Laura Dern is experiencing the thrill of having her passport stamped. The Big Little Lies actress has officially signed on for season four of The White Lotus, as confirmed by HBO on social media on April 28th, just a week after Helena Bonham Carter's departure from the production. While this marks the first time Dern will fully appear in the series, she previously had an uncredited voice cameo in season two, voicing Abby, the estranged wife of Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli) during a heated, profanity-littered phone call.
"Shut the f--k up, Dom," Dern's character exclaimed during the phone call featured in the season two premiere. "Shut up with the f--king sorrys already, OK? Enough. I've wasted enough of my life. I don't want you calling me anymore! Oh my God, please! It's f--king done! Okay? Leave me alone! Seriously, f--k you! Go f--k yourself, you f--king piece of f-king s--t!"
However, Dern will not reprise her role as Abby but instead play a new character written specifically for her by creator Mike White, with whom she previously collaborated on the HBO series Enlightened. The Emmy winner's casting comes just a week after Bonham Carter's abrupt departure was confirmed. Bonham Carter opted to part ways with production nine days after filming began in France alongside the ensemble cast featuring AJ Michalka, Kumail Nanjiani, Chris Messina, Max Greenfield, and more.
"With filming just underway on season four of The White Lotus, it had become apparent that the character which Mike White created for Helena Bonham Carter did not align once on set," an HBO spokesperson said in a statement to E! News on April 24th. "The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks."
The network emphasized that White as well as the rest of the production were "saddened" to part ways with Bonham Carter but emphasized that they remain "ardent fans," adding that they "very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon."
