Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

'White Lotus' Star Defends His Character's American Southern Accent After Fan Backlash

Jason Isaacs in season 3 of 'White Lotus'
HBO

The actor addressed the fan backlash to his and costar Parker Posey's South Carolina accents on season three of the hit HBO show, noting that Durham has "a very strange accent."

British actor Jason Isaacs has responded to the backlash leveled by fans for his southern accent in the third season of HBO's White Lotus.

Isaacs plays Timothy Ratliff, a financier who is under federal investigation by the FBI back home in Durham, North Carolina, and vacationing with his wife (Parker Posey) and three children (Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola) at a fictional five-star resort in Thailand.


While viewers are still getting to know the peculiar Ratliff family and getting understandably weirded out by the bizarrely suggestive sibling dynamics, there's one thing fans can't get past: their accents—particularly Isaacs' articulation of the dialogue.

Social media users had a lot to say about it.




Isaacs, famous for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films and Captain Hook in P. J. Hogan's 2003 version of Peter Pan, touched on the "very strange accent" in an interview on the UK's This Morning show.

It turns out that regardless of how it's being received, the Golden Globe nominee has done the work to bring authenticity to his character.

He told cohost Cat Deeley:

“So, it's southern. It's Durham, North Carolina. There's been quite a lot of chat about it online, which is hilarious. We're all texting each other."

The 61-year-old continued:

“There are two vowel sounds which are completely upper-class English."
"So to the untrained ear, if you don't know Durham, it might sound like I'm doing a very bad accent."
“But it's quite specific, it's quite jarring when you first hear it.”

Here's a snippet from the interview.


@thismorning

The White Lotus’ Jason Isaacs spills all on his southern accent everyone’s buzzing about!

Those very familiar with the dialect and the region where it's from gave the English actor props.

@thismorning/TikTok

@thismorning/TikTok

@thismorning/TikTok

@thismorning/TikTok

@thismorning/TikTok

@thismorning/TikTok

Actor Sam Nivola, who plays the youngest child in the Ratliff family, told People magazine that the show's creator, former Survivor contestant Mike White, encouraged the actors to watch the Bravo reality show Southern Charm for acting inspiration.

Southern Charm takes place in South Carolina and revolves around the personal and professional lives of socialites including Shep Rose, Craig Conover, Cameran Wimberly, Thomas Ravenel, Whitney Sudler-Smith and, Austen Kroll.

Nivola said:

“In fact, Jason Isaacs, who played our dad, kind of modeled his whole accent and character off of [that cast].”

Isaacs touched on his inspiration for the accent but withheld the person's name for fear of litigious repercussions.

"I modeled it after a guy…I don't want to say his name. He might sue me, I don't know," he joked.

You can watch the entire interview segment here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

However, Isaacs finally revealed the Southern Charm cast member he studied in an interview with GMA3.

"It came out on the internet that Mike [White] had asked us to watch Southern Charm, a great reality show, and somebody in it, people from Southern Charm went, ‘He’s clearly doing Thomas Ravenel," said Isaacs, adding:

"And Thomas, I am doing you, mostly, but not for two vowels, which are completely English.”

In addition to Isaacs, the latest White Lotus season features a mostly new cast of ensemble characters played by Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Tayme Thapthimthong, Aimee Lou Wood and Jon Gries.

White Lotus season 3 streams on HBO Max on Sundays for a total of eight episodes.

The final episode will be available to watch on April 6.

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Jesse Watters
Fox News

Jesse Watters Dragged After Adding Another Mind-Boggling Rule For 'Real Men'

Fox News host Jesse Watters, who is apparently an authority of what it means to be a manly man, gave jazz hands to make a point about how "real men" should or shouldn't wave.

The target of his ridicule was Tim Walz, the enthusiastic Democratic Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate who often greets the public by raising both hands in the air to wave.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of crowd at town hall and Rep. Mike Flood
@MorePerfectUS/X; KETV NewsWatch 7

GOP Rep. Goes Viral For His Response To Crowd Chanting 'Tax The Rich' At Town Hall

Nebraska Republican Representative Mike Flood was criticized following his incredulous response to a crowd that chanted "Tax the rich!" during a town hall meeting.

The Columbus High School auditorium hosted the town hall on Tuesday evening, drawing "nearly 380" attendees, according to local network KETV Omaha. The event was lively, with Flood facing both sharp criticism over Trump administration policies and some appreciation for showing up in person.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Awkward Typo In Elon Musk's Bizarre 'Education Department' Trump Meme Is A Total Self-Own

Billionaire Elon Musk was widely mocked after he celebrated President Donald Trump's executive order to begin to dismantle the Department of Education (DOE) by posting a meme of Trump at the department's grave, only for an awkward misspelling to get all the attention.

Polling indicates that eliminating the Education Department is largely unpopular, with 60% of registered voters opposing the move, according to a Quinnipiac University survey conducted March 6-10. Support stands at 33%, with opposition particularly strong among Democrats—98% oppose it, while just 1% support it.

Keep ReadingShow less
JB Pritzker; Donald Trump
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Dem Governor Reveals Trump's Bonkers Demand In Exchange For Equipment During COVID

Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker revealed during a speech this week that he clashed with President Donald Trump during the first Trump administration after Trump promised necessary medical equipment during the COVID pandemic on the condition that Pritzker praise him publicly.

Five years ago, the United States was grappling with the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country had entered shutdowns that had severe economic consequences, leaving businesses and industries on the brink of collapse.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scrabble tiles spelling the word scam
Scam spelled with scrabbles on a wooden table

People Break Down How They Realized An Entire Industry Was A Total Scam

We unfortunately live in a world where scams are on the rise.

Thankfully, some of them are pretty easy to detect, such as an automated call from the IRS telling you a warrant is out for your arrest, or an email claiming to be from Amazon or the USPS asking for your credit card information, only to look closer and see the email address is a yahoo account.

Keep ReadingShow less