Michelle Monaghan says she doesn't judge her White Lotus character.
Jaclyn is a famous actress who takes her two longtime friends Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) to Thailand in Season 3 of Mike White's anthology drama series.
In Episode 6, called "Denials," her character faces the aftermath of sleeping with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), who works at the White Lotus resort where she's staying. She had a boyfriend at home and previously encouraged Laurie (Carrie Coon) to pursue Valentin, causing friction on the show, and passionate responses from fans.
"I've been doing this for over 20 years I've been in this industry," Monaghan said. "And I have never been a part of something as fun as this."
She said she received texts from friends who either came down on Jaclyn or were rooting for her in that moment."I think it's interesting that you're on your character's side. Do you think you would be on your character's side if someone else was playing that character?" Kimmel asked her.
"Absolutely not," she said, adding that the "golden rule" in acting is that "you never judge your character, right, like, you never judge their actions."
Season 3 also stars Walton Goggins, Leslie Bibb, Aimee Lou Wood, Natasha Rothwell, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, and Lalisa Manobal, better known as K-pop star Lisa.
The White Lotus airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO and also streams on Max.
