It might have looked fun to film The White Lotus’ water gun scene, but for Leslie Bibb, it was quite the opposite.
The actress told Seth Meyers during an interview on Late Night that she feared for her gastrointestinal tract when filming the iconic water fight sequence in the third season.
During the episode in question, Bibb, who plays Kate, a wealthy woman, leaves the resort with her two besties, Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), seeking a change of pace.
They arrive in a nearby town, but unbeknownst to them, everyone is currently celebrating Songkran—an annual festival during which the country celebrates new beginnings by throwing massive water fights. They are immediately chased through the streets by water gun-wielding children, who drench them before they can seek shelter at a local convenience store.
“When we got [to set], there was like 300 extras, all with water guns, and it was a nightmare,” Bibb said. “I looked over and our crew members had [water guns], and they were just shooting at us, and I was like, ‘This is a nightmare.’”
Apparently, filming the scene was so chaotic that it caused Bibb to have a very “Kate-like” reaction to being doused with a torrent of water.
“I’d be like, ‘Is that bottled?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,’” she recounted. “And I was like, ‘Oh, we’re all getting diarrhea. We’re all getting diarrhea.’”
For reference, health organizations usually recommend that tourists drink bottled or filtered water during their stay in Thailand to prevent getting sick from contaminated water.
Bibb’s hilarious (and valid) recollection of her diarrhea fears is just another stop on a rather delightful press tour for The White Lotus.
When the season was still airing, the actress also stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where she talked about the Daily Beast’s Obsessed piece on her Emmy-worthy smile during the infamous “Did you vote for Trump?” scene.
“It’s so condescending, that face,” Bibb said.
“It is,” Fallon agreed, before laughing, “It says a lot.”
It’s a testament to Bibb’s acting ability that she never practiced the smile before shooting the scene; it just came to her organically.
“That would be nuts [to practice the smile],” Bibb joked. “Because then you would be waiting, like, ‘I’m gonna do the face.’”
Beyond her iconic smile, Bibb’s performance was a standout throughout the season. Maybe Mike White will decide to do an “All Stars” season in the future, and everyone can get more Kate content.
