Leslie Bibb Improvised A Key Scene In The White Lotus Finale

It’s been two days since The White Lotus aired the devastating Season 3 finale, and star Leslie Bibb still hasn’t seen it. In fact, she’s yet to watch anything from this season, where she played Kate Bohr, a church-going housewife with an immaculate bob who’s vacationing in Thailand with her two childhood friends.

“I can’t watch Aimee Lou [Wood] and Walton [Goggins] die,” the actor tells Bustle over the phone, nodding to the murders of star-crossed lovers Rick and Chelsea. “I just saw a clip of something leading up to it, and I started crying just seeing the clip.”

More than a year after filming in Thailand, she’s still “not ready to let it go.” Instead, she only watches The White Lotus through memes sent by friends, most of which involve Kate’s catty gossip sessions with BFFs Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). In the finale, their simmering tensions build up to a Real Housewives-style confrontation and a cathartic reconciliation.

Even on their final morning, nothing could ruin Kate’s experience at the White Lotus — including witnessing the murder of hotel owner Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn).

“Somebody asked me, ‘Do you think [Kate’s] going to talk about the murders?’ I was like, ‘Oh, no, [she’s] going to go home, and it’s going to be the best trip at the best time,’” Bibb says. “She is going to compartmentalize this, and she can’t wait to tell everybody in Austin how great it was.”

Below, Bibb opens up about the finale, an improvised moment among the trio, and her favorite deleted scene.

The trio has a surprisingly happy ending in the finale after Carrie Coon delivered that truly resonating monologue. What was your first reaction to it?

It felt like a build to truth, someone finally putting their sword down and leaning into their vulnerability. It was such a beautiful conclusion for these three women. We were all present and not worried about the camera, our attention was so on each other. Is there something where we all say “I love you” to each other?

There is.

That wasn’t in the script. That was happening in real time. There’s a weird thing that happens with this show where you just feel very connected. Art is imitating life. I just felt like there was no acting in that moment.

It’s been said that the cast shot multiple endings. Did you also film a different ending for this trio of friends?

I don’t know what people are talking about. We didn’t film any other ending because I was in the ending. They wrote different endings and put some of those pages out so they could see if there was a rat selling stories.

What did you film that didn’t make the final cut?

Every episode was an hour and a half. I have a lot of monologues that got cut. Because Kate doesn’t like silence, she would have these long monologues about nothing, but they were about something.

[The show’s creator] Mike [White] kept saying, “I gave you a dream sequence, and I gave Victoria a dream sequence.” I was gutted when Kate’s dream sequence got cut. That’s what I wake up from before going onto the balcony and hearing [Jaclyn and Laurie] talking about me, so it felt very tied to that.

What was in that dream sequence?

There’s a whole thing where Kate didn’t know what a ping-pong show and ladyboys [a gender-identity label used in Thailand that has its own context and history] are. Kate thinks she’s very worldly, and clearly, she isn’t. I am coming through this dinner table scene, and everyone’s frozen. It felt very The Shining-esque. I sit down in a dress that Jaclyn and Laurie are wearing. Then these two ladyboy waitresses walk up and go, “They’re ready for you,” and hand me a ping-pong [paddle].

I’m playing ping-pong against Michelle and Carrie, but they’re one person. It’s competitive. I walk out, and Valentin’s doing something I was scared to do in the spa — I had a spa treatment that got cut too. Then I come back and everyone’s frozen. Valentin’s on a cross in the water, hovering. It’s so metaphorical, like everything she’s been talking about is swirling, and it feels sacrificial.

One of my favorite moments was your scene with Parker Posey. Did you film any more scenes that explored your characters’ weird dynamic?

No. I read that scene and was like, “Oh, my God, I’m going to have a scene with Parker Posey. What the f*ck happened at Claire Popovich’s weekend?” If storylines are going to intersect, that felt like a natural one. I know Kate can’t wait to go back and say, “Claire Popovich, guess who I saw on holiday?” The sh*t-talking we’re doing about Victoria in Austin is going to be big.

Do you wish that you and your partner, Sam Rockwell, were able to film together?

I always want that. I did my audition with him. When you get to work with great people, you rise. You level up in a great way. That’s why I think I’m so good in the show, because of Carrie and Michelle. That trio works because we’re all working off of each other. So yes, I wish Kate had a weird little thing where she could’ve interfaced with Frank. We’ve done a couple of movies, but we’ve never really been in the same ring together, and one day I hope we do.

Before you found out who died in the script, did you have a theory about the murders?

No, it’s so weird. I hadn’t gotten all the scripts. I was on a treadmill and calling Walton, he said something about snakes, and I froze. I started reeling and being like, “I need to get hypnosis.” So when I read the script, I wasn’t even thinking about who dies. I was having an anxiety attack about when these f*cking snakes were going to show up and if Kate [was involved].

If Mike White asked you to come back, what would you say?

Where’s my passport?

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.