Natasha Rothwell Teases Returning To ‘The White Lotus’ As “A Guest For The First Time”

Although Jennifer Coolidge‘s Tanya McQuoid has checked out of The White Lotusanother familiar face is back for Season 3 of the HBO series.

Natasha Rothwell recently discussed her return with “main character energy” as spa manager Belinda Lindsey for the upcoming season, which premieres Feb. 16, after previously appearing in the Hawaii-based Season 1 of Mike White‘s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning anthology series.

“She’s still working at the White Lotus, and she’s in Thailand doing sort of an exchange program to learn more about the wellness programs that the Thailand White Lotus offers,” she explained to Entertainment Weekly. “She’s going to be a guest for the first time, even though she’s taking classes and it’s a work trip. She’s staying at the hotel, which is something that she hasn’t done before, and so we get to see her really dip her toe in the other side of life of the upstairs/downstairs of White Lotus.”

Rothwell continued, “She’s like, ‘Oh, someone’s going to come in and clean my room and I don’t know them?’ She gets a firsthand look at some of the things that I think went unnoticed by her [in] season 1. It’s a really cool exploration of status and her journey and reconciling the fact that her dreams of owning the spa never came to fruition, so what do you do? ‘I’m going to pick myself up and learn something new,’ and still grow in her own way.”

In Season 1, the wealthy Tanya (Coolidge) took a shine to Belinda’s talent as a healer and the comfort she provided after the death of her mother. After offhandedly floating the idea of investing in her own spa, Tanya rescinded the offer at the end of the season, leaving her heartbroken.

“She was so devastated by Tanya taking what little hope she had and shattering it,” added Rothwell. “Over the course of the Italy season of White Lotus in the world that we’ve created, she’s been trying to dig herself out of that sadness and really be inspired again. Her purpose for coming to Thailand is to have a dream again.”

As for whether Belinda knows about Tanya’s unfortunate fate at the end of the Sicily-set sophomore season, Rothwell said, “I can’t confirm or deny.”

And although Belinda is the only returning character, Rothwell notes that her son is introduced this season, which “raises the stakes” for her character.

“We’re wanting to root for her, but we’re also wanting to root for her and her son,” Rothwell told EW. “I can’t get into particulars, but her son is older. He’s finishing up school. It’s that weird part of life when you realize your parents are human and you’re an adult, and there’s this kind of friendship that develops. I’m excited for audiences to see Belinda in relationship to her son and how they grow together over the course of the season.”

Season 3 of The White Lotus also features Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Tayme Thapthimthong and Aimee Lou Wood.