Posted in: HBO, Max, TV | Tagged: The White Lotus

The White Lotus: Goggins & Wood Tackle Season 3 Tension Rumors

During an emotional interview, The White Lotus stars Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood shut down rumors about issues during Season 3 filming.

You need look no further than social media to understand just how popular the third season of HBO and Mike White's The White Lotus was, where theories about what went down, what didn't go down, what should've gone down, and what could end up going down next season are still very much alive. Unfortunately, there have also been a ton of rumors and innuendos about how things went during filming, with rumblings that there was drama with the cast. Walton Goggins (Rick) and Aimee Lou Wood (Chelsea) seemed to be two of the biggest names thrust into the spotlight, with reports that the two didn't get along on the set and that Goggins unfollowing Wood on Instagram was a "smoking gun" proving it. As the Emmy Awards push continues, Goggins and Wood spoke with Variety on those issues and others in what would turn out to be a very emotional and heartfelt interview. Here's a look at just some of the highlights, but the entire interview is definitely worth your time.

Goggins on His Relationship with Wood: "There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me. This is Goldie Hawn [looking at Wood]. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I'll be on an island, I think Greece. But she's special. There is no feud. She is love, and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply."

Wood on Goggins Unfollowing Her on Instagram: "I think it's such a comment on where we're at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don't give a shite about Instagram. Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?" Realizing that her efforts to shift the social media conversation back to the third season could end up doing more damage than good, Wood added, "Eventually I just started to sit back and watch these people making something out of absolutely nothing."

Goggins on Unfollowing Wood on Instagram: "If I may add, just to put this to bed? The following or unfollowing. I'm a grown-ass man," Goggins added, noting that he has a personal process when it comes to finishing a project and having to step away from a character – a process that quite often involves pulling away being alone for a bit. "When I left 'Justified,' I went up to Tim [Olyphant], and I hugged him and I said, 'I love you, and I hope I see you in rooms for the rest of my life.' I didn't talk to him for almost two years. I've done that with every single thing that I've done."

"My catharsis in this experience was different than other people's, because of my history in this place. I knew what we had gone through, and I knew how close that we had gotten, and I needed to begin to process saying goodbye to Rick and Chelsea," Goggins shared, tearing up during the interview. Goggins spent three years searching for a sense of peace after his wife died by suicide in 2004 – a journey that led him to Thailand and then Bangkok. "And I knew that that was going to take a while for me, so I let her know, this is what I've gotta do. And she was extremely supportive about that."

So when filming ended on the third season of The White Lotus, Goggins "needed to just back away from everyone. I haven't spoken to anyone. I couldn't handle it. Judge me or don't. I don't give a fuck what you think. This is my process. Rick means everything to me, and Chelsea means everything to me. And so that's what I needed to do for me to process all of this." To further prove that the rumors were just that, Goggins would go on to re-follow Wood on Instagram during the interview.

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