HBO‘s The White Lotus is known for attracting Hollywood’s biggest stars to its darkly comic, murder-riddled luxury resorts and this week’s episode adds a whole new famous face. Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell joins The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5 “Full-Moon Party” as Rick’s shady friend Frank in Bangkok. The two old pals meet up at a hotel in the Thai city where Frank reveals the spiritual journey he’s been on since he last saw Rick.
Sam Rockwell gets to sip camomile tea while delivering a poignant monologue to Walton Goggins about sex addiction, ladyboys, and the eternal search for self. Consider the Guest Actor in a Drama Series Emmy locked for Mr. Leslie Bibb!
**Spoilers for The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5 “Full-Moon Party,” now streaming on MAX**
The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5 “Full-Moon Party” divides its focus between the guests who are partying close to the resort and Rick’s arrival in Bangkok. Last week, Rick told girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) that he had to go to Bangkok because that’s where the hotel’s rich owner Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) was convalescing after a stroke. Rick reveals that Hollinger murdered his father and Chelsea immediately compares his mission to that of The Princess Bride‘s Inigo Montoya.
Rick is now in Bangkok and the first thing he does is reconnect with old pal Frank. In a series of stunning scenes, Frank reveals that he’s been sober for 10 months because he became addicted to sex. Specifically, addicted to dressing like an Asian woman while being railed by white middle-aged men. The conversation delves into the larger themes of The White Lotus Season 3 while also offering Rick (and the audience) much to ponder.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sam Rockwell on The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 5 “Full-Moon Party”…
Who is Sam Rockwell in The White Lotus Season 3?
Sam Rockwell plays Rick’s friend Frank in The White Lotus Season 3. It’s heavily implied that Frank has given Rick a duffle bag full of guns.
Over drinks, Frank explains to Rick that he moved to Thailand because he had to leave the States (probably because he’s a criminal) and always had a thing for Asian girls. He starts to detail how he was “out of control” with his partying. He was sleeping with local women of every variety every night. After “about a thousand” of these encounters, Frank says he started to lose it.
“Why do I feel this need to fuck all these women?” he asks aloud. “What is desire? The form of this cute Asian girl, why does it have such a grip on me?”
“‘Cause she’s the opposite of me? Is she gonna complete me in some way?”
Frank reveals that he came to the conclusion that sleeping with these Asian girls would never satisfy him. He wanted to be one of them.
A confused Rick listens on as he learns his friend started to hire men who looked like him to fuck him dressed up like an Asian woman. “And then I got addicted to that,” Frank says, admitting he would hire an Asian girl to watch him while this went on.
Frank said that he eventually realized he had to pump the brakes on all the sex, drugs, and drinking. He turned to Buddhism as an escape from “the never-ending carousal of lust and suffering.”
Later on in the episode, Rick asks Frank for one more favor. The implication is that Rick might want his friend with access to drugs and money to help him face Jim Hollinger.
Is Sam Rockwell Married to White Lotus Star Leslie Bibb?
There’s no official confirmation that Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb are married, but they’ve been together since 2007. The actors have appeared alongside each other in Iron Man 2 and Don Verdean. Rockwell is all over Bibb’s Instagram, with a 2017 post even referring to them as the “Rockwells.”
So basically they’ve been in love and together for almost 18 years. Suffice to say, Rockwell didn’t let Bibb go to Thailand alone.
The post ‘The White Lotus’ Gives Surprise Guest Star Sam Rockwell a Wild Monologue About Sex Addiction, Ladyboys, and Self appeared first on Decider.
