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Mike White’s The White Lotus is back with another insufferable family in Season 3. This time, it’s the Ratliffs, headed by rich couple Timothy Ratliff (played by Jason Isaacs) and Victoria Ratliff (Parker Posey). Jason and Parker instantly made an impression with their familiar Southern accents, which were inspired by the reality TV series, Southern Charm.
Sam Nivola, who played Lochlan Ratliff (the youngest son), said that Mike instructed them to watch the Bravo show. The director was a reality star himself. He made it to the final three of Survivor: David vs. Goliath (Season 37) in 2018. So choosing Southern Charm as inspiration came as an instinctively effective choice.
For instance, fans think Parker’s character was very similar to Patricia Altschul, the wealthiest star of the Bravo series and mother of its creator and former star Whitney Sudler-Smith. Here’s everything you should know about The White Lotus‘ connection with the Southern Charm.
Southern Charm Inspired The Ratliff Family In Mike White’sThe White Lotus
The White Lotus Cast “Modeled” Their Southern Accent After Southern Charm
Speaking to People, Sam revealed that Mike advised him “to go watch Southern Charm“ for his role in The White Lotus Season 3. Ony his character is a lot more scandalous—with incestuous arcs with his onscreen older brother, Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played Saxon Ratliff.
“Jason Isaacs, who played our dad, kind of modeled his whole accent and character off of [the Southern Charm cast],” Sam added.
However, Sarah Catherine Hook—who played Sam and Patrick’s onscreen sister, Piper Ratliff—didn’t get the Bravo memo. “I’m from Alabama,” she told Sam. “I found out through you guys. I was like, ‘[Mike] didn’t tell me to watch Southern Charm! I’m feeling left out.'”
It’s not the only reality Easter egg on the hit HBO show. Some of Mike’s Survivor co-stars have also appeared on The White Lotus:
- Alec Merlino played a bartender named Hutch in Season 1
- Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay had a brief cameo as beachgoers in Season 2
- Natalie Cole and Carl Boudreaux appeared as guests having dinner at the White Lotus in Season 3
Bravo Fans Love The White Lotus‘ Inaccurate Channeling Of Southern Charm
The White Lotus‘ Ratliff Family Is From North Carolina, Not South Carolina
Fans were quick to point out that Parker’s character is giving Patricia, while Jason sounds a lot like Thomas Ravenel, former South Carolina Treasurer and one of the original cast members who starred in Southern Charm‘s first five seasons.
Southern Charm‘s current cast members (Season 10):
- Shep Rose
- Craig Conover
- Austen Kroll
- Madison LeCroy
- Leva Bonaparte
- Olivia Flowers
- Venita Aspen
- Taylor Ann Green
- Patricia Altschul
- Whitney Sudler-Smith
- Jarrett “JT” Thomas
- Rodrigo Reyes
- Rod Razavi
- Salley Carso
A Redditor remarked: “Lolll that’s why the dad sounds just like [T-Rav] and the mom like Patricia. I just need one of the sons to spit out a ‘garsh!’” Garsh (a Southern gosh) is one of the signature lines (Shep-isms) of the self-admittedly “bon vivant,” Shep Rose.
They also praised the very Southern Charm dynamic between Parker and Patrick’s mother-son characters. “Parker Posey’s character also treats the elder son just like Patricia treats Whitney!” wrote another commenter. “She fawns over him and laughs at his disgusting jokes! 🤣”
But Parker and Jason’s accents were initially slammed as inauthentic and odd. The problem is that the fictional Ratliff family hails from Durham, North Carolina. Parker and Jason’s accents are more Charleston, South Carolina… We understand the mix-up though; the Southern Charm way is more contagious, hence more fun and catchier for audiences.
At least, Bravo fans assured The White Lotus viewers that those are real Southern drawls in Parker and Jason’s accents. “I’ve exclusively lived in the south and think they’re doing a great SC accent – maybe even MS delta,” one commented. “They sound like the old money, Southerners I know!“
Southern Charm Alum Cameran Eubanks Acknowledged The Show’s Connection To The White Lotus
Cameran Eubanks Agrees That Jason Isaacs Sounds Like Thomas Ravenel In The White Lotus
Southern Charm alum, Cameran Eubanks (Seasons 1 to 6) acknowledged The White Lotus‘ Bravo connection on Instagram. She even approved of Jason’s T-Rav accent. “Many of yall are echoing what I thought as soon as I heard the dad speak. ‘Damn, he sounds like Thomas Ravenel!'” the reality star said on her Instagram Stories.
Cameran also set the record straight on “the difference between a Charleston accent and the Old Charleston accent.” She defended Parker and Jason’s regionally inaccurate drawls, saying: “Well, there really is no such thing as current Charleston dialect because now more Northerners live here than Southerners 🤣”
Cameran even shared a fun fact about T-Rav: “Thomas was the ONLY original cast member who was born and bred in Charleston. I am from the upstate of South Carolina and our dialect is a lot more twangy and less refined 😜” She went on to say that true Charleston accent is “R-dropping” and often accompanied by an “intrusive y into the ar sound.”
Who knew Southern Charm would spark such a discourse similar to analyzing the accents of the British royals in Netflix‘s The Crown?
Southern Charm
- Release Date
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March 3, 2014
- Network
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Bravo
- Showrunner
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Bryan Kestner, Whitney Sudler-Smith
- Writers
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Bryan Kestner, Whitney Sudler-Smith
- Franchise(s)
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Southern Charm
