The White Lotus Confirms Its OG Character Replacement For Season 4

Published Nov 10, 2026, 8:30 PM EST

As Classic TV Editor at Screen Rant, Guy specializes in leading features content about shows from decades gone by. Having written for and edited several TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include comedy, crime, historical drama, Westerns, and political thrillers.

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We don’t have to wait much longer for The White Lotus to return, with its highly anticipated fourth season set for release in the first half of 2027. This installment of Mike White’s scabrously satirical dark comedy features its most luxurious setting yet, as well as a whole host of fresh faces.

One of these new cast members is the perfect potential replacement for the only character who’s appeared in every season of the show so far. Jon Gries hasn’t been confirmed for The White Lotus season 4, suggesting his character may finally be bowing out of the series. Then again, Mike White always has at least one surprise for fans up his sleeve.

Either way, the White Lotus character formerly known as Greg has a more than able substitute in an actor who’s ideally suited to his recurring role in the series. This actor has made smug overcompensation masking profound insecurity his calling card for screen characterization since the 1980s.

He’ll fit right in among the pretentious prima donnas on display at a sun-kissed Mediterranean resort on the French Riviera in this new season. Indeed, Steve Coogan is well used to taking trips to European beaches on the small screen by now, especially in aid of an overly pompous comedy character.

The White Lotus Has Found Its Jon Gries Replacement For Season 4

Early images of The White Lotus season 4 give us a glimpse of its setting in a Saint-Tropez resort, which serves as accommodation for a group of guests attending the Cannes Film Festival. We haven’t had a glimpse of the show’s new characters at this stage. But it’s hardly a stretch to picture recent cast addition Steve Coogan playing the role in the group that Jon Gries has filled over the past three seasons.

Like Gries, Coogan is an expert in disingenuous characters whose overly self-serving air betrays their duplicitous nature. At the same time, he can deliver a biting line with a deadpan expression that complements his typically British sense of humor.

A Steve Coogan character will inevitably be more sycophantic and less ruthlessly calculating than Gries’ Greg Hunt, although there will be clear parallels in how his newcomer turns on the earthy, working-class charm when required. We can expect Coogan to appear similarly unassuming alongside the more well-to-do American clientele his character is socializing with in The White Lotus.

Even the clear contrasts between the two actors are welcome, as Mike White looks to mix things up with the fresh personalities he introduces to the series with each new season. In any case, Steve Coogan is the ideal elder statesman of the new group, who’ll be similarly difficult for the others to figure out, even if he goes about his business slightly differently from Greg.

Steve Coogan Is A Perfect Addition To The White Lotus

Fans of Alan Partridge will immediately recognize why casting Coogan is such a masterstroke for The White Lotus. Every performative gesture or line of dialogue in the show is comparable to something Partridge will have thought, said, or done at some point in his life.

He’s the ultimate example of a smarmy, self-important male chauvinist, who’s an infinitely better person in his head than he is in real life.

For anyone who loves The White Lotus for its sharply satirical sendup of naval-gazing elitists, his canon of generation-defining British comedy series is well worth checking out. Partridge’s most recent TV show This Time has no bad episodes, yet it isn’t even Steve Coogan’s best work as the character.

If he brings an ounce of his greatest creation to his appearance in The White Lotus season 4, viewers are in for a treat. Whether Jon Gries joins Coogan onscreen or not, Alan Partridge will be more than welcome in Saint-Tropez.

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  Leslie Bibb

  Kate Bohr

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  Laurie Duffy

A luxury vacation unravels into satire and suspense as wealthy guests and stressed employees collide at an exclusive resort, where privilege entitlement and buried resentments slowly surface. Each season of this critically acclaimed HBO Max original series shifts location and ensemble.