'The White Lotus' Season 4 Star Officially Teases Chris Messina's "Amazing" Performance

4 days ago 30

Published Oct 25, 2026, 9:42 AM EDT

Clayface has officially stormed into theaters just in time for Halloween, and the DCU's first proper dip into full-blown horror seems to be yielding results. Collider's Gabrielle Moss called director James Watkins' new film "horrific to watch for all the right reasons" in her official review of the film, and that sentiment has been shared in the film's positive Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score. Co-written by horror legend Mike Flanagan and starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomie Ackie, and Max Minghella, Clayface brings the notorious Batman villain to the big screen for the first time ever as a terrifying body horror tragedy.

Clayface's combination of death and romance also carries over to another Warner Bros. property that has since become one of HBO's most popular shows. Created by Mike White, The White Lotus has become a global sensation, with a mysterious murder of at least one individual creating a compelling three-season anthology. Or at least, three so far, as a fourth season of the hit show is on the way, this time bringing the series back to Europe for the first time since Season 2, with France being the new central locale. As is tradition for The White Lotus, Season 4 boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes some huge names, including Steve Coogan (Philomena), Laura Dern (Jurassic Park), Heather Graham (Carrie), Ben Kingsley (Wonder Man), Chris Messina (Based on a True Story), and even Clayface star Max Minghella.

Sitting down with Collider's Steve Weintraub to promote Clayface, Minghella officially confirmed his role in the new season of White Lotus and teased what's in store. Firstly, Minghella praised his White Lotus Season 4 co-star Chris Messina, saying that "he has done some really amazing stuff on set that I've not seen before, some kind of interesting approaches to a scene that I will definitely be stealing from." Furthermore, Minghella also clarifies his role in the series isn't a principal one and reveals why he wanted to get involved with the series:

"I'm very dear friends of Dave Bernad's, who's the producer of the show, and Mike White is somebody I've admired for a long time. I think this was a role that they thought I might be a good fit for. But it came probably from my relationship with Dave Bernad.

"I get to do something really fun in it. I think I can say I'm not a principal actor in the show. I'm coming in for a little fun piece, and it's really special. I'm really, really flattered and excited to be part of it."

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring

Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you.

😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger)

🧸Chucky(Child's Play)

📞Scream(Ghostface)

🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files)

FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE →

Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you.

ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there.

NEXT QUESTION →

You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything.

AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.

ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement.

NEXT QUESTION →

Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.

AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking.

AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something.

NEXT QUESTION →

Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing.

AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do.

ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare.

AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep.

REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE →

The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind.

Elm Street

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument.

Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage.
These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Chucky

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too.
The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults.
By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Scream

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party.
You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films.
The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

The Conjuring

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

What's the Story of 'The White Lotus' So Far?

Jennifer Coolidge in a floral dress in 'The White Lotus'

Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya in 'The White Lotus' Season 2.

The White Lotus may be an anthology series with several standalone stories, but the series does also have an overarching narrative that has threaded through each installment. Season 1 saw grieving businessperson Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) meet and fall in love with Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), who was seemingly dying from a terminal illness. In Season 2, Tanya and Greg are now married, and the latter is cured of his alleged illness, but Greg also orchestrates and hires a group of men to abduct and kill Tanya (though she ends up accidentally killing herself by falling overboard a boat). Greg returns again in Season 3 (making him the only character to appear in all three seasons), this time living in Thailand with his new wife before paying off Tanya's one-time companion Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) to keep the mysterious circumstances of Tanya's death a secret. If Season 4 keeps with tradition, Greg will likely return, but what role he plays in this new story remains to be seen.

Clayface is in theaters now. The White Lotus Seasons 1-3 are streaming now on HBO Max, with Season 4 expected to premiere in 2027. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.