‘Nobody's screaming at each other': The White Lotus actor addresses cast tensions

News.com.au

6 hours ago

On the cusp of turning 40, Morgana O'Reilly finds herself in a career sweet spot thanks to The White Lotus.
Having racked up almost 20 years of performances in shows such as Neighbours, Rosehaven and Wentworth, it was O'Reilly's small but memorably meme-able role as The White Lotus' officious hotel wellness mentor, Pam, which has thrust the Kiwi actor into the global spotlight.
'In my more vulnerable moments, I go, 'Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is all happening, right at this point. I mean, I don't look 28!' she reflects to Stellar.
'But it's also wonderfully indicative of what is available [to actors as they get older]. And it's also great, because I'm so much better at what I do now than when I was 28 and maybe, hopefully, it is indicative of a world where that's what we want to see.'
O'Reilly will celebrate the big 4-0 singing and dancing with friends and family, noting that she was pregnant with her daughter when she turned 30 so a party is long overdue.
Far from feeling anxious about the milestone, O'Reilly is impatient for her birthday, laughing: 'From 37 through to 40 just feels like waiting in line for the bathroom.
'It's just like, 'Hurry up! We may as well get there'. Let's just crack on.' And there's a lot to be excited about, thanks in part to The White Lotus. The anthology murder mystery series set in a chain of luxury hotels has become a water cooler hit of 2025.
Having seen the hype around the first two series, reinvigorating Jennifer Coolidge's career and putting Aussie actor Murray Bartlet on the map, O'Reilly was understandably thrilled to be cast alongside Parker Posey, Carrie Coon and Sam Rockwell for the latest whodunnit in Thailand.
And yet, O'Reilly didn't feel any pressure, reasoning: 'to the American market, I'm basically a nobody, so there were no expectations to meet.
'I just went in to do my best … I'm a fairly confident and outgoing person, but I found trying to be in that space — working with all those amazing fancy people — not that they ever made me feel like an outsider, I was going: 'you have a right to be here' quietly in my room before going out.'
In the end, the cast became tight knit and O'Reilly now considers many of them friends. Scoffing at persistent rumours of tensions on set, O'Reilly explains: 'when you're working together, it's not all peaches and roses.
'But nobody's screaming at each other. If you lived with people for six months, you'd be like, 'Oh, that person's getting a bit annoying'.
'That's probably the extent of it. Otherwise, it was always just such lovely vibes.
Everyone was such consummate professionals, and nobody's there being a diva or demanding more than other people. Everyone was beautiful, respectful and kind.'
The White Lotus has opened doors for O'Reilly. 'People are so nice to me now,' she says, laughing.
'Not that they weren't before … but there's language in our industry which suggests a finish line, which is fictional. This idea that 'you've made it', that's not real. You haven't made anything. You haven't finished. It's all tides on the beach.
'But after doing that show, I felt maybe that has unlocked a special bonus round.'
O'Reilly went straight from the Thai set of The White Lotus into shooting Stories About My Body – an upcoming film adaptation of her one-woman stage show directed by her husband, Peter Salmon – in New Zealand to filming Playing Gracie Darling in the Hawkesbury River region.
In Playing Gracie Darling, O'Reilly plays Joni Gray, a child psychologist who is haunted by the disappearance of her best friend during a seance years earlier.
When another member of the Darling family disappears, Joni returns to her hometown to face her demons and search for answers to both mysteries.
Finding herself in the lead role on the mystery which also stars Dame Harriet Walter and Celia Pacquola was a dream come true for O'Reilly.
'I'm a Leo,' she hazards of her horoscope sign, which is typically associated with leadership. 'So, come on, it's delicious! It feels like being promoted to a managerial position.' The supernatural subject matter of Gracie Darling also struck a chord with O'Reilly who took part in a lot of slumber party seances when she was a kid.
'I am of The Craft generation!' she enthuses of the 1996 film about a high school coven starring Neve Campbell.
'I love a ghost story. I love anything a bit witchy.'
O'Reilly has always been encouraged explore her imagination. The daughter of a choreographer and a graphic designer herself, O'Reilly 'grew up in rehearsal rooms and dark theatres, and mum's boot was always filled with strange costumes.
'And, yeah, putting on shows was just a very normal thing.' And she is proudly exposing her own kids Ziggy, six, and Luna 10 to that same sort of creative energy.
'I'm comfortable with the fact that they're not going to have a conventional life,' she smiles.
'I think if it was a priority for us that they have a conventional stay in the one school
all the time life, then we would have to find different jobs.
'It's hard for them sometimes and then I have to remind them: 'Sorry, but you were just born into this crazy art family, and we're just going to go on lots of adventures.
Some people go away to get away, and some people go away because it helps them understand what they love about home. And so, you'll understand home in a way that other people won't, because you'll be away from it for a bit'.'
While the location of the fourth season of The White Lotus is still unknown, O'Reilly would happily pack up the family and head anywhere in the world that creator Mike White wanted should she be tapped to return.
'I'm not holding my breath but I did jokingly say to Mike when I last saw him: 'I work at the hotel, so I could come back in the fourth season. Right? Nudge, nudge …'
And unlike some of her fellow cast, Pam didn't die and so, theoretically that makes her comeback a more likely proposition. Although O'Reilly has come to believe that anything is possible in TV – even a resurrection from the grave.
'I remember doing Neighbours and somebody saying to me: 'Well, nobody can really die on television,'' she laughs.
'And that's true. You know you can always come back. You can come back as a twin. You can come back as an apparition. You can come back with amnesia.'