vacation plans got in the way:

“I was set to do ‘White Lotus’ and very excited. Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family… pic.twitter.com/KhL9Kuh9gl

— Variety (@Variety) April 6, 2025

According to other reports, however, Harrelson was also being considered for the character of Frank, whose episode five monologue became the stuff of pure internet meme fodder given its sheer insanity and intensity. While that role ultimately went to Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell (who, for the record, is the longtime partner of fellow White Lotus star Leslie Bibb), Harrelson had reportedly already signed-on to portray Frank, but not without some off-screen negotiations.

The Hollywood Reporter claimed that while he had agreed to play Frank, Harrelson disputed the pay he was set to receive for the role. Reports suggest that each actor was paid around $40,000 per episode, a figure which supposedly wasn’t enough for Harrelson. It’s said that in negotiating for a higher payday, Harrelson went as far as organizing a one-on-one meeting with Warner Bros. CEO, David Zaslav. The outcome wasn’t what Harrelson had hoped for, and while his eventual departure from the role was thought to be a result of the pay dispute, the actor has since clarified why his White Lotus appearance never came to fruition.

nothing in the history of Hollywood could prepare the viewer for how far Sam Rockwell’s character in “The White Lotus” took the partying pic.twitter.com/SAlkqfy0M3

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) March 18, 2025

Both Harrelson and his representatives responded to speculation that he left the show due to the salary, telling The Daily Beast that, in reality, “it’s not about money.” Instead, the actor explained that though he was onboard to join the starry cast of season three, he ultimately couldn’t complete the job due to scheduling conflicts. “I was set to do White Lotus and very excited,” Harrelson said. “Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.” 

His representatives confirmed as much in their own statement, saying Harrelson “was set to do the show [before] they moved the date,” resulting in a “recast” with Rockwell in the role of Frank. Speaking of the latter actor — whose minutes-long scene about, shall we say… role playing, dominated much of the commentary around season three — Harrelson had nothing but praise for Rockwell. “Things must be meant to be though,” Harrelson said, “because I couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it.”

While it’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing Frank, even Rockwell himself was hesitant to sign on for the show. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull this off,” Rockwell told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that “the monologue… was a lot.” Yeah… that’s certainly one way of putting it! It remains to be seen whether Rockwell’s character will play into the finale episode of season three, but please, for the love of God, don’t let anything happen to Belinda!