\n<\/p>\n
Woody Harrelson<\/strong> recently shut down rumors that he turned down a role in The White Lotus<\/em><\/a> season 3 due to financial disagreements.<\/p>\n Woody, 63, had been considered for the role of Rick (Walton Goggins<\/strong>) but couldn\u2019t come to an agreement regarding his pay, according to an article published by The Hollywood Reporter<\/em><\/a> on Wednesday, April 2. The outlet originally reported that Woody \u201cwent all the way to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav<\/strong> to see if his salary could be negotiated,\u201d but was ultimately told \u201cno.\u201d However, Woody\u2019s team sent a statement to the publication the following day and denied the claims.<\/p>\n \u201cI was set to do White Lotus<\/em> and was very excited. Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision,\u201d the True Detective<\/em> alum said in a statement released to The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> on Thursday, April 3. \u201cThings must be meant to be though, because I couldn\u2019t have done as fantastic a job as Sam<\/strong> [Rockwell<\/strong>], who is killing it.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, April 4, The Daily Beast<\/em><\/a> stated that Woody had ultimately signed on in the role of Frank, Rick\u2019s friend played by Sam, 56, before he had to drop out, but his reps didn\u2019t give a reason as to why his role had changed.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was set to do the show and they moved the date. And because they moved to date, he was no longer available so they recast,\u201d a spokesperson for the former Cheers<\/em> star told the publication. \u201cThat part was the Sam part.\u201d<\/p>\n Sam had one of the most iconic scenes<\/a> in The White Lotus<\/em> season 3, and his four-minute monologue went viral almost instantly. However, the moment almost didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I wasn\u2019t sure I was going to be able to pull this off,\u201d the Way, Way Back<\/em> star told THR<\/em>. \u201cI was in the middle of shooting in South Africa on Gore Verbinski\u2019s<\/strong> movie Good Luck, Have Fun, Don\u2019t Die<\/em>, and the monologue was, as you have now seen, a lot. I was scared that I didn\u2019t have enough time to prep and get into the headspace of this character.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cI pitched [The White Lotus<\/em> creator Mike White<\/strong>] some ideas, and we read it through, and he was on board with the take I had on this guy. We wanted to make him feel possibly ex-military, super masculine and kind of nonchalant, which worked in contrast to Mike\u2019s writing in the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Sam\u2019s longtime partner, Leslie Bibb<\/strong>, who plays Kate in The White Lotus<\/em> season 3, had previously spoken about how impressed she was with Frank\u2019s monologue<\/a> in the series.<\/p>\n \u201cI read all eight [episodes] and I remember when I got to this monologue and this scene and I remember thinking, \u2018I\u2019ve never seen anything like this on television,\u2019 and I felt like it\u2019s what Mike was really trying to talk about with this show,\u201d the Babysitter<\/em> actress said during a March 18 appearance on CBS Mornings<\/em>. \u201cHe comes in and he\u2019s like, \u2018Here\u2019s my truth\u2019 and he\u2019s unapologetic.\u201d<\/p>\n