Sam Nivola’s Lochlan Is at the Center of The White Lotus Season 3

ANYONE WHO’S EVER seen The White Lotus knows that if there’s one word to describe the show, it’s “fearless.” We don’t need to go into great detail about the taboo, lewd, and straight-up explicit acts that have made their way into the show in just two seasons so far; viewers should remember, and know exactly what kind of show we’re talking about.

Knowing this—and knowing the directions that things could potentially take—is part of what makes the opening episode of a White Lotus season so exciting. We’re just getting to know a whole new set of resort guests as they arrive, in the case of season 3, in Thailand, and the possibilities of where their storylines could wind up taking them are endless. In the case of the three longtime friends on a girls’ trip (played by Michelle Monahan, Leslie Bibb, and Carrie Coon), their passive aggressive nature makes it feel fairly straightforward that a massive blow-up is coming sooner or later. A couple with a large age gap (played by Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood) feels like it’s not likely to last very long either. We just want Belinda (a returning Natasha Rothwell from season 1) to have a little peace and relaxation for once, but considering the show’s opening scene, that doesn’t feel particularly likely.

But the biggest chunk of season 3 comes to the Ratliff family, who come from North Carolina with a mom and dad (Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey) and three preppy children (Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola). While Isaacs and Posey—both tremendous actors with decades of fantastic work behind them—are endlessly entertaining on their own, it’s the dynamic of the three kids that really seems to be pointing toward something bizarre and sinister.

Saxton (Schwarzenegger) is the oldest Ratliff child, and he’s your stereotypical frat bro with an inflated ego; he thinks he’s irresistible to women, brags about how much he loves to work, and is hyper-sexualized to the point of calling his sister “hot” and talking to his brother about porn and masturbation. Piper (Hook) is more subdued, seemingly offput by her brother’s brashness.

The core issue of the Ratliff children, though, is a rivalry that third child Lochlan (Nivola) is caught in the middle of; Saxton went to Duke, while Hook is currently enrolled at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. This famed rivalry (rooted in both schools’ historically excellent men’s basketball programs) puts both siblings on opposing sides with Lochlan (who’s been accepted into both) needing to choose which direction he wants to go.

Not a totally complicated story on its face. But in an episode that finds Lochlan spending time with his sister (who is afraid to approach the famed Monk she plans to talk to for the thesis they’ve built their entire trip around) and brother (who, again, just talks to his brother about how hot his sister is, jacking off, and porn) definitely feels like a rivalry with a bit more going on than comparing the college stats of Michael Jordan and Christian Laettner.

To make things all that much stranger? When Saxton’s random late-night line-crossing conversation about porn leads him to get fully naked and decide to start jerking it, he notices in the mirror that Lochlan is watching him. Are we… going there? With The White Lotus, we can’t quite rule anything out. And that’s the fun of these early episodes, and just beginning to meet these characters.

At the core of this storyline, though, is Lochlan. He’s stuck in the middle of a bizarre, seemingly psychosexual rivalry between his older siblings, while clearly not quite being a blank slate himself. Lochlan is quiet, and we’re still just getting to know him, but there’s clearly some thoughts going on behind those eyes of his as well, and we’re just beginning to get a glimpse of them.

Don’t be surprised by anything; this is a show that could truly go anywhere, and writer/director Mike White has trained us to expect just that.

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Sam Nivola plays Lochlon Ratliff in The White Lotus season 3

While 21-year-old actor Sam Nivola, who plays Lochlan Ratliff in The White Lotus season 3, has only been acting professionally for a couple years, he’s already got quite the impressive résumé—including some crossover with past White Lotus stars.

Audiences probably remember Nivola for his role as Will Winbury in Netflix’s campy murder mystery series The Perfect Couple—a show that almost certainly shares a significant chunk of its audience with The White Lotus, and which also featured previous White Lotus standout Meghann Fahy. Fahy, who played Merritt Monaco in that show, shared scenes with Nivola, creating quite the Lotus crossover.

In fact, according to an interview with People, Nivola found out he landed his White Lotus role on the last day of shooting The Perfect Couple—and got some advice from Fahy on what to expect.

“She gave me the lowdown on Mike White and what he’s like, because of course every director has their own sort of special quirks and ways that they go about doing things,” he said. “But basically all she said is that he’s really nice and you really treats you well and you’re going to have a great time and you’re going to look fucking awesome.”

Before The Perfect Couple and The White Lotus, Nivola had three major roles to his name, all in major motion pictures. He appeared in White Noise, the Noah Baumbach-directed adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel that starred Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, and also played roles in Eileen (the adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s bestselling novel) and Bradley Cooper‘s Maestro.

It’s quite the impressive start to the career for someone just breaking through. In addition to his on-screen work, Nivola also has acting royalty in his veins; his father is actor Alessandro Nivola (who made his film debut in 1997’s Face/Off alongside Nicolas Cage and John Travolta and appeared in current Best Picture nominee The Brutalist) and his mother is actress Emily Mortimer (who is well known for her role in HBO’s The Newsroom among many other projects).