Brian Hiatt
Contact Brian Hiatt on X View all posts by Brian Hiatt April 28, 2026
Mike White is already shooting season four of 'The White Lotus' while reworking it for Dern, according to Deadline. Simon Ackerman/Getty Images On The White Lotus Season Four, Helena Bonham Carter’s loss has turned out to be Laura Dern‘s gain. Dern is joining the HBO series, stepping into the spot left open after Bonham Carter’s departure late last week, Deadline reports.
According to Deadline, White is rewriting the part for Dern, rather than just slotting her into the character originally conceived for Bonham Carter. HBO said in a statement last week that once cameras started rolling, it became clear the original version of the character showrunner/creator Mike White wrote for Bonham Carter “did not align once on set.”
Dern and White are long-time collaborators, going all the way back to his directorial debut, 2007’s Year of the Dog. They went on to co-create HBO’s Enlightened, which ran from 2011 to 2013, with Dern earning rave reviews for her performance and winning a Golden Globe. Dern also made an uncredited cameo on Season Two of The White Lotus, voicing Abby, the wife of Michael Imperioli’s character, Dominic, during a brief phone call.
