With the news of the world tour of Blackpink coming up, I’m really curious to know how your bandmates reacted when you told them the news of booking The White Lotus. How did you break it to them and how did they react?
Lalisa Manobal: To be honest, some of them didn’t know about The White Lotus but also some of them know about The White Lotus. They were super supportive and so happy for me, and they were really looking forward to this new season.
This season is filmed in your country, you’re both from Thailand. Did this make you connect better with the narrative?
Tayme Thapthimthong: I felt pretty connected to Thailand already. I moved here from London 12 years ago, and so I felt very connected with Thailand already. But to come and do a show that represents Thailand in such a cool way… They shot it so beautifully that it just increased my appreciation of Thailand and made me even more proud to be Thai.
Lalisa Manobal: I moved to South Korea when I was 14, so it was really nice to be back in my home country and stay for over six-seven months. I know why they chose Thailand, because Thailand is so beautiful. Our food, our culture, everything is amazing. I feel reconnected to Thailand.
I love your dynamic as the most innocent duo on the show. I only watched the first six episodes, so I’m not sure what will happen but I’m curious to know. Mike White is often described as having a lot of energy on set. What was it like working with him as a director?
Lalisa Manobal: He’s so funny, super chill, and he’s amazing. He is just really open. He opened up for us to do we feel like to do on set.
Tayme Thapthimthong: He gives us so much freedom to design our characters. It was really fun to just play around with how we would a dynamic. He was being such a nice, friendly and gentle man when he directs us. It’s never so like, I want, I want this, I want that. It was always like, “That was nice. But can we try it like this, and see if this works?” So there was so many little options on set. It felt like a lot of freedom. So it was very fun.
You both come from the world of music. I wanted to know how was that transition to acting? How did you prepare for your roles?
Lalisa Manobal: I never acted before. This is my first acting debut and I of course, took some lessons before I went on set. I travel a lot and I stay in many hotels. I tried to think about how the staff treated me so I can adopt.
Tayme Thapthimthong: It was the first time acting in such a big role and also getting to really design my character over the episodes. You know, the transition from each episode to each episode. Getting to play a character that’s also a little lighter than what I’m used to playing, even from my previous job being a bodyguard and all that before. So it was a really nice jump from one career to the other. But I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to represent Thailand as an actor and especially alongside Lisa.
Mook and Gaitok… They are both really sweet and kind people. What did you make of them when you first read the script? Were they relatable to you?
Lalisa Manobal: I feel really connected to this character. She’s a Thai girl and she’s sweet, she’s really friendly and she’s so ambitious. So I feel like we connect a lot in some ways.
Tayme Thapthimthong: I definitely found a lot of elements of Gaitok that I related to myself. For example, just being kind of a little shy around girls, especially around Mook. I’d say I’m a pretty gentle person, so I could have put that. Just to have that sort of contrast between how Gaitok talks to Mook in comparison to how he will talk to his other colleagues in the hotel, like his security guard friends or his boss.
What can fans of the show look forward to in this season?
Lalisa Manobal: I mean, this season is crazy. I think they all would love this season. And I mean, Thailand is really beautiful, our culture and everything. I think they’re going to really enjoy this season for sure.
Tayme Thapthimthong: Thailand is just a beautiful country. It’s a country where there’s a lot of freedom too. I just can’t wait for you guys to watch it. You’ll be very, very entertained.
