You might think your biggest fear staying at The White Lotus hotel would be getting killed (yep, that's up there), but after that, and the mysterious monkeys, you also have the snakes to fear.
Walter Goggins, who plays Rick Hatchet, Aimee Lou Wood's grumpy, older partner, recently revealed he was actually bitten on set when filming a scene with a snake at the Four Seasons Resort on Koh Samui, and was even rushed to hospital.
Rick was filming a scene where, high after smoking cannabis, he releases venomous snakes from their cages. While he escapes unscathed, his wife Chelsea gets bitten and taken to hospital. But in reality, it was actually Goggins who got bitten - something made even worse by the fact he has a fear of snakes.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Goggins explained his fear. 'I don't just have a phobia – it is like a missing link when it comes to snakes,' he said. 'I am terrified of snakes — really, really terrified — and there's something, like, genetically wrong with me when it comes to snakes.'
He revealed that he'd been given safety instructions before filming the scene, but these all left his mind when panic set in. '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,' he said. '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.’
He continued: 'All I’m thinking about is the very first cage where the snake will kill you, 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?"'
Goggins went on to detail how, in a state of panic, he grabbed onto one of the snakes. 'I started to pull the green one and as I was pulling the snake out he didn’t want to come, right? So, the snake turns around and he bit me.'
When describing his reaction to the saga, Goggins said he wished he 'could've been cool' continuing 'I fancy myself a pretty cool guy. Like, "Hey, yeah, I got a snakebite." This was my reaction: I swear to God, it was like, "Oh my God, I've been bit by a snake! Oh my God!"'
At first, filming continued and Walton was treated with antibiotic ointment Neosporin. However, he was later urged to go to hospital by producers.
‘I finally got it out of my system, like, “You’re okay.” The next day, I get a phone call from the producer saying, “Hey, you know what? We’ve been thinking about it and we’re thinking maybe you should go to the hospital,"' he said. '‘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,’ he added, with host Jimmy replying: ‘So, in other words, they got a call from the lawyers at HBO.’
Walton joked that’s ‘exactly what happened’ and that he had to sign a release, saying: ‘And they made me sign that day! Somebody just came up and said, “I’m sorry you’re not feeling too good. Listen, can you just sign this little bitty piece of paper?” I thought, “You want my autograph, or I’ve just lost all of my rights?”‘
He isn't the first White Lotus cast member to speak out about what it was like filming on set. Jason Isaac, who plays Timothy Ratcliff, said on an appearance on The One Show, he shared: ‘Nobody should be that jealous of me, it wasn’t a holiday,' continuing '40 men and women, crammed into a villa with the air conditioning off. It’s over 100 degrees (45 Celcius). We’re all covered in makeup and there’s lights and you’re there all day. It’s quite gamey is what I’m saying. Most people got on with each other, most of the time,’ he joked, adding 'But there were alliances formed and broken. There’s an off-screen White Lotus as much as there’s an on-screen White Lotus, just with hopefully fewer body bags.’