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In season three of Mike White’s mandatory Sunday-night viewing series The White Lotus, the satire of thorny topics like class and masculinity is more acidic than ever before. The main plotlines in the Thailand-set season involve a pervy hustle bro, backstabbing besties, and washed-up old white guys with nefarious auras being shitty to their girlfriends. It would be almost too much to bear if it weren’t for Gaitok, the resort’s earnest, lovelorn security guard played by London-born Thai actor Tayme Thapthimthong. His haplessly flirtatious scenes opposite Blackpink superstar Lisa, who plays his colleague Mook, are sprinkled throughout the episodes like clarifying rays of sunshine. This week’s installment, however, sees Gaitok step into an action role, possibly embroiling himself in the mystery this season is building to. “He doesn’t think of himself as the hero,” says Thapthimthong. “His main focus is How do I get Mook to be interested in me?”
Coming from a military background and having done action films in the past, was it challenging to get yourself into a romantic mode?
It was a little difficult at first, because when I act, I tend to try to look cool. Mike had to brief me on my earlier shoots, like, “Tayme, remember, Gaitok’s not supposed to be that cool. You can put some machoness into it, but he’s not a trained military guy. He just likes Muay Thai.” He’s supposed to be a little nerdy. He does like to work out, which is why they were fine with my physique at the time, but they did say, “Just maintain it. Do not get bigger.” It helped me with the role mentally, because when I don’t work out for months, I start to feel weaker and more vulnerable.
I did find a lot of common traits with Gaitok. I’m not someone who comes across as, like, an aggressive killer. I just want to protect people. I started doing security work when I was 18, not because I wanted to fight people, but I had this urge to protect people. I was bullied as a kid, growing up in a community where we were the only Asian family in that neighborhood. I got picked on a lot and I hated feeling scared. I got into martial arts when I was younger, and then it led to me playing a lot of sports and doing a nightclub-bouncer job while I was in uni, and then applying for the military. I ended up playing a lot of myself. I realized all I have to do is not act so tough and just be me. I’m a little shy around girls, anyway. I’ve always been like that.
How much did you know about Lisa before working with her? Did you listen to Blackpink?
I’ve never listened to K-pop. It just wasn’t my style; I love hip-hop, Afrobeats, and R&B. But my daughter was 3 and a half at the time, and when I would go visit her at her mom’s house, because we’re separated, she’d be dancing to Blackpink on Youtube. So I became familiar with their songs, but I wouldn’t say I knew much about Lisa. But when I met her, I was still starstruck. She definitely has an aura about her.
Did you have to do a chemistry read with Lisa?
No, they didn’t tell me she would be playing my love interest until, like, less than a month away from us going to Samui for the first time. At that time, it was three months since I got confirmed and I kept asking the casting directors, “Who’s playing Mook?” They kept saying, “We can’t tell you yet, but trust me, it’s someone big.” I thought it was someone Thailand-big, a local actor. I never thought it would be someone Lisa big. I had to sign a few more NDAs before they even told me. And when they did, I wanted to tell my daughter so much, but I couldn’t, because I was afraid that she’d go to school and say something and I’d get in trouble. So I really just told my dad.
When you revealed to your daughter that you were working with Lisa, how did she react?
Because I’m a local, I got to fly back home from filming sometimes. She’d always ask, “How’s Lisa?” It was very cute. I told Lisa, “My daughter loves to dance to your videos on YouTube,” and she said, “I can FaceTime with her if you want.” So it was my daughter’s birthday, and I went home and told her, “I’ve got a surprise for you!” And then I called Lisa. My daughter, at first, was like, “What is it?” And seeing Lisa on the screen, she froze and slowly shuffled her way to her mom, hid behind her, and peeked out at the screen. It was such a sweet moment.
From your very first scene together, you have to establish that Gaitok and Mook go way back; your families know each other, you have this very familiar banter. How did you establish that lived-in dynamic?
We found some common ground. We both like hip-hop, we like to dance. She really made an effort to get to know me. At first, I assumed she was always busy. I wanted to get to know her, but I just felt like, Am I intruding on this superstar’s life? It was really nice of her to be the one to approach me, like, Hey, let’s go to breakfast tomorrow, see you at 9:30. She’s very on time. We had almost every meal together when we were there. We’d hang out at the beach, go swimming in the pool. I couldn’t believe I was spending all this time with this star, but she was so humble and nice about everything, really easygoing, that at times I really did forget she was Lisa from Blackpink.
How do you think Gaitok sees himself? He tells Mook he doesn’t think he’s that smart, and then when he tries to stop the burglar, she calls him brave. Does he see himself as this possible sort of hero?
He doesn’t think of himself as the hero. His main focus is How do I get Mook to be interested in me? How do I tell her I like her? If I tell her and it backfires, she might pull away from me, and I don’t want that. He’s desperate, like, If I don’t tell you how I feel now, you might go for one of these bodyguards, and I’m gonna regret it. That’s why he needed to say something in this episode. Obviously, he’s a little let down, but that fueled the fire for me in later episodes.
The security guys I’ve seen when I’ve traveled around Thailand, bodyguards and security guards at these hotels, are usually quite a lot nicer than the ones you’ll meet at nightclubs because there’s not much need for physical confrontation in a four- or five-star hotel. I really tried to represent the Thai-ness here, because what I’ve always seen when Thai people talk to foreigners, in particular, is that they’re always that extra bit polite. There’s almost a little bow to it. When we talk to each other, it’s kind of normal, but as soon as a foreigner comes around, especially if you don’t know them, or especially if they’re in a higher position, like I’m a security guard and they’re the guests, and I know they’re a lot wealthier than I am, it’s definitely more like, “Yes, sir.”
This episode has a big action scene for Gaitok where he gets pistol-whipped trying to stop the robber. How was filming that?
I remember not sleeping the night before because I was so excited. It was a 4:30 a.m. call time and I was a little tired but I was so pumped. I felt like, I gotta nail this, because I do want to do some action films after this. They offered a stand-in for when I fall down, but I asked to do it on my own. We were falling down on the hot concrete for take after take after take for different angles. And I had to constantly whip my neck back and fall down. But that’s the thing with me; Once I get into a bit of action, I’m on a roll, and I’m like, “Yeah, let’s keep doing it. Whatever you need.”
How did you get involved with the show?
I almost didn’t go to the White Lotus casting because I didn’t know what it was. I was working as a bodyguard this Thai rapper, Way, from a rap group called Thaitanium. I had my hands full with my client and thought, This is the best job I could get. I’m a guy out of the army and a very successful Thai rapper wants me to work for him full-time? And pay me good money? I was already so happy. Then my client was like, “Dude, what are you doing? Go, go, go!” He’s American-born Thai from Brooklyn, so he knows these American shows more than I do.
The last time I worked as an actor was in my mid-20s, and I was in my early 30s by the time they cast me. When I got to the audition, I hadn’t watched season one or two yet. I was clueless as to how big this show was and the sort of audience it had in the U.S. I went in pretty calm, and I think that’s why it went well. It was the first casting I had to do in Thai because everything I’d done before was mostly in English. It was amazing to get a callback and then meet Mike. About a week and a half later they confirmed me for the role. By then I had watched seasons one and two and I was hooked.
Did Mike ask for your input about how the show depicts these kinds of private bodyguards?
Yeah, he did. Before I did my first scene, they did the scenes with Sritala Hollinger, who owns the hotel, and her bodyguards. At first they were dressed a bit more military, in tight-black T-shirts and combat trousers tucked into their boots with their guns open-carry. Mike asked me, “When you’ve been on the job, is this how they would dress?” And I said no. They would dress in civilian clothing because they don’t want to attract attention. Combat trousers tucked into boots are only for airborne units. When I worked close protection, I’d wear what tourists wear: a Hawaiian shirt with jeans, and if I was carrying, I’d wear an oversize shirt to cover my weapon. You don’t want to be flashing that around. I think that’s why he eventually gave them jackets and a casual look. This still looks a bit military to me, but I guess he didn’t want them looking too much like the guests. He wanted a clear distinction.
In 2013, you came in second place on the Thai singing-competition reality show Academy Fantasia. This season of The White Lotus has musical performances at the resort. Any chance Gaitok will perform?
I don’t think Gaitok will perform, but I definitely plan to show the world what I can sing now, because I really didn’t want people to go back and watch that competition. Back then, I was so fresh. And the whole point of the show, because it’s a reality show, is they wouldn’t give you songs you can perform really well, because it doesn’t create any drama during the week. It’s half X Factor, half Big Brother. It was a lot of hard songs for me. Even when they gave me one in English, it would be, like, One Direction, which is five people singing one song, but they wanted one person to sing it. It was hard to start low and hit those high notes in the chorus. So I recently said to myself, “I need to record something in the studio, like a live studio recording of how I sing now, so that when White Lotus comes out, people go to YouTube and find something new, instead of that.” I did a live studio recording of “Tennessee Whiskey,” by Chris Stapleton, and then “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet. I can’t wait for you guys to hear that.
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