2 days Ago By Evening Standard
Season three of The White Lotus has had more than its fair share of break-out stars and firmly among the pack is Arnas Fedaravicius, who plays Valentin, the impossibly hunky tattooed health mentor at the resort. For much of the season he has been a sexy disruptor, a kind of wish fulfillment fantasy figure for female American tourists, and the trigger for the three ‘best girlfriends’, Laurie (Carrie Coon), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) to fall apart amid jealousy, competitiveness and social hierarchy. Yet we now know in the run up to the finale that Valentin may be more of a dastardly figure than he seems, apparently part of the armed gang — including his hard-partying “make fun” friends Aleksei and Vlad — who robbed the resort at the start of the season In real-life Fedaravicius is neither a Zen sex bomb nor a thieving bastard - ah yes, acting - but actually a very funny and clever chap, who has studied philosophy as well as sociology and anthropology.
Which may very well be a fresh peak for this thinking woman’s hot stuff. “I do have an active lifestyle,” he shrugs when I enviously applaud his Valentin physique, “The description of the character was very specific. I thought I should aim to look a certain way because it was clear the archetype that Mike White was trying to portray.
I've met these people. I've been in Thailand before and have friends who go there often. There's certain types of men of my age that come from regions like Russia or Eastern Europe and they have these specific stereotypical tattoos and lifestyles, so it's very important to me to try to live out the internal life of the character, but also physically kind of create a picture.
” Fedaravicius was born in Lithuania but spends his time between LA and London – East is his patch, he loves London Fields - and is best known thus far for Netflix’s Norse saga The Last Kingdom. But The White Lotus effect is about the transform his career. He was given Valentin after one self-tape.
No callbacks, nothing, just a word via his agent that Mike White required him in Thailand for six months for White Lotus 3. The immersion was total, all cast and crew staying at the Four Seasons resort that was both home and set. “After a few days of living at the Four Seasons, you kinda forget your own life before,” he says, “It’s fascinating how quickly one becomes accustomed to a very high quality lifestyle! Then there’s moments where you want to sweep something to make yourself feel human again.
” So let’s get this right, you’re cast in award-winning show, where you actually get to stay in a 5 star hotel for the shoot. Is this the dream job? “Well, yes. I remember speaking to some of the other actors early on saying, this is the dragon.
As far as the lifestyle and the creativity that you're provided, this is the dragon.” He says cool things like that all the time. Part of what the dragon entailed though was serious creative challenges.
Although Fedaravicius had a clear idea of Valentin, the way White works is to continue to develop characters during the shoot. The cast and crew would have “breakfast forums”, with reading and rehearsal breakout groups. It meant that extra layers were going on all the time, with the actors encouraged to open up; White would use the actors themselves to further inform their characters.
“We spent a lot of time talking in green rooms,” Fedaravicius says, “Everybody was very communicative and open to sharing their life stories. I spent some time talking to Michelle about meditation and mindfulness. With Carrie we shared books.
These little things come into play when you start performing.” Like the rest of the world, he lights up at the mention of Aimee Lou Wood, who plays the loveable Chelsea: “When I met her, we sat in the green room, and were talking about birth charts and zodiac signs. Then I'm watching the show I'm like, Oh yeah, that was her character as well.
It's beautiful how, not in their entirety, but some aspects of these people, including myself, are in those characters. This dreaminess that Amy Lou Wood's character has, there's something of that in herself. She's a very magical person to be around.
” His face lights up even further when I bring up Walton Goggins, who of course plays the dark and brooding Rick. “I’m a big fan,” he says, recalling how Fallout came out while they were filming, and he binged it, “Everything Walton touches works. It seems like when he's on camera, you just focus on him.
He's a super mysterious, yet loving and kind person at the same time. “I don't use this word lightly, but I was obsessed every time I saw him. Not because of being starstruck, but he has this captivating personality.
He's so knowledgeable and his entire family are so well read and intelligent. You just sit there and we're talking about the Ottoman Empire all of a sudden. It's just constant food for thought and life experiences.
” All of this stellar talent did give Fedaravicius a few nerves, which fed into his first scenes in episode one where he meets the guests. “Seeing [Carrie, Michelle and Leslie] on the first day, I had shaky legs. I look up to all three of them, as actors.
My first scene was going towards them and presenting the hotel, and I had this unbelievable tremble in my leg which I I enjoy because it is an indication of life, but also at the same time I was like, not right now.” However, this also led to his favourite Goggins moment. “Walton is an intense guy in, in the most positive ways.
I remember there was a camera over his shoulder looking at us greeting everyone. I remember he's doing his lines for me, and he just looked at me and gave me a little wink. That just felt like approval, validation, something, but it felt magical.
” As for Mike White, well this loose but intense atmosphere is all part of his unique method. Fedaravicius says the script was incredible but he’d continue to pull out things from the actors to improve it. For Valentin, whose real self we have yet to determine, it was about holding back.
“It seemed like is he malicious? Is there some sort of a mystery to him? And Mike always give a note that, no, you're just really good at your job. You're kind, you're helpful, you want to help these people. Focus on that and let the writing unravel.
I think we as an actors, you always expect some sort of an arc, but Mike is like, listen, the show is seven days of a life. People don't really change that much over seven days. You don't need to focus on this grandiose change.
” As for the demands of nudity, Fedaravicius has his fair share as Valentin, but escaped a full frontal scene, unlike Jason Isaacs, who was recently complaining about the attention that had received and the ‘double standards’ when it comes to male nudity. Fedaravicius is bemused by it all. “I think there's some sensationalism that people find in it,” he says, “The scenes are about something else, but you give a little glimpse of this, and because the nudity is not constantly there, the audience all of a sudden focuses completely on.
‘Did you see that? Is it this or is it that? Is it prosthetic?’ “I felt comfortable in my scenes. It adds to the spiciness of what’s going on in the show and as long as it serves a purpose..
. I feel like the show is more about other things, but people seem to go towards sensational aspects of it like that.” Ah yes, and here we are with what has defined the reception of season 3.
The White Lotus has always delighted in gleeful transgressions, of wild twists and open-mouthed moments, but while in the past this has been part of the deeper discussion of the show, the responses this time around - and this may be a testament to how increasingly steeped in thin social-led information screaming for attention - has generally cast it all as shock tactics and the show as a carnival. Incest! Dicks! Teeth gaps! There isn’t much pause to consider what the show is all about. Something which the studious Fedaravicius has some brilliant takes on.
“One of the most profound experiences reading the script in the first place, was wondering where was Mike going to take this season, and what was going to be the overarching theme,” he says, “ It’s about seeing these constant struggles within the people that have a certain faith and who come into this new faith. And how they see their life changed through the eyes of these locals and have these long-standing traditions. Portraying my character, for example, the tattoos were important for me.
He has an orthodox cross on his shoulder, but then on the other you have these new age Buddhism-related tattoos. It was interesting to observe that all of this blends together, all of these religions and modes of operating in different faiths, clash into one thing. That was often part of the conversation in our morning forums.
Some actors would go read the Bible, others would be very against religion, others would have a Buddhist approach. It's interesting to be in a cocktail of people with different views and creating this show that constantly expands on life, faith, death.” White Lotus is about American tourists heading out of their safe worlds into other parts of the world that have different, often ancient traditions, and watching them unravel against this backdrop.
Season three has more of this than ever: “They bring in their expectations and understanding of the world and all of a sudden are shocked that other people might see things differently. It shows how their perception of themselves changes. I think there's a sense of people wanting to run away from themselves and from their ordinary problems and lifestyles into these faraway lands.
Once you're out there, rather than disappearing, those problems are heightened and those personalities become more heightened.” Fedaravicius warms to his theme and encourages viewers to enjoy the drama and twists and turns, but also look beyond it. The reason why it has been acclaimed so much in recent years is not because of the extremities but at how it dissects life today and what we value and how we fool ourselves.
“Perhaps people would consider the more profound aspects of it and perhaps reevaluate their relationships,” he says, “Perhaps their relationships to wealth, to oneself, to others around us, and to attachment, because there's a lot of attachment that's explored in the show. “Attachment to the way of living more than anything. Especially this season.
There’s one scene where Parker Posey’s character says to Jason Isaacs’, ‘I don't know if I could live poor.’ “That’s attachment in its purest form. We're so attached to the external life that we believe that if that's taken away, we will cease to exist.
” Next up for Fedaravicius is a post-White Lotus wave which is currently unclear in size and speed. While his social media has taken a big boost and the media are taking an interest, he doesn’t feel like he’s noticed the full effect of the show yet. Although he does say, this is probably more to the fact he hasn’t actually been going out much.
“I just don't spend enough time on the streets. Maybe I should go out. Be like, ‘Hey, you want yoga?’ The White Lotus is on Sky Atlantic now.
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