Walton Goggins Recalled Powering Through 9 Hours Of Filming After Being Bitten By A Snake On 'The White Lotus' Set, And Said Producers Waited Until The Next Day To Advise Him To Go To Hospital

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07-03-2025

Mild spoilers for The White Lotus ahead.
Walton Goggins has revealed that he was actually bitten by a snake while filming The White Lotus.
If you've watched the latest episode of the HBO series, which is filmed and set in Thailand, you'll know that at one point, Walton's character, Rick, begins freeing a bunch of snakes from cages while under the influence of drugs.
Speaking about his experience shooting the scene on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, Walton, 53, began by revealing that he has a severe phobia of snakes in real life.
'I don't just have a phobia; it's like a missing link when it comes to snakes,' he said. 'I am terrified of snakes — really, really terrified. There's something genetically wrong with me when it comes to snakes...I had the snake handler right off-camera because when I picked up the snake for the very first time, I started crying uncontrollably.'
Walton explained that the snake handler warned him about which snakes were venomous right before filming. 'They yelled action, and it's like, 'OK, don't open the first one because it'll kill you.' The next one, 'Was it green or was it brown? Which one has a big, big bite?'' he recalled. 'I started pulling the green one, and as I was pulling the snake out, he didn't wanna come, right? And so the snake turns around, and he bit me.'
'I wish I could've been cool...This was my reaction, I swear to God. It was like, 'Oh my God, I've been bit by a snake! Oh my God!'' he said.
Noting that they 'had another 9 hours' of filming to go, Walton shared that he didn't immediately go to hospital after being bitten, with The White Lotus team simply putting 'a little Neosporin' on his bite. However, the following day, a producer got in touch to advise him that he should, in fact, seek proper medical care.
'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 recalled. '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?''
Jimmy Kimmel Live / Via youtube.com
Walton said that the producer advised him to get a tetanus shot to be safe — which he did. Jimmy joked, 'So, in other words, they got a call from the lawyers at HBO.'
Walton replied, 'That's exactly what happened. And they made me sign that day! Somebody just kinda 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?"