‘The White Lotus’ Star Sarah Catherine Hook Says Piper Is Too Caught Up in Her Drama to Think About Her Brothers’ Shenanigans

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 6.

While “The White Lotus” Season 3 sent brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) spiraling, after a drunken night led to some incestuous behavior, their sister Piper is too caught up in her own drama to notice their shenanigans, said star Sarah Catherine Hook.

“She’s not really thinking anything of whatever happened,” Hook told TheWrap of the eventful full moon party, adding that Piper “definitely doesn’t know” what happened between the brothers — not yet anyway.

Instead, Hook notes the fallout of the party is a relief for Piper, with Lochlan volunteering to spend the night at the monastery with her — a challenge from her mom, Victoria (Parker Posey) to see if she could really imagine spending a year at the meditation center — as the pair separates off from their parents and Saxon.

“I think she’s more just relieved to have Lochlan with her at the monastery, because it’s probably a pretty intimidating to just randomly decide, ‘okay, I’m gonna just spend the night here,'” Hook said. “I do think Lochlan has always been a bit of a security blanket to Piper and appreciates his comfort and support.”

Below, Hook breaks down how she immersed herself in Buddhist practices ahead of shooting the HBO anthology series and reveals that she thinks Piper’s spiritual quest comes “from a place of fear.”

TheWrap: This is the biggest production of “The White Lotus” yet — what was it like shooting such a large scale production in Thailand?

Hook: This was technically the biggest season budget-wise, but it didn’t feel too overwhelmingly big — I didn’t feel like I was at a theme park or something, which can keep you feeling safer too, when you’re doing your work.

How much research did you do into Buddhism?

In my last job that I did — “Cruel Intentions” — one of my hairdressers was so sweet and gave me a whole book on Buddhism, so I was reading a bit of that. But I had my fair share of reading Eckhart Tolle — I’ve always been very spiritually curious. I grew up in the church — none of this is new to me, and I took a comparative religions course. I feel like I have very similar interests to Piper.

I wanted, honestly, more than anything, not even just having to learn all of facts about Buddhism, just doing the practice. I tried mediating while I was there and did a solitude practice for weeks while I was there as well — just trying to live what she’s experiencing. I think that’s probably best way to do it — practice yourself.

How do you think of Piper’s spirituality? Are you playing it as genuine or as an act of rebellion to her parents?

I think it’s very genuine, but I do think it is coming from a place of fear and not knowing what to do with her life. It’s like, “I’m going to latch onto this thing — I’m super passionate about it — it’s my whole major; is my identity.” She’s learning about identity in the way of like, “no, I shouldn’t have an identity,” but she’s also wearing Buddhism as a keychain almost on herself.

I do think, like I said, it’s out of fear. She doesn’t want to end up like her parents. She doesn’t want to end up in that world. I think she has a shame around it, and I do think plays a major part as to why she pursues this journey for herself.

What was it like being there? Did you film in an actual temple?

Yes, that was a temple in Ko Samui. We went and visited with them in the first couple weeks, I was like, “we need to check out this temple — if we’re going to be filming there and we have to film scenes talking about the temple, we need to go check it out.” And there were monks; it was an active temple.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“The White Lotus” airs Sundays on HBO and Max.

The post ‘The White Lotus’ Star Sarah Catherine Hook Says Piper Is Too Caught Up in Her Drama to Think About Her Brothers’ Shenanigans appeared first on TheWrap.