The White Lotus season three is underway, and the Ratliff family are causing a stir just two episodes in thanks to their rather questionable behaviour and morals
It turns out the Ratliffs from The White Lotus season three have a very real inspiration.
The family is made up of dad Timothy (Jason Isaacs), mum Victoria (Parker Posey), oldest son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and youngest son Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Already they’ve caused a stir, with HBO Max viewers predicting a weird storyline between the brothers.
One scene showing them in a shared bedroom was even shown on Gogglebox, and it left viewers of the Channel 4 show desperate to turn it off.
However television fans might recognise the family from elsewhere. Not just because the likes of actors Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey have had incredible careers, but because they are based on the cast of reality show Southern Charm.
Southern Charm, produced by Bravo and which airs on Hayu in the UK, follows the lives of a group of friends who live in Charleston, South Carolina. In The White Lotus, the Ratliffs come from Durham, North Carolina.
In a recent interview, London-born actor Sam, who plays the youngest of the clan, told People: “Mike [White, series creator] told us to go watch Southern Charm. In fact, Jason Isaacs, who played our dad, kind of modelled his whole accent and character off of [that cast]”.
And it didn’t go unnoticed, as Cameran Eubanks, who was on six seasons of Southern Charm from 2014 to 2019, spotted it. And there was one of her former co-stars in particular.
She wrote on Instagram: “Many of y’all are echoing what I thought as soon as I heard the dad speak. ‘Damn, he sounds like Thomas Ravenel!’ That dialect is NOT North Carolina. It’s old Charleston.”
British actor Jason said the accent from Durham, North Carolina “is very specific”. He said in a TikTok video: “It sounds a lot like the other Southern accents, but it’s got two vowels in it that sound like upper class English.”
Meanwhile, actress Parker Posey brought her “snotty” character to life drawing from her own life, as she comes from southern America. She told Variety: “I’ve met some really wealthy people and Southerners that are almost affected so that’s what I did.”
The White Lotus launched its highly-anticipated, Thailand-based third season earlier this month. Meanwhile, Southern Charm is currently airing its 10th season.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
