The White Lotus has found very creative ways to feature those viral full frontal scenes over the years.
HBO’s hit series, which debuted in 2021, focuses on the guests and employees at a fictional resort as they experience a slew of personal ups and downs while on vacation. The anthology series is also known for featuring a mysterious murder — or two — that is eventually revealed at the end of each season.
The structure has also allowed various characters to strip down on screen. Creator Mike White has previously recalled the trepidation he has faced when it came to directing sex scenes.
“I’m very timid about asking people to undress and get into sexual situations. It’s not my wheelhouse. There were definitely times on this shoot that I was like, ‘What have I got myself into?’ My threshold for awkwardness is very low,” he told NPR in November 2022. “The actors are much more confident and uninhibited than I am. That was new terrain for me. It just felt like it was important because it really is baked into the narrative.”
Celebrities Who Opened Up About Doing Full-Frontal Nudity
White was asked about fan reactions to those NSFW moments, saying, “It’s funny, though, how now that the show is airing, how much you realize a graphic sex scene or a sex scene that kind of is titillating for various reasons, does just spike and generate an interest in the populace, for better or worse.”
Keep scrolling for the most unfiltered quotes about those full frontal scenes:
Steve Zahn
The first season kicked off with Zahn’s character, Mark, stripping down amid a health scare. “I didn’t even have to do that part,” Zahn told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. “It’s somebody else wearing a prosthetic. That’s about as absurd as it gets, right?”
Theo James
During season 2, viewers were shocked when Harper (Aubrey Plaza) accidentally snuck a peek at Cameron (Theo James) while he undressed. Although the moment wasn’t a sex scene, the actor opened up about bringing the risqué scene to life.
“The truth of it was you go into these things and you have a conversation with the director and the producers, and they go, ‘OK, for this, we’re going to use a prosthetic, we’re gonna use something,’” James explained during a December 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “It’s a pee-pee prosthetic.”
James didn’t want the prosthetic to be too “distracting” for the audience. “He needs to be [a] regular Joe because the scene’s not about the pee-pee, it’s about power play in sex [and] whether he did it deliberately or whether it was an accident,” he continued.
As for how true to form the prosthetic was? “I mean, it’s bigger than that. It’s like she stole it off a donkey in the field,” he quipped. “The thing is ginormous.”
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Patrick Schwarzenegger
The third installment was set in Thailand — and this time it was Schwarzenegger’s character Saxon seen headed to the bathroom while completely nude.
“Yes, that’s my real butt. No stand-in,” he teased to Esquire in February 2025. “Once I read the script, I knew what was coming, but before that, I didn’t.”
Patrick’s father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, also had plenty to say on the matter, writing via Instagram, “I was so pumped to take a break from filming to celebrate @patrickschwarzenegger at the White Lotus Season 3 premiere. What a show! I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say — the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t miss it this Sunday — trust me.”
