The White Lotus season 4 is heading to France with a wild mix of casting choices.
The next chapter of HBO’s hit series is taking shape, and the ensemble so far signals a very different kind of season. Here’s who’s in, what they bring, and what the casting tells us about where the show is going.
The Setup
Mike White’s The White Lotus is decamping to France for its fourth season, swapping out tropical settings for what the show describes as a luxury resort. HBO’s logline confirms the season will “follow a new group of White Lotus hotel guests and employees over the span of a week,” and beyond that, plot details remain under wraps.
That secrecy is standard for HBO, which has kept each new season of the anthology series tightly guarded until close to premiere. What we do know comes from the cast announcements, which started rolling in December 2025 and have been trickling out since. And the names paint an interesting picture.
The First Wave: Alexander Ludwig and AJ Michalka
Alexander Ludwig and AJ Michalka were the first two cast members confirmed for season 4 in December 2025, according to Variety.
Ludwig, best known for playing Cato (a tribute in the first Hunger Games film), posted on Instagram on Dec. 19 to mark the announcement: “Beyond honored. Huge thank you to Mike for your trust in me and can’t wait to bring this unbelievable material to life,” he wrote.
Michalka brings a different kind of recognition. She’s one half of the sister duo Aly & AJ, who were fixtures on Disney Channel in the 2000s and 2010s. But she also has a long acting résumé: she appeared in The Goldbergs from 2014 to 2023 and its spinoff, Schooled, from 2019 to 2020. She posted the casting news on Instagram in December, writing, “Checking in! Let’s party Mike.”
Both of these picks lean toward a younger, pop-culture-familiar energy. If you’ve been tracking how each White Lotus season builds its ensemble, that’s a noticeable choice for the opening announcements.
The heavyweights arrive
The following month brought a very different caliber of name. Steve Coogan and Helena Bonham Carter both joined the cast, along with Caleb Jonte Edwards.
Coogan is known for portraying the Alan Partridge character and is a two-time Academy Award nominee, tied to his work as a writer and producer of Philomena. His casting adds a sharp comedic presence to the ensemble, and his ability to play characters who are simultaneously sympathetic and insufferable fits the White Lotus template well.
Helena Bonham Carter, meanwhile, brings one of the deepest filmographies of anyone who’s appeared on the show. Her Academy Award nominations came from performances in The King’s Speech and The Wings of the Dove. Her film credits span decades — from the Harry Potter franchise to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to Netflix series The Crown as Princess Margaret.
The newcomers
Caleb Jonte Edwards is a true newcomer to the industry. The White Lotus season 4 will be his third credited project. His previous work includes a single episode of the Australian drama series Black Snow and a short film called The Man and the Woman.
Model Marissa Long is making her acting debut with this season. She was open about the significance of the moment when the news came out, writing on Instagram: “I’ll try and make this short and sweet, but I am absolutely raw right now!!! God is so good — I am in the middle of so many feelings and I’m unbelievably honored to be joining this with such incredible people.” She continued: “And thank you Mike White!!!!!!!!!! I’m speechless and cannot wait for this journey, feeling deeply blessed.. LETS GO!!!!”
White has cast newcomers and non-traditional actors before, but having two relative unknowns alongside Oscar nominees and franchise veterans is a wider gap than previous seasons.
The character actors
Chris Messina rounds out the confirmed cast on the more established end. His most recent acting credit comes from the second season of Based on a True Story (he also starred in season one), and he’s appeared in Away We Go (2009) and Ben Affleck’s Argo (2012).
Sandra Bernhard, the Marty Supreme actress, will also appear. Her career stretches back to Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy (1982) and includes Without You I’m Nothing (1990); seasons four through 10 of Roseanne; and two episodes of Severance’s second season. She’s also appeared in two Ryan Murphy projects: Pose (2018-2021) and seasons eight and 11 of American Horror Story.
The full picture of season 4 won’t come into focus until HBO decides to share more. But the casting alone, with its combination of Oscar pedigree, debut performers, and a shift to France, points to a season that’s building something
