The White Lotus actor Scott Glenn has revealed he almost turned down a role in the hit HBO series, thinking it was another “old guy” part.
During an appearance on The Daily Show, the octogenarian revealed that when he was first offered the part of Jim Hollinger, he turned it down. “I just finished a film called Eugene the Marine that was tons of martial arts and dancing and shit like that, and it was basically about ageism and how you deal with it when you’re old and still have a life left in the tank,” he actor said.
“And [The White Lotus producers] sent me a description of this old guy with a cane, and I thought fuck that.” In the show, we first meet Hollinger in Bangkok as he recovers at home from a recent hospital visit. Walton Goggins’ Rick believes he is the man who murdered his father, but is unable to enact the revenge he envisaged because Hollinger appeared so frail.
Continuing, Nashville actor Glenn said he changed his mind after watching 15 minutes of the show with his wife Carol. “I was sucked right into it,” he said. “[And I thought], you know, I think I want to be a part of this deal. I talked to [Mike White] the next morning.”
Later on in the interview, Glenn was asked about how the show depicts men facing all kinds of complex emotional issues. Host Michael Kosta said he felt “men right now are struggling”, citing a “a male friendship recession” as well as high rates of depression and suicide. “What are your thoughts on men today?” he asked the veteran actor. “What can we steal? What can we learn from an older generation that would help us?”
Glenn simply replied: “Never pay a tariff.”
He advised fans to “stay tuned” for episode 8, with season three set to draw to a close this weekend. The 90-minute finale airs on HBO at 9pm ET this Sunday (April 6).
The third instalment of the show received a four-star review from NME, with Nick Levine writing: “A little sweetness definitely helps to balance out the prevailing saltiness. As the season progresses, the sneaky intricacy of White’s plotting begins to yield surreal, shocking and genuinely hilarious moments.
“No one can write a scene where one character pretends not to remember another quite as exquisitely as White. Tanya may be gone, but this transgressive soap opera remains unique and completely jaw-dropping.”
English (US) · 