Turns out "The White Lotus" is a bit like the Hotel California. You can check out for a season, but you can never leave.
Just ask Natasha Rothwell, who will return to the hit HBO show for Season Three, TODAY.com has confirmed. The already-buzzy next season is rumored to be set in Thailand, per Variety.
In Season One, which takes place in Hawaii, Rothwell's character, spa manager Belinda Lindsay, has a series of unsettling, charged encounters with Jennifer Coolidge's uber-wealthy resort guest Tanya McQuoid.
After getting a massage from Belinda, Tanya proposes they go into business together. Belinda sees a future away from the hotel spa glimmering on the horizon — and just as soon as she gets her hopes up, Tanya, so out of touch she's callous, decides to move on.
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By returning, Rothwell continues the anthology series' subtle pattern of bringing back a familiar face amid an all-new cast each season. Coolidge's Tanya was the only Season One character to return in Season Two (and we all know how that turned out).
What comes next for Belinda? Each season of the show is set in a different branch of the luxury hotel chain (Season Two was in Sicily). Perhaps Belinda is now working in another hotel. Or maybe — and legion fans would cheer if this were the case — she's a guest.
The Mike White-created show is an awards show darling, and Rothwell is part of the reason why. She earned a best supporting actress Emmy nomination for her work — one of nine nominations for Season One. Season Two won five Emmys.
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Rothwell is a comedian and improv performer also known for her work in Issa Rae's "Insecure," another HBO show. Rothwell said her time as Kelli on "Insecure" set her up for "The White Lotus."
“The confidence that I had coming into 'White Lotus' ran laps around what I started 'Insecure' with,” Rothwell told the L.A. Times. “There’s no way I would have had that confidence had it not been for 'Insecure' — and also the confidence I had as a writer, to be able to pitch jokes and pitch moments to (creator) Mike White, who I’ve been watching since 'Freaks and Geeks' — to feel like I belonged at the table with him.”
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