'The White Lotus' Season 4 Star Officially Teases Chris Messina's "Amazing" Performance

Clayface has officially stormed into theaters just in time for Halloween, and the DCU’s first proper dip into full-blown horror seems to be yielding results. Collider’s Gabrielle Moss called director James Watkins‘ new film “horrific to watch for all the right reasons” in her official review of the film, and that sentiment has been shared in the film’s positive Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score. Co-written by horror legend Mike Flanagan and starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomie Ackie, and Max Minghella, Clayface brings the notorious Batman villain to the big screen for the first time ever as a terrifying body horror tragedy.

Clayface‘s combination of death and romance also carries over to another Warner Bros. property that has since become one of HBO’s most popular shows. Created by Mike White, The White Lotus has become a global sensation, with a mysterious murder of at least one individual creating a compelling three-season anthology. Or at least, three so far, as a fourth season of the hit show is on the way, this time bringing the series back to Europe for the first time since Season 2, with France being the new central locale. As is tradition for The White Lotus, Season 4 boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes some huge names, including Steve Coogan (Philomena), Laura Dern (Jurassic Park), Heather Graham (Carrie), Ben Kingsley (Wonder Man), Chris Messina (Based on a True Story), and even Clayface star Max Minghella.

Sitting down with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to promote Clayface, Minghella officially confirmed his role in the new season of White Lotus and teased what’s in store. Firstly, Minghella praised his White Lotus Season 4 co-star Chris Messina, saying that “he has done some really amazing stuff on set that I’ve not seen before, some kind of interesting approaches to a scene that I will definitely be stealing from.” Furthermore, Minghella also clarifies his role in the series isn’t a principal one and reveals why he wanted to get involved with the series:

“I’m very dear friends of Dave Bernad’s, who’s the producer of the show, and Mike White is somebody I’ve admired for a long time. I think this was a role that they thought I might be a good fit for. But it came probably from my relationship with Dave Bernad.

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“I get to do something really fun in it. I think I can say I’m not a principal actor in the show. I’m coming in for a little fun piece, and it’s really special. I’m really, really flattered and excited to be part of it.”

“I’m very dear friends of Dave Bernad’s, who’s the producer of the show, and Mike White is somebody I’ve admired for a long time. I think this was a role that they thought I might be a good fit for. But it came probably from my relationship with Dave Bernad.

“I get to do something really fun in it. I think I can say I’m not a principal actor in the show. I’m coming in for a little fun piece, and it’s really special. I’m really, really flattered and excited to be part of it.”

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath
your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what
it would leave behind.

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you
to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever
won that particular argument.

• Freddy is horror’s cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot
  guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
• You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your
  own head is where this does its damage.
• These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose
  because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
• You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the
person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

• Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you
  describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
• You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You
  know that feeling from real life too.
• The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you
  have met those adults.
• By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost
certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

• Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be
  somebody who was at the party.
• You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the
  same way you watch films.
• The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are
  the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
• Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people
asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

• The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary
  room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
• Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than
  personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
• This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are
  the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
• Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one
  standing in the hallway.

What’s the Story of ‘The White Lotus’ So Far?

• Image via HBO

• Image via HBO

• Image via HBO

• Image via HBO

The White Lotus may be an anthology series with several standalone stories, but the series does also have an overarching narrative that has threaded through each installment. Season 1 saw grieving businessperson Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) meet and fall in love with Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), who was seemingly dying from a terminal illness. In Season 2, Tanya and Greg are now married, and the latter is cured of his alleged illness, but Greg also orchestrates and hires a group of men to abduct and kill Tanya (though she ends up accidentally killing herself by falling overboard a boat). Greg returns again in Season 3 (making him the only character to appear in all three seasons), this time living in Thailand with his new wife before paying off Tanya’s one-time companion Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) to keep the mysterious circumstances of Tanya’s death a secret. If Season 4 keeps with tradition, Greg will likely return, but what role he plays in this new story remains to be seen.

Clayface is in theaters now. The White Lotus Seasons 1-3 are streaming now on HBO Max, with Season 4 expected to premiere in 2027. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

The White Lotus