The Ratliff family in Season 3 of The White Lotus took a page from the real-life cast members of Bravo’s Southern Charm. Mike White, creator and director of the hit HBO show, urged actors Jason Isaacs (Timothy Ratliff), Parker Posey (Victoria Ratliff), Sam Nivola (Lochlan Ratliff), and Patrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon Ratliff), to watch the reality TV show for inspiration in portraying the fictional family, which has a strong connection to the South.

Southern Charm’s resident socialite Patricia Altschul seemed to approve of it, recognizing that Victoria Ratliff appeared to be inspired by her, even admitting that she could “relate” to Parker’s character.

However, Miss Patricia has since changed her tune about how she feels about the characters after learning about their dark and “sketchy” misdeeds on the show.

Southern Charm’s Patricia Altschul Is No Longer Fond Of The White Lotus Comparisons

Miss Patricia Did Not Like The Ratliff’s “Sketchy” Behavoir On The Show

It’s undeniably obvious that Victoria Ratliff, portrayed by actress Parker Posey, in Season 3’s The White Lotus is hugely inspired by Southern Charm’s most prominent figure, Patricia Altschul. While Patricia may have seen it as a compliment at first, she’s since changed her mind about the character and the rest of the fictitious Ratliff family.

In an interview with The New York Times in April, Patricia spoke about Parker’s character’s likeness to hers in Season 3, which included her Southern accent and high-society lifestyle. Appearing to have watched the majority of the season, Patricia shared that she wasn’t sure if she should be “flattered” by a character who was “on pills” and married to a “sketchy businessman.”

She continued, “I’m hoping that she ends up being kind of savvy. Sometimes there’s the equation that if you sound Southern, you sound stupid. I would like to think that that’s not the case.”

However, Patricia didn’t always feel this way when she learned that Parker was inspired by her when taking on the role.

Patricia “Thought It Was Fun” When She Learned The Cast Looked To Her As Inspiration

Patricia may not have been thrilled by Parker’s character’s stash of lorazepam or the Ratliff family’s unraveling as the season progressed, but she did once admit that she “related” to some of Victoria Ratliff’s characteristics.

In an interview with Glamour magazine, the Southern socialist shared that she was bombarded with messages about comparisons to her for the show. “Well, I kept getting messages and DMs. So it was all over TikTok and there were pictures of Thomas [Ravenel] and I being the main culprits for prototypes. So, I thought it was fun, and I think the actors are incredible.”

Speaking of Parker’s character, Victoria’s accent, she did state that hers was more of “a Southern drawl because she draws out her sentences” compared to her “watered-down one.”

Still, she saw a little bit of herself in Victoria. “I think her attitude is kind of that of a snobby, Southern upper-class woman,” she shared, adding, “I think there are occasions when—and you have to remember that I’m typical of my age group—I have some definite opinions about things, especially socially. Like when she said, ‘All actresses are prostitutes.’ Yeah, that sounds like something I’d say. So I can relate to her.'”

The White Lotus’ Creator, Mike White, Told The Cast To Watch Southern Charm

The White Lotus Cast “Modeled” Their Accents To The Cast Of The Bravo Show

In several interviews, the cast who played the Ratliff’s in The White Lotus were told by Mike White to watch Southern Charm so that they could nail down their Southern accents and strong personas.

Speaking with People, Sam, who plays the youngest member of the Ratliff family, Lochlan Ratliff, shared that he had to study the Bravo reality show as part of preparing for his role.

For those who watched both shows, it was obvious that Jason drew inspiration from Thomas Ravenel, who starred in the series for the first five seasons. According to the NYT, Thomas did not know that Jason had studied him for his role as Timothy Ratliff. “This sounds very familiar. But once everyone started making a big to-do about it, then I said, ‘That’s not me.'”

However, Thomas did state that he believed Parker nailed her likeness to Patricia. “More so she sounds like Pat than he sounds like me.”

When The White Lotus aired, Parker’s accent soon went viral, especially when she would elongate words like “tsunami,” “buddhism,” and “Piper.” In interviews, she spoke about her fondness for the Southern lifestyle and southern women.

“You know, I love southern women. To be able to play … I always thought, as a little girl, loving Tennessee Williams and all this Southern drama, and these women, I love southern women as characters,” Parker shared on the Today show.

Meanwhile, actress Sarah Catherine Hook, who plays Piper Ratliff, didn’t need to do much studying like her co-stars since she hails from Alabama, with Sam telling People that she already had the accent “down.”

Southern Charm

Release Date

March 3, 2014

Network

Bravo

Showrunner

Bryan Kestner, Whitney Sudler-Smith

Writers

Bryan Kestner, Whitney Sudler-Smith

Franchise(s)

Southern Charm