‘The White Lotus’ stars react to shocking incest storyline: ‘I thought there was a typo’

nypost.com:

escalated the incest storyline between brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola). It was revealed through flashbacks the next morning that after the siblings kissed, Lochlan gave Saxon a hand job while he was hooking up with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) in bed.In a new interview with the Wrap, 21-year-old Nivola said he initially didn’t believe the latest plot twist with the Ratliff brothers.“I thought that there was a typo that screwed up the names — I was like ‘me and him?’” the actor said.“I was blown away — I was shocked,” Nivola continued, calling creator Mike White “a total genius” and “a brilliant writer.”He added, “Nothing is for shock value — it’s all to to serve the story and help flesh out these characters that are so complex.

I ran with it. It made sense.”Schwarzenegger, 31, told the Wrap he “gasped” upon learning about the incest scene.“The first time I read it and got to that scene, I thought, ‘Oh boy, we’ve got a wild [ride].

This is classic Mike White, classic ‘White Lotus,’” Schwarzenegger said. “It was going to be this hilarious moment throughout the script that was a big shift and changing point for Saxon, and for Saxon and Lochlan’s relationship … and the power shift between the two of them.”Nivola explained that the co-stars acted out the scene in bed “naturally,” adding, “We did it a bunch of different ways, and we just sort of let our instincts drive the scene, as we do in any scene.”Both actors wouldn’t say which brother initiated the intimate moment. “Mike wants it to be an open-ended conversation for the viewer to come up to their own ideas,” said Schwarzenegger.