The White Lotus star Walton Goggins has revealed he was actually bitten by a snake during filming of the show’s new season.
The actor plays Rick Hatchett in season 3 of the HBO drama, who arrives at the luxury resort in Thailand with his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) as the latest stop in their round-the-world travels.
In one episode of the show, the couple leave the resort to head to the local town where they end up watching a snake show. Rick then leaves the show to set free a cage of venomous snakes, only for one of them to bite Chelsea, who is then rushed to hospital.
Walton revealed that something similar actually happened to him during filming after he picked up a snake that bit him.
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Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Walton shared how he’s “really terrified of snakes” and felt overwhelmed when filming the scenes.
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He explained: “I had the snake handler right off camera because when I picked up the snake for the very first time, I started crying. Like uncontrollably.
“And then, right when we are getting ready to do that very first scene... they kind of walked you through the entire experience, they're walking around the cages, and they're like, 'Don't touch this cage because this snake will kill you. This cage here, there's some snakes in here, but don't touch the brown ones….'
The star admitted all he was "thinking about is the very first cage where the snake will kill you", adding: "And the rest of it just goes out of my mind. Then, they yell 'Action'. And it's like, 'Don't open the first one because they'll kill you. Was it green or was it brown? Which one has a big, big bite?''
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Walton revealed one snake in particular was difficult, recalling: “And so I started to pull the green one and as I was pulling the snake out he didn't want to come. So the snake turns around and he bit me. I haven't told that story to anybody!”
The actor shared how he didn’t immediately think he had to go to hospital and continued to work for nine more hours.
“Until the next day, I get a phone call from the producer saying, 'Hey you know we've been thinking maybe you should go to the hospital.'
"I said, 'For what? You said the snake was nonvenomous, right? Am I dying a slow death? Is there something you know I don't know?' So, I did go to the hospital, and I got a [tetanus] shot.”
The White Lotus season three is streaming on HBO and Max in the US and on Sky and NOW in the UK. Seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Sky and NOW.
