Sam Nivola has addressed the shocking incest storyline on The White Lotus which fans branded ‘disturbing’ after the latest episode.
The actor, 21, plays Lochlan Ratliff on the show, while Patrick Schwarzenegger stars as his older, obnoxious brother Saxon.
Fans began to suspect an incest storyling was looming after Lochlan watched his brother standing naked in the bathroom, while Saxon also asked a lot of intrusive questions about his brother’s sex life in early episodes.
In episode five, the brothers shared a drunken kiss while attending a Fool Moon Party on a Thai island with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).
Writer and director Mike White upped the ante in episode six as it was slowly revealed that Lochlan performed a sex act on his brother during their drunken night out.
Saxon was horrified when local resident Chloe told him what happened while Lochlan later remembered the events while separated from his brother.
Sam Nivola has addressed the shocking incest storyline on The White Lotus which fans branded ‘disturbing’ after the latest episode
The actor, 21, plays Lochlan Ratliff on the show, while Patrick Schwarzenegger stars as his older, obnoxious brother Saxon
Speaking to Variety about the storyline, Sam admited it was ‘weird’ kissing Patrick.
He said: ‘It was very weird kissing Patrick because he’s a really good friend of mine. And, you know, I’m straight, he’s straight. It’s already weird.’
‘Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of f**ked up.’
Sam also discussed filming the sex scene with Charlotte Le Bon, adding: ‘We didn’t really know her at all. But I guess she knew that [creator Mike White] wouldn’t cast someone inappropriate to play a creepy role.’
The storyline has divided fans online; some have found it ‘disturbing’ while others can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Taking to X, fans wrote: ‘The brothers from The White Lotus are disturbing me’… ‘This is some of the most disturbing television I’ve watched, maybe ever.’
Others speculated the two might not be bioogically related, writing: ‘Most likely they are not actually brothers’.
‘At the end they wil find out their parents cheated so they are siblings with different moms and dads.’
In episode five, the brothers shared a drunken kiss while attending a Fool Moon Party and then Lochlan had sex with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon)
This week’s episode reveals that things got even more out of control after that kiss, with Lochlan masturbating his own brother, while having sex with Chloe
Saxon was horriied the next morning when the events of the night before came back to him
Lochlan, on the other hand, couldn’t remember anything that happpened
The brothers are part of the Ratliff family who are on a vacation at the luxurious resort (pictured with actors Jason Isaacs and Sarah Catherine Hook)
The storyline has divided fans online; some have found it ‘disturbing’ while others can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Both of the on-screen brothers defended the incest storyline in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
‘There’s some sensationalism, but then there’s also the stuff behind the wall of the character and what he’s dealing with in the conflict of what just happened. What is that going to do to who he thinks he is?’ Patrick Schwarzenegger said.
‘His thoughts on, what is it like to be a man? What is a man? What makes all these different things that he thought he stood for in the episode and the days before?’ he added.
Sam Nivola added the scene was a bit unsettling, stating, ‘It’s kind of impossible for it to not be charged when you’re literally naked with all these cameras in front of you.’
Nivola added, ‘We really trusted Mike, because there’s always a very shocking, crazy, intense moment in every season. It’s never just for the sake of being shocking, it always serves the story.’
‘And that [incest] scene is really the inciting incident for where our relationship goes next. It’s a great storytelling tactic. Going into this, we really trusted Mike because he’s a f***ing b***ss and a genius.”
