Sam Rockwell as Frank in The White Lotus season threeSam Rockwell as Frank in The White Lotus season three

This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of The White Lotus.

Just when we thought the cast of The White Lotus season three was complete, they managed to sneak in one more surprise addition halfway through to keep us on our toes.

In the latest instalment of the award-winning drama, Walton Goggins’ character meets up with a friend in Bangkok, played by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell.

As the pair catch up, Sam delivered a four-minute monologue that… truly… we’re still processing, in what was a scene-stealing moment in the episode (which isn’t bad going considering this week’s instalment also saw no fewer than two debauched parties, a derailed suicide attempt and, of course, two brothers kissing).

But what some White Lotus fans over on X are only just discovering is the fact that Sam already has a connection to one existing member of the cast…

Despite what some of the above posts suggest, Sam and Leslie Bibb are, in fact, not married, but have been together for more than 17 years.

The pair got together in 2007, and in that time have shared the screen in Marvel’s Iron Man 2, as well as 2015’s Don Verdean and 2017’s The Dark Of Night.

Other viewers have been having fun imagining how Sam’s cameo might have come about…

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Leslie insisted that she had nothing to do with Sam’s casting.

She recalled: “They came to me and they were like, ‘We’re going to offer this to Sam’. I was on the treadmill and [White Lotus producer] Dave Bernad came to me.

“But I was like, ‘Sam is wild as a buck. Listen, I don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s doing a movie in South Africa, he likes time to prep’. And he was very nervous about that prep time.”

She continued: “That was a big arc to do that quickly. And [Sam] literally went from one [project] to the next, so I said [to producers], ‘You can’t get mad at me if he says no. What if he says no?’. I was so scared!

“Then Mike [White, The White Lotus’ creator] was like, ‘No, no, no, we won’t get mad at you’. I was like, ‘That jet plane’s going to fly, I can’t ground him.’

“But then it was really sweet — I think Walton really, because they’re very good friends, wanted to have that experience with him.”

Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell at the premiere of Juror #2 last yearLeslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell at the premiere of Juror #2 last year

A preview for next week’s episode has already teased a second appearance from Sam, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2017 thanks to his role in Two Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

A year later, he racked up a second nomination in this category following his performance as George W Bush in the satirical comedy Vice.

The White Lotus continues on Monday on Sky and Now in the UK.

MORE WHITE LOTUS: