Months afterThe White Lotusseason 3’s ending, stars Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood have shared inside details about their feud rumors as well as a deleted scene of their characters. HBO looks to bringThe White Lotusback for season 4, but audiences are still unpacking the powerful material from season 3. Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood played two of the most fascinating characters: Rick and Chelsea, an age-gap couple who met their premature ends in the season finale. Audiences have speculated on a feud between the two stars for months.
Speaking withVariety, the twoWhite Lotusstars shared stories about their experience on the set of the prestige HBO dramedy. They were quick to shut down any rumors about a feud, with Goggins saying,“There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me.“They also addressed matters such as the controversial SNL skit, which poked fun at Aimee Lou Wood, and the trivial backlash surrounding Walton Goggins' unfollowing his co-star on Instagram. More importantly, the two shared a critical deleted scene that was removed from the finale.
Walton Goggins on the alleged feud:“There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he says, getting choked up. Goggins turns to look at Wood. “This is Goldie Hawn. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special.There is no feud. She is love and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”
Aimee Lou Wood on the deleted scene:“We designed the whole journey, even down to the fact that Chelsea gets on Rick in the first [love] scene. Then in the last episode, it was Rick picking Chelsea up. It was so, so delicate.”
Walton Goggins on the deleted scene:“The last one was two people who were free. It was this very long, suspended moment of these two people looking at each other. It was so powerful… Fuck you, Mike [White]! We want a director’s cut!””
What The White Lotus Deleted Scene Means
Another Rick & Chelsea Scene Could Have Disrupted The Finale
The White Lotuscreator, Mike White, produces, writes, and directs each episode of the show, so it’s hard to argue against his singular vision.While season 3 was more divisive than the previous two, Rick and Chelsea’s story was one of the more celebrated plots, with both actors being fan favorites. This pair’s fate, particularly with Chelsea dying, is one of the more tragic outcomes audiences have seen inThe White Lotus, and these characters already had a moment of catharsis.An additional sex scene might have been redundantafter the already tender moments they shared.
It makes sense that Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood would be disappointed to watch the season 3 finale and not see a scene that they considered to be integral to their characters' journey. As Walton Goggins mentions in the interview, they had already shared a sex scene earlier in the season. This new scene might have provided an additional poignancy as they describe, but the point was already enforced the first time around. The ending to their shared narrative, the way Mike White plotted it out, was exceptional.
The Pair’s Passion For Each Other Was Reflected In Their Work
Image via Max
I’ll be honest, I couldn’t care less about whether these two actors were feuding. What matters to me is that they put on the performances that they did. However, now that I’ve read about their respective thoughts on each other and their characters, it’s evident that they care deeply about each other, and that helped inform their work. Wood described Goggins as the “most enthusiastic man ever,” while Goggins described feeling an instant connection with his co-star. The stars ofThe White Lotushave commonly poured their own personalities into their characters. In this case, it was their connection.
