Culture

The White Lotus’ Lukas Gage wants to “normalise rimming” on TV

By Zoya Raza-Sheikh

20th January 2022

The 26-year-old Euphoria actor revealed he wants to see more rimming following The White Lotus’ hit sex cliffhanger scene. 

The White Lotus star Gage is best known for his stints in Euphoria and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.

In the popular HBO comedy-drama, Gage plays hotel staff member Dillon alongside regular scene partner Armond (Murray Bartlett). 

HBO’s The White Lotus has built a reputation for its steamy scenes and fast-paced drama. However, most fans remember that on-screen moment which went viral. 

Episode four, which aired July last year, had fans in a frenzy after it showed Dillon “getting his salad tossed” by his spa manager.

In a new appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, Gage opened up about the intimate on-screen scene. 

“I thought we should normalise rimming. I think that, like, ass-eating needs to be talked about more. In the script, it was sex, and we’ve seen sex on TV. Let’s have some ass-eating,” he told the audience. 

The scene, between Gage and Bartlett, was originally scripted to have both characters participate in penetrative sex, but was rewritten following the actor’s request, according to Queerty.

“We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be more interesting if [Dillon’s] getting his salad tossed?’” Gage told AV Club. The two actors worked with an intimacy coordinator to block the scene then reportedly dived right in, quite literally in Bartlett’s case.

Bartlett has starred in Looking on HBO and the Netflix revival of Tales of the City where he plays gay characters.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Bartlett spoke about the scene: “It felt right in terms of the shock value. And it felt great in terms of: ‘Let’s show something that is a natural part of sex for a lot of queer people.”

The White Lotus is now available on Sky Atlantic and Now TV. Watch the trailer for the series here or below.