Woody Harrelson has shared the real reason he turned down a role in The White Lotus after claims of a salary dispute.
The actor was offered a role in the third season of the hit HBO show, which will reveal the answer to its overarching mystery when the finale airs this weekend: which character will die?
It was recently reported that the Cheers and True Detective star was asked to play Rick, the character played by Walton Goggins, but turned down the role as he wanted more money.
The show, created by Mike White, has a fixed salary in place, meaning all cast members, including Parker Posey, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Carrie Coon and Aimee Lou Wood, receive the same amount.
However, Harrelson has debunked the narrative that he declined the opportunity due to money, stating that he actually had signed up to play the role of Frank, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
In casting that was kept secret ahead of time, Frank, the friend of Rick’s who shows up midway through the season, ended up being played by Sam Rockwell.
“I was set to do The White Lotus and very excited,” Harrelson said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.”
Harrelson noted that “things must be meant to be” as he “couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam” who he said was “killing it” in the role.
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Rockwell has been receiving huge acclaim for his supporting turn in the series. Also starring in the show is his wife Leslie Bibb, although the pair are yet to share any scenes.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the show’s composer had left the series due to friction with writer and director White.
Chilean-Canadian musician Cristóbal Tapia de Veer composed the much-loved scores for the first and second seasons of the black comedy which earned him two Primetime Emmy awards.
However, following a lukewarm response to the theme for season three – which was a notable departure from the tune of the first two seasons – de Veer has announced that he won’t be returning for season four.
The 51-year-old revealed that he had made a longer version of the song, which contained nods to the previous scores that could have been used in the opening credits.
When the production team approved of this idea, he revealed that White “wasn;’t happy” with the idea, and rejected it outright. Tapia de Veer has since uploaded the full version to YouTube.
