Michelle Monaghan Reveals What It Was Like Working With Her ‘White Lotus’ Castmates

Season 3 of “White Lotus” is full of famous faces, and cast member Michelle Monaghan told People in a March 19 interview that there was nothing but love between her fellow actors and she actually roomed with actor Parker Posey. “I got to spend a lot of time with her,” she said.

Monaghan added that she got to know Natasha Rothwell, who plays an employee at the fictional resort, as well as Walton Goggins, who depicts one of White Lotus’ guests.

She said of Goggins, “He’s a friend that we’ve had mutual friends over the years in common and we’ve circled each other, but we really got to hang and get to know each other really well on the show, which was awesome.”

The “Gone Baby Gone” star shared that the cast celebrated the Full Moon Party together in Thailand, where the series was filmed.

They also went on excursions, with Monaghan telling People, “A lot of us spent a lot of time on boats. We went snorkeling and diving. To live in this place that’s so tropical, it was just kind of a dream come true in that respect. We took advantage of all those things.”

Monaghan Was Elated to Land Her ‘White Lotus’ Role

Monaghan said on “Reign With Josh Smith” that she was “so excited” when she got the role of Jaclyn Lemon in “The White Lotus” season 3.

“I got the call from my agent that they were casting and that they wanted to have me audition … I was even just surprised at that,” she said.

Monaghan expressed excitement over getting bits of the script during her audition and thinking that the role was “really compelling.”

“And then I got the call like 10 days later [that] I got the gig,” she told Smith. Monaghan revealed that after she got sent her script, she went on a trip to Australia with her family but didn’t sleep the whole way there because she was reading her lines.

Monaghan shared that after her flight she called Posey and said, “We were talking about, you know, just our good fortune, and Leslie [Bibb] as well … we were all just really excited.”

Monaghan Leaned Into Her ‘White Lotus’ Character

All of the “White Lotus” characters have complex personalities and Monaghan told Variety that she had an idea of how she wanted to portray Lemon.

“She was really in her element. I had a spirit animal for Jaclyn, and she’s a bit of a butterfly. She’s very lively and colorful and likes to make a statement, but there’s something about her that knows that life is short-lived,” Monaghan said.

Carrie Coon, who plays Monaghan’s friend on the show, told Variety, “Leslie does physical comedy, Michelle does action movies. All three of us recognize the lack of interest in the industry, and how much fun it was to be fully expressed in that way.”

When it comes to acting, Monaghan revealed that “White Lotus” creator Mike White gives her free reign to improvise and shared, “He throws things out on the day, and he trusts the casting process so much that once the characters start to come alive, he really allows us to swing for the hills.”