TORONTO 鈥� Since her breakout role in season 3 of HBO鈥檚 hit dramedy 鈥淲hite Lotus,鈥� acting offers have been pouring in for Charlotte Le Bon.
But for now, the Montreal native is just not interested.
鈥淢aking films is my main focus more than acting, to be honest," Le Bon said during a sit-down interview in Toronto Thursday.
Le Bon recently returned from the Cannes Film Festival, where she held meetings in search of a financing partner for her sophomore feature 鈥� a still-untitled Montreal-shot drama exploring themes of loss.
鈥淚t鈥檚 autobiographique,鈥� says the bilingual actor, reluctant to reveal too much.
鈥淚t's a very, very personal movie and I think the goal is to try to make a very light-hearted movie on grief. It's a challenge, but that's what I'm aiming for.鈥�
The Montreal-based Le Bon was in town for Bell Media鈥檚 2025/26 programming showcase, where Etalk hosts interviewed her during a splashy event for media buyers about the last season of 鈥淭he White Lotus,鈥� which streams on Crave.
In Mike White鈥檚 eat-the-rich anthology series she plays Chloe, a socially savvy French-Canadian expat living in Thailand with her much older boyfriend, and the series鈥� main antagonist, Greg, who now goes by 鈥淕ary.鈥� She鈥檚 seemingly unaware of Greg鈥檚 history: in Season 2, he pulled off a plot to murder his wife Tanya, played by Jennifer Coolidge, in order to inherit her wealth.
Le Bon says she was ready to take a hiatus from acting when she was offered the 鈥淲hite Lotus鈥� role. Though she鈥檇 built a successful career 鈥� with roles opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the 2015 biographical drama 鈥淭he Walk鈥� and Christian Bale in the 2016 war epic 鈥淭he Promise鈥� 鈥� her passion had shifted to working behind the camera. Her 2023 horror-romance 鈥淔alcon Lake,鈥� which she directed and co-wrote, premiered at Cannes to strong critical acclaim.
鈥淚 was thinking about taking a break from acting because I was like, 鈥極h, I don't know if I still like it.鈥� I was just asking myself some questions about it... I sometimes played characters that were not really inspiring for me for some reason,鈥� she says.
鈥淎nd then 鈥榃hite Lotus鈥� arrived and I was like, 鈥楾here's no way I can not do this. It's just an amazing opportunity鈥�... Between the moment where I sent the self-tape and the moment I was in the plane flying to Thailand, there were probably like 10 days.鈥�
Le Bon says the experience of being part of such a pop-culture juggernaut was hard to wrap her head around.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of overwhelming when you're taking part in such an important thing in culture. Even when it started to come out, when I started to see memes on it on social media, it was really exciting,鈥� she says.
While acting isn鈥檛 her current focus, Le Bon says she would be down to return for Season 4 鈥� and has some ideas about how it could play out.
鈥淚f their relationship is based on true love, which I think it is, then maybe she'll come back with Greg, because Greg has to come back, for sure,鈥� she says.
Le Bon muses that Chloe could be Greg鈥檚 accomplice or even the one who serves him his inevitable comeuppance.
鈥淪he could either become Greg's ally and they can be like a duo of villains, or she can maybe be the one who will create the karma for Greg. Maybe she'll give it to him,鈥� she says.
鈥淗e has to get it at some point, so we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
While Chloe鈥檚 relationship with Greg may seem transactional on the surface, Le Bon argues the two share a deeper 鈥渦nderstanding鈥� of one another.
鈥淚 think what she likes in this relationship is she thinks she鈥檚 found a way to be free鈥� just by spending a lot of money and partying and having sex with whoever she wants,鈥� Le Bon says.
鈥淚 think they find an agreement by the end of the season where it's clear that's her intention and maybe he can take part in this and have fun with it as well.鈥�
If that setup sounds peculiar, Le Bon says that鈥檚 just the kind of thing that interests her.
鈥淭here needs to be a singular aspect to a part that really inspires me in order for me to move my butt and be an actress again,鈥� she says.
鈥淚t needs to be weird.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2025.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
