White Lotus creator Mike White casts two Survivor 50 contestants for cameos in Season 4

• Mike White announced that Survivor 50 alums Charlie Davis and Kamilla Karthigesu will appear in The White Lotus Season 4
• White Lotus Season 4 is set at the Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez, with the Cannes Film Festival as a backdrop
• The new season features a star-studded cast, including Laura Dern, Ben Kingsley, Kumail Nanjiani and many others
  

Mike White made a surprise announcement during the finale of Survivor 50, revealing that two contestants from the milestone season will make cameo appearances in the forthcoming fourth season of The White Lotus.

The announcement

White, who was eliminated fourth during Survivor 50, appeared via video call during the CBS competition's finale. Despite being busy filming The White Lotus Season 4 in France, he confirmed that Charlie Davis and Kamilla Karthigesu — both Survivor 50 alums — would appear in the new HBO season.

The announcement continued a tradition White established in The White Lotus Season 2, when Survivor: David vs. Goliath contestants Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay made cameo appearances as hotel guests.

A rescheduled production

White had rearranged The White Lotus filming schedule in order to participate in the landmark 50th season of Survivor. Having been voted out, he returned directly to work on his Emmy Award-winning series.

A star-studded cast

Charlie and Kamilla will join an expansive ensemble that includes Laura Dern, Ben Kingsley, Max Minghella, Max Greenfield, Kumail Nanjiani, Charlie Hall, Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina, AJ Michalka, and Rosie Perez.

Further confirmed cast members include Chloe Bennet, Sandra Bernhard, Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Heather Graham, Ari Graynor, Pekka Strang, Nadie Tereszkiewicz, Jarrad Paul, and Tobias Santelmann, among others.

Setting and themes

The new season is set at the Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez, with the Cannes Film Festival also serving as a backdrop for the fourth instalment.

Executive producer David Bernad described Season 4 as "the personal and the funniest," adding: "It really examines the things we value as people and what is attractive to us, and how fame can be corrosive and dictate your choices in life.

"Some of the characters are existentially reflecting on those choices, some are reflecting on the choices and sacrifices they made as artists, and some are just starting to enter into this world of fame. Mike does a brilliant job of capturing how relationships can be corroded."