The upcoming fourth season of HBO's satirical anthology series, The White Lotus, is gearing up to welcome a fresh crop of characters, and they're bringing back the nostalgia with a vengeance. Following in the footsteps of Sydney Sweeney, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Jennifer Coolidge, the series has just confirmed the addition of Alexander Ludwig from The Hunger Games and AJ Michalka of Aly & AJ, who will bring their respective talents to the luxurious locale of a French resort.
Alexander Ludwig, who expressed his "honor" to be part of The White Lotus, had a long-running role as Bjorn Lothbrok on Vikings for six years. Meanwhile, AJ Michalka, who recently placed third on The Masked Singer as Strawberry Shortcake in 2024, will add her musical prowess to the mix, following in the footsteps of her 34-year-old sister Aly who has starred in The Lovely Bones, The Goldbergs, and other notable projects.
The series, known for its trend of setting each season in a different fictional hotel location (Hawaii for season one, Italy for season two, and Thailand for season three), will continue this tradition with a luxurious resort in France. As Parker Posey, a series alum, confirmed to E! News in September, the next installment promises to be a visually stunning and thematically rich experience.
While the incoming stars will undoubtedly be surrounded by lavish amenities during filming, they won't be getting special treatment when it comes to compensation. In June, season three star Jason Isaacs revealed that each actor receives roughly $40,000 per episode, which he admitted was not a hefty payday. However, the team behind the Emmy-winning franchise explained that giving their performers a level playing field salary-wise is a way to keep the focus on making great TV.
"Everyone is treated the same on The White Lotus," producer David Bernard told The Hollywood Reporter in April. "They get paid the same, and we do alphabetical billing, so you're getting people who want to do the project for the right reasons." Similarly, casting director Meredith Tucker noted that this strategy makes luring the best talent for the murder-mystery series "so much easier." "You tell people this is what it is," she told THR. "And some won't do it—and honestly, you can't hold it against people who need to make a living. Our series regulars are pretty much doing this for scale."
