The third season of The White Lotus delivered a massive surprise in its fifth episode, with Oscar-winning actor Sam Rockwell making an unexpected cameo and sharing a strange confession.
In a scene with his old friend Rick Hatchett (portrayed by Walton Goggins), Rockwell’s character Frank reveals he has been sober for 10 months following a period of indulging in wild sexual fantasies.
He also leaves behind a gun, presumably for Rick to use against the man who killed his father, and agrees to meet again the next night.
Fans unanimously agree that Rockwell’s surprise performance is a standout moment of the season.
Given this, it seems fitting to delve into the life of the acclaimed actor.
Inside The White Lotus’ Sam Rockwell’s life after jaw-dropping debut (Image: HBO)
Romance with co-star
A possible explanation for Rockwell’s appearance on the show could be his long-term relationship with one of the main cast members of this season.
Since 2007, Rockwell has been romantically involved with Leslie Bibb, who plays Kate Bohr in the third season of The White Lotus. The couple first met while Rockwell was filming the historical drama Frost/Nixon in Los Angeles.
They have since starred together in Iron Man 2 and Don Verdean, although it remains to be seen whether their characters in The White Lotus will cross paths in the remaining three episodes. Despite their enduring relationship, Rockwell has hinted that they have no plans to expand their family in the near future.
“I definitely don’t want to become a parent. It’s not my bag,” he confessed in an interview with the Observer back in 2007, and it appears he has remained true to his word as he and partner Bibb have chosen to remain child-free.
Sam Rockwell has been in a relationship with Leslie Bibb since 2007 (Image: GETTY)
Car accident
In a candid revelation during a chat with Esquire in 2010, Rockwell disclosed that a car accident sometime in the mid-1990s left him with misshapen fingers on his left hand, necessitating reconstructive surgery that has left his pointer and middle fingers permanently bent.
“I flipped a car,” he divulged. “I think the same thing sort of happened to Shia LaBeouf, except his hand was hurt worse than mine, but my fingers were crushed and then reconstructed.”
A car accident damaged the fingers on his left hand (Image: GETTY)
Dancing in movies
Rockwell is widely recognised for busting out dance moves across various film genres, including science fiction hits like Moon and Galaxy Quest, action-packed Charlie’s Angels, and the recent high-octane Argylle. Despite taking on the role of Bob Fosse in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon, he’s not classically trained but rather gets his groove from cinematic influences like Footloose and the legendary Michael Jackson.
Opening up to ComicBook.com about his dance-infused roles, Rockwell shared: “Well, often, initially it’s about shaking off the nerves. I remember doing Box of Moonlight, and I was really just so nervous. I would just dance to shake out.
“It was a screen test for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Literally, George [Clooney] let me dance in the screen test to get the nerves out. And then he ended up using it in the screen test.”
Rockwell has become famous for dancing in movies (Image: GETTY)
Other roles
His journey in the acting world has seen him morph from playing rogues and quirky supporting characters into securing headlining roles and clutching an Academy Award.
Starting off with small television parts in the late ’80s on shows like The Equalizer and Dream Street, he branched into movies with the indie horror Clownhouse and playing a thug in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bursting into the mainstream in 1999, Rockwell captured attention with roles in The Green Mile and Galaxy Quest and played the role of Eric Knox in Charlie’s Angels the following year.
His reputation soared after landing the role of Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; he continued to dazzle sci-fi fans as the lead in the critically lauded Moon released in 2009.
Rockwell won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Jason Dixon in Three Billboards (Image: FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES)
The Iron Man sequel marked his entry into the superhero genre as the nefarious Justin Hammer, followed by roles in Cowboys and Aliens, Seven Psychopaths, and the romantic action-comedy Mr. Right opposite Anna Kendrick.
The year 2018 marked a milestone with his Oscar triumph for Best Supporting Actor in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. This award further solidified his stature in .
Following up with appearances in films like Jojo Rabbit and Richard Jewell, Rockwell continues to assert his presence in recent flicks such as See How They Run, Argyle, and IF.
The White Lotus season 3 continues Sundays on HBO and the following Monday on Sky Go and NOW.