Murray Bartlett Said That The White Lotus Rimming Scene Was Totally Improvised

When in doubt, eat ass!

Murray Bartlett revealed in a recent profile with Variety that the iconic ass-eating scene on HBO's The White Lotus wasn't even on the script to begin with.

In the scene, Bartlett's character Armond is caught by Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) and Shane (Jake Lacy) with his face right in between the butt cheeks of his employee Dillon (Lukas Gage).

Bartlett explained:

"It was written that something sexual was happening between us, and it was shocking to Shane and Belinda. [Writer and director Mike White] didn't want us to do anything that we weren't comfortable with, but we were sort of left open as to what the scene would actually be. Lukas and I came up with some different ideas and we both really liked that one because it's unusual and very shocking. When we suggested it to Mike, he looked at us with terror and glee at the same time and said, 'Can we do that?' And then we did it!"

In the profile, Bartlett also discussed his decision to come out as a gay man early on in his acting career - which was a risky move at the time. The actor reflected:

"Of course, there was a thought in my mind of like, 'I want to have a really great career, and I don't want to be pigeonholed in a certain way.' But not being able to be myself was never something that I felt interested in. I just didn't want to hide."

Meanwhile, production on season two of The White Lotus has already begun. The upcoming season is being dubbed The White Lotus: Sicily, and it'll mark the return of Jennifer Coolidge reprising her role as Tanya McQuoid. On the other hand, this second season will take place in an entirely new destination, so Bartlett - along with most of the cast in season one - is not expected to come back.

The White Lotus is streaming on HBO Max.

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