“I SURVIVED!” EXCLAIMS Theo James.
Certainly, the Season Two finale of Mike White’s The White Lotus contained a lot of deaths—4 of them, to be actual—however not one of the fallen was Cameron, James’ lecherous Yalie who not solely cheats on his spouse Daphne (Meghann Fahy) with a pair of escorts, however does every part in his energy to undermine his faculty pal Ethan (Will Sharpe) for not too long ago surpassing him in wealth and status. That features making a lot of passes at Ethan’s spouse Harper (Aubrey Plaza), culminating with a hotel-room kiss that will have been one thing extra.
After Harper confesses the tryst to Ethan, he assaults his so-called good friend within the ocean and tells Daphne what occurred. After which Daphne, to not be outdone, leads Ethan to a distant a part of the island the place she could have initiated attractive revenge. Their 4 Seasons Taormina getaway ends with probably the most awkward of dinners whereby Cameron rubs everybody’s noses in his misdeeds one final time, toasting, “And Harper, it has been improbable to lastly get to know you correctly.”
In line with James, who first achieved world stardom within the Divergent franchise, Cameron is “probably a sociopath”—although one in every of his kids may not be his.
We spoke with the dashing Brit about these finale twists, fan theories surrounding Cameron’s blond baby, and what the White Lotus solid bought as much as in Sicily.
What was the important thing to unlocking Cameron for you? He’s such a relentless prick.
[Laughs] The important thing was, for me—and Mike and I’ve talked about this lots—he’s such a deplorable individual, morally and behaviorally and the place he stands in his views on the world, that we needed to make him, in a humorous method, as likable as an unlikable individual may very well be. As an actor it’s important to discover currents you join with. You must discover bits of the character you want. I consider him with a form of amiability, however then when somebody fills me in on one thing horrible he’s executed I’m reminded of how a lot of a elegant asshole he’s. For me, it was making him free, enjoyable, likable and in his personal unusual method charming sufficient that his deplorability had an arc. He’s gaslighting Ethan intentionally all through the season, however in the direction of the top we wish to nonetheless not ensure if it’s Ethan’s jealousy and spiraling worry or he’s been utterly proper about Cameron all alongside and he’s attempting to regulate and manipulate Ethan and everybody round him.
Did you have got a favourite Cameron scene over the course of the season?
I just like the scene in Episode 6 when Ethan confronts Cameron as a result of there have been so some ways to play that, and I like the best way we ended up taking part in it. There’s seemingly real shock from Cameron, and Ethan is indignant but nonetheless not 100% certain. He’s fairly certain Cameron’s flirting however can’t go all the best way to calling it what it’s. Cameron’s response is like, “Dude! In fact I’m not. Are you going insane? That is all in your fucking head. Take heed to your self! We’re right here on vacation…” It’s an fascinating scene as a result of it makes the viewers marvel and the characters marvel, and it’s additionally emblematic of their dynamic. Cameron does love Ethan in his personal unusual method. He needs to dominate him, he needs to regulate him, and he needs to win. Cameron’s sense of self is spiraling uncontrolled as a result of this younger-brother character in his thoughts is now extra rich and highly effective than him, and that’s how Cameron calibrates his price in life—cash.
So… you do suppose Cameron genuinely likes Ethan.
I do, yeah. I feel Ethan likes Cameron lots much less, clearly, however for all his villainous habits Cameron loves folks unashamedly—though he does horrible issues and manipulates them. He loves his spouse wholeheartedly, however he’s additionally so privileged and poisonous that he thinks he must be allowed to do this stuff due to how profitable he’s. He does like Ethan as a good friend. He missed the facility relationship, the camaraderie and the brotherly nature between them, however he’s determined to dominate him.
You’ve used the phrase “dominate” twice to explain their relationship. It does seem to be theirs is a type of emotional BDSM in a method. And it appears, such as you stated, that Cameron invited him on this journey out of spite over his turning into wealthier, and at one level he even tries to get Ethan to speculate with him.
That’s a part of it—but it surely’s not simply that. There are bread crumbs. I can’t bear in mind if it ended up within the present, however at one level Harper says, “You haven’t even seen this man in years. We weren’t even invited to his wedding ceremony!” And Ethan says, “We had been invited however we didn’t go. In fact we had been invited. And we noticed him two years in the past at this summer time factor.” I don’t suppose that made it within the last model in the long run, however that reveals that they had this friendship on this opaque method that had lasted. In any other case, it’s ridiculous that Ethan would wish to go on this journey. However you’re proper: the season begins with Cameron eager to bodily dominate as regards to his animalism. I at all times in contrast him to an animal. The way in which he handles Ethan, his spouse, the folks round them—he bodily holds them and is dominant in conversations—however in the long run, it’s an emotional manipulation with the gaslighting. Somebody like Cameron you’d suppose would possibly go within the different path if he was being accused. You’d suppose he is perhaps aggressive: Fuck you, man! What the fuck are you speaking about? However as a substitute, it’s the other. It’s one in every of: Hey, geez! Loosen up! I like you, man. It’s all in your head. That’s a lot extra acidic and sophisticated, which I like.
There does appear to be a commentary on masculinity as nicely. Cameron is that this animalistic man together with his shirt off at nearly all instances, whereas Ethan wears a shirt all through your entire season—even when he’s within the ocean combating Cameron.
Cameron represents that poisonous masculinity. He’s a dinosaur. We’ve all met guys like that: the hyper-masculine, deeply money-oriented, power-driven and seemingly uncaring about issues round them. That’s that old-school, deeply-problematic model of masculinity. Daphne’s final manipulation of that may be a commentary on that sort of masculinity being defunct as a result of Cameron loses in the long run. They symbolize two sides of the coin and every part in between. However Cameron’s toxicity isn’t dampened, even in the long run.
Why do you suppose Cameron tried to fuck Harper and do you suppose they did greater than kiss? Mike White stated within the finale postmortem interview that he felt Harper was telling the reality when she stated they only kissed, however that there’s a while unaccounted for.
In my head I at all times thought a bit bit extra occurred then that. However no, they don’t sleep collectively. Positively not. They don’t have the time. It’s one other factor of management. Cameron needs to control and management everybody round him. That’s how he operates on the planet, in his work, and the way he tries to function in his marriage. He needs to isolate Ethan and management Ethan, and top-of-the-line methods he can is to attempt to manipulate his spouse sexually. There’s an odd flirtation of anger, repulsion and attraction between [Cameron and Harper]. However what Cameron represents to Harper is unfettered animalism, and that’s a part of what’s lacking in her relationship with Ethan. That’s alluring in some methods for her, and for him as nicely in the direction of her.
What was it like capturing that massive ocean struggle scene with Will Sharpe?
It advanced, that scene, from what it was initially on the web page. Once we bought on the market, we realized sure issues had been working and sure issues weren’t. There was a model the place Cameron reacts and got here again at him extra aggressively and biting in his response about Harper, however in the long run that felt too simplistic. So we discovered a unique model the place Cameron’s nonetheless gaslighting him. And it builds to that last dinner sequence the place that slight unknowing between all of them permeates to the final second. It’s by no means absolutely resolved, which is such a fantastic Mike White contact.
Cameron has that massive fuck you line in that dinner scene the place he says, “And Harper, it has been improbable to lastly get to know you correctly.”
God, he’s so smug. However in the long run, he does have a stage of comeuppance. Who is aware of what occurred together with his spouse and Ethan? Some might imagine Cameron wouldn’t give a shit however I feel he would. And likewise: there’s this lingering query of his personal kids, and whether or not one in every of them is probably not his—which is fucking tousled! There’s a query of how a lot he is aware of about it, and what position it performs of their relationship.
That’s introduced fairly subtly—that one in every of Cameron’s kids appears nothing like him and extra carefully resembles Daphne’s coach Lawrence, who has blond hair and blue eyes.
It’s gently touched upon—the suggestion that maybe the coloring of the second baby is totally completely different from Cameron’s and similar to that of the coach. I imply, that will be an enormous energy transfer from Daphne and really damaging additionally for these poor kids. [Laughs]
Do you and Will and Aubrey and Meghann hand around in Sicily? Or did you and Will get tremendous into character to the purpose the place you averted one another?
No, we didn’t keep away from one another. With Will and with Meghann, over the primary few weeks I used to be attempting to pack in as a lot time to get to know one another as doable. We bought some dinners and drinks as a result of Ethan and Cameron are imagined to be previous mates, and Cameron and Meghann should be in love and have an ease about them. We needed them to be tactile with one another always in a pure method, so we intentionally tried to hang around.
There are a bunch of enjoyable rumors on-line that a number of of the youthful White Lotus solid members connected through the making of the present. I’m curious precisely how a lot enjoyable the solid of The White Lotus had in Sicily?
[Laughs] Um… We had a good time. We had been in Sicily and Rome for six and a half months. The present is about unfettered hedonism, in some methods, so there was a bit little bit of embracing that. It’s an enormous solid, so not each individual goes to be kissing and high-fiving one another, however we undoubtedly had a whole lot of enjoyable. We additionally tried to remind ourselves that doing a present written by Mike White set in Sicily doesn’t come round fairly often, so it is best to take pleasure in each second and never take it without any consideration.
Is there a meta factor to being an actor on this present? I’m at all times curious how actors stay in dedicated relationships since you so ceaselessly go off to unique locales with lovely, gifted folks. Is it unusual to be on this present about jealousy and constancy whereas presumably experiencing a few of these feelings together with your real-life companion?
I’d say probably the most meta factor of the present was staying in The White Lotus—the 4 Seasons Taormina—capturing these scenes, and then you definately minimize and also you’re round a bunch of privileged actors (myself included). We’re fuckin’ actors. Typically you’d minimize and I wouldn’t know the boundaries between actuality and what The White Lotus was. I don’t know easy methods to put that precisely, however actors are a particular breed. And generally the strains had been blurred.
Do you suppose that Cameron and Daphne are in a more healthy relationship than Ethan and Harper?
We shot a number of completely different variations of the ending. However that was the thesis initially: how do you choose a relationship? Cameron and Daphne are deeply in love however there’s an open factor to their relationship, and that will work for them, and who’re we to evaluate that? Maybe it’s a commentary on courting requirements and what typical relationships imply. However, if Daphne says to Ethan, oh, if Cameron and Harper could have executed one thing come this fashion, and he or she and Ethan go and fuck one another and probably one in every of their kids has a father that’s unbeknownst to them, that’s when it turns into problematic and that stage of complication is unhealthy.
How does it really feel to be again on prime? You bought a style of fame early on in your profession with the Divergent collection, however then that underperformed and fizzled out. And also you’ve now constructed your self again as much as the purpose the place you’re starring on top-of-the-line reveals on tv.
I began in fringe theater and at all times needed to do a whole lot of issues on a regular basis—to play completely different characters. That’s what I’ve been having fun with not too long ago with my profession. That’s what I’ve been eager for: fixed selection. I’m much less curious about being hunky leads. I discover that uninteresting. I’ve by no means been within the luxuries or issues of fame, ought to we are saying. It’s not one thing I used to be ever notably comfy with. Doing one thing like The White Lotus is strictly what I wish to be doing—to be a part of a fantastic ensemble with a great deal of different actors who push one another and do work that’s completely different. That’s how I’d like to proceed going ahead.
Lastly, Daphne does ship a toast at that last dinner the place she says to the group, “Subsequent 12 months, the Maldives!” Are you returning for Season 3 of The White Lotus, presumably in Asia?
I imply, as anybody would say with Mikey boy, “Signal me the fuck up!” However no, who is aware of. I don’t suppose he has a plan but. It is going to be an entire spherical of recent characters to discover with sophisticated dynamics and I’ll be watching.
