Scott Glenn, 86, Opens Up About Bonding With Mike White on White Lotus: ‘We Embrace the Unpredictable’

Look, we need to talk about how ridiculously late Hollywood is to the Scott Glenn appreciation party. The man’s been crushing it on screen since the 1960s—literally before some of your parents were born—and he’s just now getting his first Emmy nomination? For The White Lotus Season 3, no less. Better late than never, but seriously, what took everyone so long?

The Seductive Dance of White Lotus

Glenn himself seems pretty chill about the whole thing, probably because at 86, he’s got that zen master energy that comes with decades of not caring about industry politics. Speaking from his mountain hideaway in Idaho to Variety.com (because, of course, he lives in the mountains like some wise hermit), he jokes about the global nature of his nomination: “I was up here in the mountains and found out that I was nominated in L.A. for something I did in Thailand.”

What’s refreshing about Glenn is his humility. Despite having a resume that reads like a greatest hits of American cinema—Urban Cowboy, and Training Day —he’s quick to credit The White Lotus creator Mike White for his Emmy-worthy performance. “It almost feels like—I don’t know if ‘cheating’ is the right word,” Glenn says, and honestly, that’s the most endearing thing an actor could say about their own nomination. “The advantage that any of the Emmy nominees that come from The White Lotus have is that we all benefited from the amazing direction of Mike White.”

Scott Glenn on Why He Nearly Passed on The White Lotus Season 3 Before Getting Hooked

Here’s where it gets interesting: Glenn had never watched The White Lotus when they approached him for Season 3. His initial reaction? Hard pass. The character description—an old man with a stroke who walks with a cane—hit a little too close to home after his previous role in Eugene the Marine. But his agent, clearly smarter than all of us, insisted he at least watch an episode first.

Within 15 minutes of watching the first episode, Glenn was hooked. He describes the show as “this strange, seductive dance,” and if that doesn’t perfectly capture what makes The White Lotus so addictive, then there’s nothing else to explain. The show has this uncanny ability to make you laugh at things that probably shouldn’t be funny, creating that uncomfortable-but-ca n’t-look-away feeling that defines great television.

Glenn’s Experience With The White Lotus

Glenn’s approach to acting is refreshingly old-school and spontaneous. He tells White he’ll follow the basic script directions, but crosses out anything that tries to tell him how to feel or act. “Each take is essentially a one-act play called ‘Now,'” he explains, which honestly sounds like the most terrifying and exhilarating way to approach acting.

When Glenn told White he didn’t really know what’s going to happen between “action” and “cut,” White’s response was perfect: “Well, I don’t know what I’m doing either. So come over to Thailand. Let’s be unpredictable together.” In The White Lotus Season 3, Glenn plays Jim Hollinger, the resort owner with blood on his hands and secrets buried deeper than a Thai temple foundation.

Scott Glenn’s Shocking White Lotus Twist: Playing Rick’s Father with Dark Secrets and Cold Resolve

His character becomes the catalyst for one of the season’s most shocking revelations—he’s actually Rick’s (Walton Goggins) father, a twist that nobody saw coming but somehow makes perfect sense in hindsight. The backstory Glenn and White developed for Jim is appropriately dark: he gave Rick’s mother money for an abortion decades ago, then cast her aside to build his morally questionable business empire in Thailand. When Rick shows up looking for answers about his father’s supposed murder, Jim’s response isn’t paternal reconciliation—it’s cold dismissal.

“I’ve changed my life. I’ve got two daughters that I care about, a wife that I care about. I’ve lived in Thailand straight for 50 years. Culturally, I’m probably more Thai than I am American,” Glenn explains his character’s mindset. “I’m unwilling to give any of this up, and I don’t want anyone to get in the way of it.”  At 86, Glenn shows no signs of slowing down. He credits directors like Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jonathan Demme for teaching him lessons he still applies today.

 

What keeps him going isn’t nostalgia or obligation—it’s that same hunger that drove him in the beginning. “I’m looking for something where I can’t wait to get to the set and do the scene, or I can’t wait to play the character,” he says. “It’s something in the character that makes me salivate.” The Emmy nomination for his performance in The White Lotus speaks volumes. Here’s to Scott Glenn, finally receiving the Emmy love he deserves. Sometimes the best things really are worth the wait, even if that wait is six decades long.