Sam Rockwell has played some of the most memorable villains on screen. So naturally many believed the Hollywood action star would play another bad guy during his surprise guest appearance on hit HBO series, The White Lotus.
However, his role as the mysterious Frank in the third season – which airs locally on BINGE – is anything but villainous.
Instead, viewers were left scratching their heads when Rockwell, while in character, delivered a wild and memorable four-minute long monologue about sex addiction, ladyboys and his search for self.
The actor first appears on screen when he meets the shady character of Rick (played by Walton Goggins) for a drink in Bangkok.
Rick has just ditched his younger wife, who is partying nearby at a Full Moon party, to reconnect with his old mate, who has since undergone a transformation.
Frank explains that after moving to Thailand and fulfilling his hedonistic fantasises with the local women, the novelty began to wear off.
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In a series of graphically detailed scenes, Frank – who orders a camomile tea – then reveals he’s been sober for 10 months because he became addicted to sex.
Going into specifics, he confesses to being addicted to dressing like an Asian woman while being “railed” by white middle-aged men.
“I moved here because, well, I had to leave the States, but I picked Thailand because I always had a thing for Asian girls, you know?” a deadpan Franks tells Rick.
“And when I got here, oh I was like kid in a candy store. If you’ve got money, no attachments, nothing to do … I started partying, it got wild.”
“I was picking up girls every night, always different ones; petite ones, chubby ones, older ones, sometimes multiple ladies at night. I was out of control, I became insatiable, and, you know, after about a thousand nights like that, you start to lose it. I started to wonder: Where am I going with this? Why do I feel this need to f**k all these women?”
Frank said that it dawned on him that “maybe what I really want is to be one of these Asian girls”.
“So, one night, I took home some girl who turned out to be a ladyboy, which I’d done before, but this time, instead of f***ing the ladyboy, the ladyboy f**ked me, and It was kind of magical,” he concluded.
Just like Rick, viewers were visibly shocked and confused by Frank’s comments but applauded Rockwell for his perfect delivery. Here are some reactions on X:
“I’m still processing the Sam Rockwell monologue in The White Lotus but it might end up as one of my favourite pieces of TV acting this year.”
“In all seriousness, the Sam Rockwell monologue is unequivocally one of the most astounding/haunting/wild/daring (I don’t even think of any of those words are right) moments in TV history.”
“Folks I’ve been watching TV for a long time and that Sam Rockwell monologue in WHITE LOTUS is an instant classic scene.”
“It was a brilliant scene. I didn’t find it grotesque, just focused on the delivery.”
Indeed, as Rockwell delivered the monologue with a balance of madness and sorrow, Rick listened intently but his facial expressions and nods of encouragement and reassurance, are surely destined for meme territory.
“It’s the type of monologue that can really only be summed up with a facial expression, and fortunately Rick’s face says it all,” tweeted one viewer, as another commented, “Rick’s facial expressions have me CRYING.”
“He couldn’t believe what he was hearing but stayed supportive. Find yourself a friend like Rick,” another tweeted.
Rockwell got further praise from his long-time partner Leslie Bibb, who also stars on The White Lotus this season, playing Kate Bohr who is on vacation with her two best friends.
“I remember when I read all eight [episodes], and I remember when I got to this monologue and this scene,” Bibb said on CBS Mornings this week. “I remember thinking I had never seen anything like this before on television, and I felt like it was what [creator] Mike [White] was really trying to talk about for the show.”
Bibb added that the scene was instrumental and in line with the big themes this season, include spirituality, death, doppelgangers and mirrors.
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