Walton Goggins Says He Was Really Bitten by a Snake Shooting That ‘White Lotus’ Scene

Walton Goggins recently faced one of his biggest fears while filming The White Lotus in Thailand. In the third episode of season three, his character, the rugged and disgruntled Rick Hatchett, gets high and sets free a bunch of venomous snakes at a snake farm, which leads to his girlfriend Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou Wood, getting bitten by a Cobra and rushed to the hospital. But here’s the plot twist—on set, it was actually Goggins who suffered the same fate. 

The actor, who has a serious fear of snakes, shared the story for the first time during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I don’t just have a phobia, it’s like a missing link when it comes to snakes,” he said, joking that there’s something “genetically wrong” with his reaction to them. His response to the bite? “Oh my God, I’ve been bit by a snake!” he yelled, completely freaking out. 

The scene required Goggins to open a series of enclosures and handle different snakes, which was no easy feat. Before filming began, a snake handler on set made sure to walk him through which reptiles were safe to touch, and which were venomous.  

“All I’m thinking about is the very first cage where the snake will kill you—‘don’t open that one,’” he told the late-night host. “Then, when they yell ‘action,’ all I could think about was, ‘Wait, was it green or brown? Which one has the big bite?’” 

Goggins, who plays a deeply troubled tourist on a luxury vacation on the resort island of Koh Samui, described the scene’s deeper meaning. “For Rick Hatchett, the snakes represented him,” he said. “He was releasing these snakes because he wanted someone to release him from his pain.” But, despite understanding the symbolism, Goggins wasn’t quite ready for what would happen next. 

“I was pulling out a green snake, and it didn’t want to come out,” he recalled. “It turned around and bit me.” Goggins said he didn’t exactly stay calm in the moment. “I wish I could’ve been cool,” he admitted. “But my reaction was, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been bit by a snake!’” 

Despite the pain, Goggins finished the day’s shoot, with the crew applying Neosporin to his wound before getting back to work. He still had nine hours left of filming. But the next day, a producer called him, suggesting he might want to visit the hospital. “For what? You said the snake was non-venomous,” he joked. Still, he ended up going to the hospital, just to be safe, where he got a precautionary shot. Luckily, Goggins was fine in the end. But his real-life snake bite definitely added some extra drama to his White Lotus experience.