The 12 Biggest Breakout Stars of ‘The White Lotus’

In three seasons, The White Lotus has killed off several of its most vivid characters—but off-screen, the show is life-giving when it comes to its cast’s career. From longtime working actors who finally got their showstopping roles to new faces who burst onto the scene playing cocky, complicated, or conniving characters, the series has become one of the strongest launching pads in a long time.

Creator Mike White has been rightly praised for his intuitive casting and for the deep and surprising roles he’s written for actors. The show has inspired plenty of memes and even an off-screen relationship (Meghann and Leo, we’re looking at you), but it’s the huge opportunity these roles give actors that have made The White Lotus one of the most desirable gigs in Hollywood. Vanity Fair takes a look at which actors really broke out on the show and what they’ve been doing since:

Season One

Murray Bartlett

The Australian actor has had an established career for years, appearing on HBO’s Sex and the City, the soap opera Guiding Light, and the 2014 series Looking. But when he played Armond, the stressed-out luxury resort manager whose addiction leads him into all sorts of trouble, Bartlett’s career reached a whole new level. He was nominated for a SAG Award and an Indie Spirit Award and won the supporting-actor Emmy for his work. Though Armond didn’t survive, Bartlett has since landed roles on some other of TV’s hottest shows. He earned two more Emmy nominations for his roles as Nick De Noia in the Hulu 2022 miniseries Welcome to Chippendales, and Frank in the heartbreaking episode “Long, Long Time” of the HBO drama series The Last of Us. He’ll soon be seen in the second season of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, opposite fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman.

Sydney Sweeney

Sweeney had already broken out on the hit series Euphoria when The White Lotus debuted, but the role of snotty college sophomore Olivia Mossbacher proved her range, and she went on to earn double Emmy nominations in 2022 for both Euphoria and The White Lotus. Later, she starred in rom-com smash Anyone but You and the horror pic Immaculate, among other things. Now considered one of the most in-demand young actresses in Hollywood, she’ll next be seen in two thrillers, Echo Valley, opposite Julianne Moore, and The Housemaid, with Amanda Seyfried.

Fred Hechinger

Playing Quinn Mossbacher, a young man who travels to Hawaii, where he realizes he’d much rather spend his days in paradise than with his entitled family, was a breakout role for Hechinger. After appearing in the miniseries Pam & Tommy in 2022, Hechinger had his biggest year yet in 2024, appearing in Thelma, opposite June Squibb, the Oscar-nominated drama Nickel Boys, and playing the volatile Emperor Caracalla in Gladiator II.

Lukas Gage

Before The White Lotus, Gage was probably best known for leaking a video of his Zoom audition in which a director is heard insulting Gage’s apartment, unaware that Gage could hear him talking patronizingly about “these poor people” who “live in these tiny apartments.” The clip went viral and the director later apologized. He still didn’t get that role, but soon landed a small role on Euphoria as Tyler Clarkson, most notable for being beaten to a pulp by Nate (Jacob Elordi). And though his role on The White Lotus was also only a recurring role, he made plenty of waves as Dillon, an employee of the hotel who is Armond’s object of desire. After The White Lotus, Cage starred in the fourth season of You as a wealthy playboy who owns a London social club, and appeared on the TV series Fargo and the horror sequel Smile 2.

Season Two

Meghann Fahy

Some of us were big fans of Fahy on the Freeform drama The Bold Type. But The White Lotus took this former Broadway actress to a whole new level when she played Daphne Sullivan, who heads to Italy with her finance bro husband Cameron (Theo James). Her performance as the unreadable and unpredictable Daphne was one of the highlights of the season, and earned her an Emmy nomination. Fahy next starred in another rich-people murder mystery with Netflix’s The Perfect Couple, also starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber, and will soon be seen in the thriller Drop, which hits theaters on April 11. She’ll next return to TV in another mysterious series centered on a wealthy family in Netflix’s Sirens, with Julianne Moore.

Theo James

James had a couple movie franchises under his belt—the Underworld films and the YA Divergent series—by the time he checked into The White Lotus. But playing the smarmy Cameron Sullivan showed us a whole different side to James, who snagged an Emmy nomination for the role. He’s since gone on to star in The Gentlemen, by Guy Ritchie, which was renewed by Netflix for a second season in August.

Will Sharpe

Many who tuned into the second season of The White Lotus were probably meeting Sharpe for the first time. Some were even surprised he’s British because of how well he played American Ethan Spiller, a tech nerd whose rocky relationship with his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza) leads him to become paranoid that she’s cheated on him with his best friend Cameron. Sharpe’s unraveling as Ethan was one of the most fascinating storylines of the season, and his strong performance is due in part to his experience as a storyteller himself. Before The White Lotus, Sharpe had already created and starred in the British comedy series Flowers with Olivia Colman and written and directed three films, including The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Sharpe, who was nominated for an Emmy for The White Lotus, was most recently seen in A Real Pain, playing a tour guide who leads the two cousins (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) around Poland. He will soon star in Too Much, the new series from Lena Dunham, and a British series about Mozart.

Leo Woodall

Woodall’s career has taken off after playing Jack, the charming British traveler who flirts and distracts Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) while on vacation. His rom-com series One Day solidified him as a charismatic leading man, and he also starred in Apple TV’s thriller series Prime Target as a mathematician whose life is in danger. He then played the object of Bridget Jones’s affection in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and has three very different movies coming up: the sci-fi film Nomad, historical drama Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe, and the thriller Tuner with Dustin Hoffman.

Season Three

Sam Nivola

This nepo baby (he’s the son of actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola) has one of the trickiest and most interesting roles of the season playing Lochlan Ratliff, the youngest Ratliff child, who has an icky encounter with his older brother (Patrick Schwarzenegger) that viewers may never recover from. He was previously seen in Noah Baumbach’s White Noise and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (playing the son of the main characters in both), but we’re betting his agile performance in such a complicated role on The White Lotus leads to many more interesting parts. He’ll next take on some lighter fare, starring with Kumail Nanjiani and Molly Shannon in Bobby Farrelly’s new comedy film.

Tayme Thapthimthong

Playing the well-intentioned Gaitok on this season has been a career-making opportunity for Thapthimthong, a British actor of Thai descent. He had a minor role in the 2022 film Thai Cave Rescue, and now has two higher-profile projects in the works: the action thriller Mutiny, which is a Jason Statham–starring film slated for release in 2026, and the sci-fi horror TV spinoff Alien: Earth, which comes out on Hulu sometime this year.

Patrick Schwarzenegger

Speaking of nepo babies, Schwarzenegger, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, delivered a strong performance in the 2022 series The Staircase, but his role as the privileged Saxon Ratliff on The White Lotus was on another level because he proved his ability to bring layers to what could have been an easily clichéd character. Saxon, for all his bravado, is reeling from the disturbing sexual encounter he’s had with his brother and struggling with maintaining his status as an alpha male. Schwarzenegger’s next roles have not yet been announced, but, trust us, they’re coming.

Aimee Lou Wood

Wood—and her iconic teeth—is so enjoyable to watch as the free-spirited Chelsea, who is doing her best to tame her troubled man-friend Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins). The role comes on the heels of her stint on Netflix’s series Sex Education, which earned her a British Academy Television Award. She also appeared in the British miniseries Toxic Town, which hit Netflix in February, and is soon starring in a BBC series called Film Club (which she also cowrote).