Parker Posey is killing it, as she always does, in The White Lotus Season 3. The queen of the ’90s indie scene and irrepressible scene-stealer plays Southern matriarch Victoria Ratliff in the new season of the HBO hit. She has arrived at the fictional White Lotus resort in Thailand to enjoy a vacation with her wealthy hubby Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and three almost grown up children: Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola).
So far, Victoria has been defined by her obsession with anti-anxiety med Lorazepam, great caftans, and her unlikely marriage as a proud Chapel Hill/UNC alumna to Duke grad Tim. Oh, and her incredibly pronounced Southern accent.
In fact, both Isaacs and Posey’s choice of Southern drawls have already sparked conversation from fans. British actor Jason Isaacs explained in a TikTok interview with MAX that he specifically studied the Durham, North Carolina accent, while Posey told Variety she channeled the “snotty affect” of snobby Southerners she met during her own upbringing in Mississippi.
Posey’s performance is one of zany comic perfection, epitomized by the actress’s long-standing penchant for injecting idiosyncratic edge into her all of her characters.
“Parker is like a singular human being,” Sarah Catherine Hook gushed to DECIDER about her onscreen mom.
“Yeah,” fellow Ratliff sibling Sam Nivola concurred. “There’s no one like her.”
“There’s no one like her,” Hook echoed. “More than anything, she was very good at entertaining us throughout the filming experience.”
“Mmmhmm,” Nivola nodded with a grin.
If you have been enjoying the dulcet tones of Posey’s White Lotus accent and her hilariously exaggerated line reads, it’s apparently nothing compared to what Hook and Nivola experienced in person. According to the them, Posey’s performances had them “shaking” and “laughing.”
Hook specifically recalled struggling not to laugh during the scene in which Victoria tries to order Thai food over the phone in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 2 “Special Treatments.” The Ratliffs are reuniting in their villa after going their separate ways. Piper is reading, Saxon is causing noise looking for a blender, and Victoria wants to order room service.
As Victoria orders tea and “some finger foods like ‘tom ka ti ta lay,’” Saxon’s search for a blender only gets louder as Victoria’s pronunciation of local Thai dishes gets more and more hilarious.
At one point, Victoria muffles the phone’s microphone, only to howl, “Saxon, what’s with the racket, honey? I’m on the phone!”
“So funny,” Nivola said.
Hook said, “I wasn’t sure they were going to get like a clean take of me in that scene because I was like, ‘Are you sure you got it?’ Like, I was just laughing the whole time.”
Nivola then busted out his own Victoria Ratliff impression: “Saxon!!! Turn that blender off!”
“Yeah, like we love the way she says, ‘Saxon!‘” Hook said. “Like, it’s so good.”
“No,” Nivola continued, quoting Victoria’s next line. “Saxon, stop it!”
“It’s just lots of laughs and fun and playtime,” Hook said, recalling her time on set. “Just a blast.”
Parker Posey’s White Lotus accent is a perfect slice of joy.
The White Lotus returns Sunday, March 2 at 9 PM ET on HBO and MAX.
