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SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus,” now streaming on Max.
Belinda is safe!
Being the only guest at the White Lotus who knows about the history of murders at the resort chain, things have looked dicey for Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) all season long. A fan-favorite returning character from Season 1 of “The White Lotus,” she knew she recognized Greg (Jon Gries) as soon as she spotted him in Thailand. Seeing him reminded her of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), the rich woman who’d promised Belinda she would financially support her spa — but then backed out of it in Season 1. When she googled Tanya’s name, she realized that Greg had married her and that she had died shortly after, meaning Belinda was in big trouble.
After hearing from hotel manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) that Greg had been asking after her whereabouts, Belinda rightfully began to fear for her safety, but she triumphed in the end. Though he originally tried to convince her that he was someone else, Greg eventually admitted his identity to Belinda and offered her $100,000 to keep her mouth shut (though he phrased it more gracefully, maintaining that he was innocent of killing his wife). Belinda was leaning toward turning down the “blood money” until her son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), convinced her to take a meeting with Greg to discuss it further. An eager business student at the University of Hawaii, Zion successfully pushed Greg to up the hush money to $5 million. After a quick stop to tell Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) — a White Lotus massage therapist with whom Belinda had a short fling — that she couldn’t commit to starting a business with him, the newly rich mother and son left Thailand with grins on their faces.
Rothwell spoke to Variety about Belinda’s big win and whether she sees herself returning to “The White Lotus” for Season 4.
Did you know how Belinda’s arc would end when you signed on to join Season 3?
When I signed on, no, but after my deal closed, yes. Initially I was just like, “Wherever you want me to go, I’ll be there.” There was no “I’ll consider it, but show me the scripts” mentality. I just love working with Mike White. I love the team. I love all things HBO. So it was a no brainer. When I got the scripts, I binged them. I sat down, read all eight, and picked up the phone and FaceTimed him. He was in Thailand, scouting, and I was just screaming: “Oh my god! It’s so good! This is huge!” And it was really wonderful to see it come to life and, finally, for the world to know all of my secrets.
As you were reading, did you have any predictions? Were you worried at all that Belinda would get die?
Of course. If there’s anything that HBO does — I mean “Game of Thrones,” “White Lotus” — they’re not afraid to to bring tragedy to their main characters. So I was very worried as I was turning each page. And the tension I felt from people who were watching it, and their worry for Belinda, I was validated. Because when I was reading, I felt the same way.
Courtesy of HBO
How did it feel to have a familial relationship on-screen this time, with Nicholas Duvernay playing your son Zion, instead of only co-workers like in Season 1?
It was major, especially in Episode 8, to see him really lean into wanting to take care of his mother. Belinda is someone who takes care of other people for a living, and she’s a single mom and a young mom, so to have him show up for her was really cool to see. Their relationship really shed a new light on my own relationship with my parents. They’re at that stage where they’re trying to explore friendship with each other, and I remember when I was doing that with my parents at that age. It was kind of awkward! You’re like, “Am I gonna drink in front of my mom? Yeah, I’m gonna drink in front of my mom!” There are all these things you’re trying to negotiate, so it was really cool to allow Belinda to show that softer side.
Zion drinks in front of Belinda, and he also pushes back on her decisions. Do you think she was secretly hoping he would challenge her on turning down Greg’s money? Or were she and Zion really on opposite sides before he convinced her?
They were on opposite sides. While their relationship is obviously maternal, it also has that friendship component. But at the end of the day, I’m the mother. I need to be an example and I have to lead, and I don’t want to be the kind of role model that entertains getting wealth in an unsavory way. I really do think she was trying to do the right thing, and she gave in to Zion saying, “Just go and hear him out.” It wasn’t until she got there that she saw that Zion was going to take the reins and run. Sitting there across from Greg, she knows how dangerous he is, but Zion has the youthful idea that they’re invincible. He doesn’t really sense the same fear that she does. Belinda probably thinks it’s going from $100,000 to a million, and that would have been more than enough. So when he goes for five million, that’s why you see her choking on her drink. She’s like, “Oh, he’s really he’s going wild.”
Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, Nicholas Duvernay as Zion and Jon Gries as Greg in the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus.”
Fabio Lovino/HBO
But in that moment as well, she sees Greg get a little nervous. When we shot that scene, we did a lot of coverage on it, so I was really focusing on John. He’s so good — his his facial movements and reactions. In that moment that Zion says 5 million, you can see his worry: “Oh, she knows she can ask for more.” That is the moment that Belinda gets on board. Like, “Oh, I have the power. And I want to know what it’s like to have the power over a white man. I have had to serve so many of them. This is a moment where I can step into that power.”
You’ve spoken about how you suggested adding the moment earlier in the season where Belinda smiles and acknowledges the first other Black people she sees on the resort based on your own experiences vacationing places with low Black populations. Belinda also wears a bonnet over her hair when she checks her bank account in the middle of the night and sees that Greg sent the five million. Tell me how it felt to experience that win as your character, and to infuse some Blackness into the moment as an actor.
It’s the small shit. So often, I talk about with other writers, or writers that I mentor: When you’re creating writing for a character who’s Black, the changes that you make are subtle. They don’t have to be big swings. I was very clear. I was like, “If she’s up at night, she’s gonna have her bonnet on. She ain’t gonna have a bra on. She’s gonna be over there pacing, with no makeup.” Just grounding it in her reality, because she is a real, accessible person.
And I wanted to show her absolute joy in seeing this come in. Talking with Mike, he was just encouraging me to to really let that information land. Not just what it means for today, but for the future. One of the things I was talking to Nicholas about was that I am by no means rich, but I’m no longer poor — which I was for a long time. I couldn’t imagine, prior to my success on “Insecure,” being in a place where I wasn’t waking up, living my day and going to bed thinking about money and how I was going to pay bills. I still think about those things, but in different ways. So I remember the moment when I was able to pay off my student loans. I had deferred my college loans so many times because I couldn’t pay them. I was just really trying to channel the relief of that burden, of financial despair being lifted. I wanted to give her everything I felt. It’s a beautiful thing to show someone like Belinda, who’s so deserving, to have this moment of financial catharsis.
How do you feel about where Belinda left things with Pornchai? It’s not as cruel as what Tanya did to her at the end of Season 1, but there’s a bit of a mirror there.
I didn’t want to play that moment with guilt. If people rewatch this season, she never agrees to go into business with Pornchai; she’s just considering it. Which I think is a subtle but massive difference from Season 1, where you have Tanya being like, “Yes, let’s do it. Give me the papers. Show me your business plan.” She doesn’t lead him on. Pornchai was definitely more into Belinda and the idea than Belinda was. They both really liked each other and had feelings for each other, sexually and relationship-wise, but professionally, I don’t think Belinda was all in, because it’s impractical. Her son doesn’t live there, and there’s a lot of that she would have to figure out. So it didn’t have the same sting, but because Belinda knows what she went through, she’s carrying the weight of guilt. This is something I relate to my personal life. When you make a decision that’s best for you, it can be hard when someone else is not benefiting from it or is hurt by it, but it’s absolutely okay and necessary to make decisions that are in your own best interest. And we’re seeing Belinda make a decision in her best interest. For the first time, she’s not putting other people’s needs before her own.
I don’t think she’s going to go out and start this business immediately. For her, it’s about enjoying and growing accustomed to the peace and quiet of financial solvency. Like I said, I have been in debt before. I’ve had credit cards that I was playing around with just to make ends meet. Picking up MetroCards in New York off the subway floor, being like, “I hope this one works, because I’ve got to get to my show.” So to be in a place where she doesn’t have to worry about helping Zion finish grad school and get his books, or the $500 deposit for new uniforms at the White Lotus [is a big deal]. It’s all of that daily mundane stuff. That’s why she’s like, “Can I just be rich for just a minute? I just want to sit in this feeling of not owing anyone anything and not needing anything from anyone.”
Dom Hetrakul as Pornchai and Natasha Rothwell as Belinda in the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus.”
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Sam Nivola told us that he predicts Zion will be back for Season 4, which seems like it would have to involve Belinda and Greg too. As nice as it is to see Belinda win, it doesn’t seem likely to remain uncomplicated for her. Do you think you’ll be back next season?
Oh, it is not uncomplicated. This is me being totally honest: I have not talked to Mike about coming back. I know nothing. I’m like Jon Snow. But when I was reading, I underlined and circled the line in the script that was like, “I want to be hard to find. We’ve got to get out of here now.” I feel like there’s a version where Belinda takes the money and tells the police, because she’s walking that fine line. And Greg would have to leave Thailand and go hunting for her, because he’s like, “I gave her money to keep her mouth shut, and she didn’t.” Like a vengeance thing. That was the one line where I was like, “Oh, maybe I will come back.” Maybe she’s hiding out in a White Lotus somewhere.
That would be my fanfic pitch. I think it would be fun to see her life get more complicated from this bad —from this decision. I don’t think it’s a bad decision. I think it’s a decision that made her compromise on her morals, but the juice was worth the squeeze.
This interview has been edited and condensed. See the rest of Variety‘s coverage of “The White Lotus” finale, including a recap, cast interviews and a review, here.
