For those of us in India who count ourselves as fans of The White Lotus, a delicious black comedy that follows the twisted private lives of wealthy Americans on holiday, the show comes home in its third season in more ways than one.
Firstly, it’s set a stone’s throw away from India on the sunny beaches of Thailand (Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, more specifically). Thanks to its visa-free policy, the Southeast Asian country is fast emerging as a top destination for Indian tourists, with 2024 closing out on 2.1 million Indian visitors. To its south stands Sri Lanka, home to the first brown character to be cast on The White Lotus, who I’m fairly certain Indians will be claiming as their own by the time season 3 finishes airing.
Shalini Peiris will never forget the moment she found out about her casting. The actor, born in the hill town of Kandy in Sri Lanka and currently based out of London, had just landed in the British capital after shooting in Serbia and turned on her phone to see a missed call from her manager. “I called back thinking he was going to tell me the audition hadn’t gone my way but instead he said he had good news. I was surrounded by people getting off the plane so I had to keep it together but as soon as I got off, I ran to the nearest bathroom, locked myself inside and screamed at the top of my lungs.”
For Peiris, earning a place among The White Lotus cast is a culmination of a journey that began nearly 15 years ago when, as a recent graduate in Anthropology working at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, she told her parents she wanted to be an actor. It’s a long-held dream that never fully left her despite her best efforts to file it away under the category of ‘unattainable childhood fantasies’.
If her South Asian parents were surprised, they hid it well and tried to be as supportive as they could. Before they—or she—knew it, Peiris had moved to London, enrolled in a one-year acting program and began looking for whatever acting work she could get her hands on while also holding down a slew of part-time jobs. “It was a very different industry back then. There weren’t that many brown faces, and conversations about representation were still in their infancy.” After a 10-month dry spell, Peiris was on the verge of quitting acting altogether when she landed a part in a play called Lions and Tigers, a true story about a Bengali freedom fighter taking on the British Raj, which was being staged at London’s iconic Globe Theatre. The play was an astounding success and left a lasting impression on the audience, one of whom was Peiris’s current manager, who took it upon himself to sign her on and give her the platform she deserved. Her first TV role followed soon after: a scene in a long-running detective show, Vera (2011-2025). Since then the roles have kept coming—one-episode appearances at first, which gave way to main character credits on The Ark (2023-2024) on Syfy and Danny and Mick (2019-2023) on CBBC.
In The White Lotus too, the 39-year-old actor will appear throughout season 3 as Amrita, a meditation teacher and spiritual counsellor working at the resort’s spa, who has a significant storyline with one of the guests. Peiris couldn’t be more excited. She loves the show so much, she’s seen both seasons twice over and was happy just to be able to audition for the new season. “It’s so rare for a show to balance humour and darkness so well, and to give each character their moment to leap off the screen,” she says, smiling. Despite my best efforts, that’s as much information as I can get out of her.
The thrill of being selected to play Amrita was followed, understandably, by the pressure to deliver, especially in front of a more experienced cast and crew. Peiris walked onto the set for her first day intimidated but was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming and collaborative everyone was. “Everyone was there to lift each other up and create something beautiful together. Mike (White) had so much faith in me and everyone else. It was a masterclass no drama school could have taught me.”
The most gratifying part, however, was for Peiris to be able to represent her beloved Sri Lanka on the show and give her fellow Sri Lankans who will be watching her a reason not just to rejoice, but also to dream big. “I have so many people from back home messaging me and saying it’s their dream to act too, which reminds me that I’m not just doing this for myself.” A big ambition of hers is to nurture the industry back home and champion Sri Lankan stories. “What we’ve been through as a country has been relentless. There’s a lot of healing that needs to be done and I think storytelling can be a powerful means of achieving that.” Like acting didn’t leave her when she was working as an activist, it seems that activism hasn’t left her now that she’s an actor.
Peiris is proof that paradise isn’t a destination so much as a scenic little pit stop along the way that reminds you that you were right to make the journey in the first place. Sometimes, paradise is an airport bathroom where you’re able to revel in the knowledge that life as you know it is about to change forever.
Also read:
Everything we know about The White Lotus season 3
