Sam Nivola gained fame as Lochlan Ratliff in The White Lotus' third season, playing a character whose storyline involved incest. This role turned him into an unexpected sex symbol, attracting significant public attention and social media responses. Despite the fame, Nivola expressed discomfort with the way his character was labeled a "freak" and the impact it had on his own image. He acknowledged the difficulty in reconciling his character's actions with how audiences perceived them, showing a need to maintain empathy for the complex role.
When The White Lotus was at its peak, I literally couldn't walk down the street in Brooklyn - my hometown - without being swarmed.
It was hard feeling like people had lost sympathy for this guy that I lived inside. I got a little defensive.
You have to love your character, otherwise you're f**ked. My character jerked off Patrick. I don't like that. It's a bad thing he did.
Despite all the love - if you can call it that - Nivola was left with a sense of unease as his character was dubbed a 'freak'.
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