The White Lotus S4: Casting, location, character returns and everything we know so far

Respectfully, I need Parker Posey back

Ten theories about The White Lotus season three which will make you think twice
Fabio Lovino/HBO

Love him or hate him, Mike White’s The White Lotus series is the gift that keeps on giving — if the gift is office small talk that’s less mind-numbing than John from HR's postcode lottery addiction and finance Margaret’s ongoing feud with her daughter-in-law. From the incest storyline to how much Aimee Lou Wood airtime we got on our screens in series three, people have been anxiously scanning the internet for any morsels of information about season four after being confirmed in 2025.

Luckily, little drops of information have slowly been revealed ahead of the fourth season’s release which is speculated to land in late 2026. Here’s everything we know so far.

Location

a birds eye view of the resort

(Image credit: Château de La Messardière)

Clearly inspired by Emily in Paris, or perhaps just the buttery allure of their viennoiserie, showrunner Mike White is heading to France for season four, but we now know that the location itself is changing things up a little from the previous three seasons. Variety reported that the shooting location was confirmed as “a 19th-century palace-turned-luxury hotel called the Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez on the Côte d’Azur.” Roughly translated, this means that it will not be another Four Seasons where the last three were set.

Château de La Messardière is undeniably a paradise; set within 32 acres of parasol pines, cypress trees, and jasmine, the resort is part of Airelles Collection which is a group of five-star hotels – and a stay at the resort can cost between $3,000 to $8,000 a night. Very on-brand.

Filming

White Lotus season 4 rumours

Unfortunately, unlike the previous series, the glitzy series will not even begin filming until April 2026 which is over a year since season 3 premiered. Putting our rusty GCSE maths to use, this suggests that if production takes the same amount of time as its predecessors, it means series four may not be airing until May 2027… That’s a similar gap between series 2 and 3 which was a whopping 27 months.

Casting

These White Lotus finale reactions are as brilliant as the show's ending

So far, we only have two confirmed cast members – Alexander Ludwig, and AJ Michalka, although their roles remain unknown.

Series three brought back S1 character Belinda, and in a twist no one except die hard conspiracists saw coming, also saw the surprise return on Gary / Greg, the former husband of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge’s character), who saw a tragic end in S2. Fans have already speculated which characters could make a comeback in season 4, with Daphne and Harper from series two (played by Meghann Fahy and Aubrey Plaza) and Laurie and Victoria Ratcliffe (Carrie Coon, and Parker Posey) from series 3 being the front runners. Sabrina Impacciatore, Simona Tabasco, and Charlotte Le Bon are also fan-favourites to return.

Jason Isaacs told Entertainment Tonight he was “jealous” of anyone who was going to be in it, adding that “There’s nobody writing or directing like Mike White.” He encouraged any actor approached to “jump” at the opportunity, and said he has “friends who are going to be in it”.

With production kicking off in under four months, hopefully we’ll have some more casting rumours soon.


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Hermione Blandford
Content Editor

Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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