The White Lotus: Carrie Coon’s child was written as non-binary, but the storyline was cut after Trump’s election

The child of Carrie Coon’s The White Lotus character was originally written as ‘maybe trans’, but the scene was cut after Donald Trump was re-elected.

With just two episodes to go, The White Lotus season three has more than lived up to its predecessors, with the Thailand-based instalment featuring drug-fuelled incest between Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola’s characters, a snake attack on Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea, and, of course, a trio of bitchy blonde women comprised of Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan.

The season has so far been yet another bang-on satire of America’s wealthiest from Mike White – but it turns out that Coon’s character Laurie had more depth to her home life, which ended up being cut from the script due to the real-world environment created by conservative President Donald Trump’s re-election.

Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, Coon explained that the cut scene provided further exposition on Laurie’s life in the States, including a conversation that explored her child’s struggle with their gender identity.

“There was a bit more context to her home life,” Coon said, adding, “You originally found out that her daughter was actually non-binary, maybe trans and going by they/them. You see Laurie struggling to explain it to her friends, struggling to use they/them pronouns, struggling with the language, which was all interesting.

“It was only a short scene, but for me, it did make the question [in episode 3] of whether Kate voted for Trump so much more provocative and personally offensive to Laurie, considering who her child is in the world.”

The third episode of The White Lotus saw Laurie, Kate and Jaclyn discuss American politics in a particularly tense exchange over dinner. The scene culminated with Kate saying that she voted as an Independent – but her husband voted for Trump.

The Avengers star continued by explaining that White thought the moment wasn’t “the right way to engage in that conversation.”

“But the season was written before the election,” she said. “And considering the way the Trump administration has weaponised the cultural war against transgender people even more since then, when the time came to cut the episode down, Mike felt that the scene was so small and the topic so big that it wasn’t the right way to engage in that conversation.”

The White Lotus season three also features Walton Goggins, Natasha Rothwell and Blackpink’s Lisa Manobal.

Trump’s second administration has targeted trans individuals since his second inauguration in January. He immediately signed several anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, including the American government now recognising ‘only two sexes‘ and DEI being gutted from both government and the military.

Trans individuals have also once again been banned from the military and certain sports, and Trump also instigated a ban on healthcare for trans youngsters.

The White Lotus continues on HBO on Sundays in the US and Sky Atlantic and NOW on Mondays in the UK.

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