Laura Dern has joined the cast of The White Lotus season 4, stepping in after Helena Bonham Carter departed the series shortly after filming began, though crucially, Dern is not taking over Bonham Carter’s role but playing an entirely new character created by showrunner Mike White.
The casting brings White and Dern back together under the HBO banner.
The pair previously co-created the HBO series Enlightened, in which Dern also starred, and collaborated on White’s film Year of the Dog.
Dern also made an uncredited voice cameo in White Lotus season 2.
Dern joins an already sizeable ensemble that includes Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Kumail Nanjiani, Chris Messina, Alexander Ludwig, Rosie Perez, Heather Graham, Sandra Bernhard, AJ Michalka, Chloe Bennet, Max Greenfield and many others.
Season 4 is set against the glamour of the Cannes Film Festival on the Côte d’Azur, with locations including St Tropez, Monaco and Paris.
The hotels featured are the Airelles Château de la Messardière and the Hôtel Martinez, reimagined as White Lotus properties for the show.
White serves as writer, director and executive producer, with David Bernad and Mark Kamine also producing.
Dern is one of Hollywood’s most decorated performers.
She is a nine-time Emmy nominee, winning outstanding supporting actress in a limited series in 2017 for Big Little Lies, and a three-time Oscar nominee, taking home best supporting actress in 2020 for Marriage Story.
Her wider credits span the Jurassic Park franchise, Little Women and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
