Carrie Coon dishes on the betrayal of Jaclyn

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for season 3, episode 5 of “The White Lotus”, which now streams at Max.

Things are just a bit wild for Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) in the latest episode of “The White Lotus.”

After leaving the resort in Thailand and going out for a night of drinking and dancing in a club with a group of Russian boys – their dedicated wellness instructor, Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius), and accompanied by his two friends – Laurie unexpectedly finds himself an explosion. She goes all out with the trio of Russians, at one point even her top in a swimming pool back at the hotel. In particular, there is a different energy than to be the strange woman after the entire season.

“It was important that she was unrestrained while dancing,” says Coon Variety. “She is drunk, and that leads to inhibition, which informs her choices later.”

Until this point the show has slowly built steam and stewed in ambiguity, while viewers have waited to see how the storylines will eventually come together. But this episode is when everything starts to explode for ‘The White Lotus’, with the three women – and separate parties of brothers and sisters Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) – completely.

Monaghan penetrated Jaclyn with a feeling of “full surrender” in her movement. She says: ‘She was really in her element. I had a spirit animal for Jaclyn and she is a bit of a butterfly. She is very lively and colorful and likes to make an explanation, but there is something about her that knows that life is short -lived. “

Coon remembers how “The White Lotus” maker Mike White was able to show each of the women how their character would dance on the spot, and “was really tailored to how everyone would appear at the moment.”

“As women in this industry you are often just talking about a man on a couch,” says Coon. “It was really exciting to be able to use our body that way. Leslie does physical comedy, Michelle makes action films. All three acknowledge the lack of interest in industry, and how much pleasure it was to be completely expressed in this way. “

Kate-Die revealed himself in a previous episode to be a ecclesiastical Trump voter, however, it does not quite feel this episode and takes on the role of sober-like caretaker. When Laurie and Jaclyn invite the men back to the villa, Kate says: “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“It felt important for me that it came out of jealousy of these three boys when they returned,” says Bibb. “You know that when everyone is maximum, she was like a mommy with these two.”

Although the ladies release in this episode, this does not mean that their competitiveness of earlier episodes does not find their way in their drunk interactions. When two of the Russian men talk about ballett training, Jaclyn Kate hits the only person who is not a trained dancer. After they all dance together, Valentin Laurie then postpones as a “sexy dancer” about Jaclyn – a huge moment for her self -confidence.

“It is again one of those moments when you see two of the friends who connect to something that leaves the other away,” says Coon. “There is no way in which Jaclyn Laurie is not personally a sexy dancer. Nobody talks about Jaclyn who is sexy. Maybe we just consider it a matter of course because she is a television star. “

Jaclyn’s social capital as the famous person in the group – and the one who pays the entire journey – also plays in the game in this dynamic. For comparison: Coon sees Laurie as someone who does not want to admit the loss of her own economic and social power.

“Her marriage falls apart, she is struggling with her teenage daughter, she was not promoted at work and to admit that her friends, who are very successful, would be a huge blow to her ego,” says Coon. “Owning and asking for support would actually be the healthiest path through this vacation, and none of the women choose it. They are reactive and deal with this dynamic while popping up from their point of view. “

This episode is full of memorable moments that were often improvised in the course of the shoot of two nights, including the dancing scenes, and when the men argue with women in the club that they clearly know well, shouting at Russian.

“I can’t say that we have prepared ourselves in any way,” says Monaghan. ‘You don’t really rehearse with Mike White. He throws things out on the day, and he trusts so much on the casting process that as soon as the characters begin to come to life, he really allows us to swing to the hills. “

When Laurie Welteruight says to the Russian men, she stands out her fists as a boxer. Details like these allowed Coon in Laurie the craziest of the three, of which she thinks she is looking down her friends even more on her.

“She doesn’t keep up with the Joneses,” says Coon. “She needed this vacation, but was not necessarily prepared for it – and it might not even be in a financial position to do it. She just really had to leave her life, only with unfortunate packaged luggage and a bad nail color. “

During the season Jaclyn and Kate Laurie pushed to get out and dated, and she is interested in Valentin, dancing with him and flirting during the episode. Jaclyn has a appearance on his way to her own happy marriage and happy life, so the thought of diving into Valentin never registers as a possibility for Laurie. But in a surprising turn at the end of episode 5, Jaclyn sleeps with Valentin after everyone went to bed, so Laurie was brought into the process.

“It could have been a very positive turning point during the holidays for them,” says Coon. “It’s a recovery of their childhood, it’s fun and sexy. And it feels like the vacation they all wanted. Instead, we have seen something in Laurie’s eyes as a betrayal. It is also a reinforcement of behavioral patterns and a matter of when we return to groups of friends from our youth: are we just standard in our position? Or can we put ourselves in a assembly? “

Despite the betrayal, Monaghan Jaclyn does not consider poorly informed at the moment.

“She doesn’t see it as a betrayal for the ladies,” says Monaghan. “It’s not an affair, it’s just an unfaithfulness in her mind. I think she just touches on the ‘fuck it’ button and decides to have a good time. And I think it is something that she will probably be enthusiastic to tell the girls the next morning. “