Acclaimed actress Michelle Monaghan, who plays famous-actress-on-holiday Jaclyn in 'The White Lotus' season three, says the music of Frank Ocean may contain clues for the plot. Someone stick 'Blonde' on!
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00:00Old friends.
00:01Long time friends, not old.
00:04What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand.
00:07Oh, what does that mean?
00:08It means we're not dead yet.
00:10Amen, amen.
00:11Hi, I'm Alex from NME, and today I'm joined by a very exciting guest
00:15from the new season of The White Lotus.
00:17It's Michelle Monaghan. How are you doing?
00:18Hey, I'm well. How are you?
00:20Really good, thanks.
00:21Good.
00:22Okay, first question.
00:23Out of your friends and family,
00:25who was the most excited when you told them you were going to be in The White Lotus?
00:29You know what? I think my husband was most excited.
00:32We've watched the previous seasons together,
00:35and he watched me go through the process, of course,
00:38of auditioning and getting the job,
00:41and so we were really excited together,
00:44and it was an opportunity for him and my children to also come visit me in Thailand,
00:49so we were celebrating for many reasons.
00:51Yeah, that's not a bad reason, is it?
00:53Not a bad reason.
00:54Are you allowed to let your husband and family read the script?
00:58No, he didn't—
00:59No, no one's—
01:00In fact, he doesn't want to know anything.
01:02He doesn't know anything about it.
01:03Oh, really?
01:04Yeah, yeah, yeah. He doesn't know anything about the show,
01:05and in fact, he came to visit me and spent all this time in Thailand,
01:09and he was adamant that everybody be quiet about what was going on.
01:13He never came and watched.
01:14Just walking past the set going like this.
01:15Yeah, never came and watched the set.
01:16He wanted to be surprised, so.
01:18He knows who my character is,
01:20but he doesn't know the storyline at all.
01:22So we've mentioned your character Jacqueline.
01:24Yes.
01:25She's on holiday with old-time friends.
01:26Yeah.
01:27She's a well-known actress,
01:28trying and failing not to be recognized while on holiday.
01:32Yes.
01:33Did you read that and think,
01:34oh, well, I can do that?
01:35Yeah.
01:36It's kind of true.
01:37It's kind of true.
01:39You know, I think at this time—
01:43I've been working for 25 years,
01:44I've been in the industry for a long time.
01:46I pretty much—
01:47I will say that I'm always genuinely surprised
01:50when people do recognize me
01:51because I feel like I fly pretty much under the radar
01:54for a lot of reasons.
01:56But I'm also not naive enough
01:58not to think that people are going to say hello,
02:01you know, and say nice to meet you
02:03or something like that, so.
02:05And it's always really charming, you know.
02:07It means a lot to me.
02:08I'm really proud of my career,
02:09and people are really nice.
02:12There is a scene in episode one
02:14where you're recognized by the pool.
02:15Yes.
02:16Where does that rank on the weirdest places
02:18you've been recognized?
02:19On the ick?
02:20On the ick?
02:21Yeah, yeah, on the ick.
02:22I've just learned about the ick.
02:23I would say being recognized at the pool
02:25is a 10 on the ick.
02:27Oh, really?
02:28Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:29I thought maybe sort of in the mid-range.
02:32Yeah, no, I'd say it's like a 10 on the ick.
02:35I always feel a little bit vulnerable
02:37because I'm probably with my family,
02:40and, you know, I'm kind of pretty private
02:43and probably not fully clothed,
02:46so that's why it ranks a little higher up.
02:49Because I read an interview once,
02:51I think it was with Frank Ocean,
02:53and he was recognized.
02:54What?
02:55You know the cubicles you go into
02:57in a shopping center to try on the clothes?
02:59Yes.
03:00Someone reached around and was like,
03:01hello, Frank, while he was trying to get changed.
03:03Yes.
03:04That's another level, isn't it?
03:05Yeah, that's an extra deep level.
03:08Okay, so maybe I'll take it back to a seven, right?
03:11Because I've got to reserve some room
03:13for some serious ick.
03:14For Frank Ocean.
03:15But I can't believe you just said Frank Ocean
03:17because Frank Ocean was my playlist on repeat.
03:19Oh, really?
03:20For this show?
03:21For this show.
03:22For like six months.
03:23I'm a huge Frank Ocean fan.
03:24Yeah.
03:25And I could not...
03:26Are you talking Blonde or Channel Orange?
03:27All of it.
03:28Oh, okay.
03:29All of it, all of it, all of it.
03:30Yeah, it was just on repeat, so...
03:32That's interesting.
03:33I'm going to go through all the songs now
03:34and try and work out plot details.
03:35Yeah, no, no, no.
03:36Yeah, it was just, it was just,
03:38it was just really resonating with me.
03:40I don't know if it was the character thing
03:42or if it was just like me in this,
03:44you know, foreign place and...
03:46Have you managed to see him live?
03:48No, but I would love to.
03:49It's quite difficult.
03:50It's difficult.
03:51You kind of don't know where he's going to pop up.
03:53And, you know, I love that about him.
03:55He's a bit of an enigma.
03:57And I think that's great.
03:58He's a very talented artist.
04:00We're still the same people we were in the 10th grade.
04:02You're always disappointing.
04:03And you're always fake.
04:05And you're vain and selfish.
04:07I did see on your TikTok, actually,
04:08that you got to take your daughter to the Eras tour.
04:11I did.
04:12I did.
04:13How was that?
04:14That was so special.
04:15It was so special.
04:17And I'm going to tell you, quite honestly,
04:19as much as I love the concert,
04:20I was such a huge fan of the concert.
04:22For me, personally, the buildup of the concert
04:25and the way that it bonded my daughter and I
04:29in the months prior,
04:30like, we were making bracelets together.
04:32We were listening to all the songs together.
04:35She was gathering the playlists from, like,
04:38the previous, you know,
04:39guessing what the surprise songs were going to be.
04:41Like, all of that was so special.
04:44It was like the summer of Taylor.
04:46And then, you know, the cherry on top
04:49going to that concert
04:50and just getting to watch her face take it in.
04:53You know, it was her first big concert ever.
04:55And, you know, I won't ever forget her face.
04:58Yeah.
04:59What were your seats like?
05:00Because we did an interview with Hugh Grant.
05:02Yeah.
05:03And he was talking about slamming tequila shots
05:04with Travis Kelce.
05:05I'm imagining your face wasn't like that.
05:06Oh, no, no, no.
05:07It wasn't.
05:08We were up high against, like, front row up high.
05:12We didn't have anyone in front of us.
05:15So we were just up high.
05:17We weren't close to the stage at all.
05:19But those were the tickets that were available.
05:21And we had so much fun standing in line with people,
05:25like, just getting merch.
05:26You know, we stood in line for an hour, you know,
05:28just visiting with people and hearing their stories
05:30and where they came from.
05:31I mean, it's just a real testament to the community
05:35that she brings together.
05:36You know, it's really, really extraordinary.
05:39I'm going to ask this to everyone.
05:40Yeah.
05:41Do you have a real-life Holiday from Hell story
05:43that could be turned into a future season
05:45of The White Ladies?
05:46You know what?
05:47I don't think I do.
05:48And I've been asked this now a couple of times,
05:50and I'm going to really think hard on it.
05:51I'm not going to make up a bullshit lie.
05:53It's a good thing that you don't.
05:54It's a good thing.
05:55I really haven't.
05:56You know, when you think of, like, you know,
06:00anything on my own I can handle, I'm pretty patient.
06:04I think the only time that I remember, you know,
06:08having a difficult time is that I had a really,
06:10really sick child, and then our flight got canceled,
06:13and then we just got, you know, got stuck.
06:16No murder.
06:17No, no.
06:18No murder.
06:19No bodies found anywhere.
06:20No.
06:21And I'm going to think on that,
06:22because there is a term, and it's an odd term,
06:25and I can't think of it right now,
06:27so it's a little anticlimactic,
06:28but it often happens in hotels, right,
06:31where somebody passes away in a hotel,
06:33and they have a specific term that they call that.
06:36And, you know, the owner of one of our hotels
06:38that we were in going,
06:39oh, no, no, no, that's quite common.
06:40It's so common that we call it this.
06:42And I was like, hmm.
06:43I'm so glad that it's, I never experienced that.
06:47So am I, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this.
06:49Yeah, exactly.
06:50Final question, then.
06:52There are very few characters,
06:54and I don't want to spoil anything this season,
06:56that get to come back for another season.
06:58Yes.
06:59What are you going to say to Mike White to be like,
07:02I need to be in season four?
07:04Oh, I think he knows I would walk
07:08to the edges of the earth with him again
07:11any time on anything.
07:13Yeah, I mean, if he ever wanted to have me back
07:15for another season, I would in a heartbeat.
07:17Is there a holiday destination you would suggest?
07:19Oh, gosh.
07:21No, because he chooses the best places.
07:24He chooses the best places.
07:26I have an idea of, like, maybe where season four might be,
07:30and I'm just like, ooh, God, that sounds good.
07:33Thanks so much for chatting to us.
07:35Yeah, thank you.
07:38Someone once said,
07:41the secret to life
07:44is knowing when to stop.
07:48No bigger go home, right?
07:50Mm-hmm.
07:51In a goddamn body bag.