'They're Blocking New Stars': 'White Lotus' Actor Slams Aging Movie Veterans For Getting Plastic Surgery to Play 'Young Roles'
'The White Lotus' actor Sam Nivola has blasted veteran stars for having plastic surgery and nabbing 'younger roles' at the expense of rising talent.
Aug. 8 2025, Updated 11:30 a.m. ET
The White Lotus actor Sam Nivola has blasted aging movie stars for having plastic surgery in order to play younger parts.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the 21-year-old, who played Lochlan Ratliff in the third installment of the drama which aired this year, says age-defying veterans are stopping younger talent from coming through.
Blocking Younger Talent
Nivola claims barely any young stars are coming through as veteran actors are looking younger due to surgery.
He said: "The old movie stars are getting plastic surgery, and they're looking younger, and they're staying young.
"You have these really old people playing young roles."
Nivola, who is the son of fellow actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola, continued: “And it's not giving any space for the young'uns to move in and make a name for themselves.
"With all due respect to those people, one day they won't be here anymore, literally, and they will have to create new stars."
Chalamet The Exception
'The White Lotus' star says Timothée Chalamet is the only young actor he can think of making an impact in Hollywood.
Nivola says Timothée Chalamet is one of the only names he can think of when he picks his brain for new movie stars.
He said: "I think Timothée Chalamet is one of the best actors alive, and he's a total star.
"He's one of a very few examples I could come up with. But it's a different kind of movie star; he's not huge and jacked. He looks a little more like me," he said. "I wish!"
In the same interview, Nivola explained why he doesn't attribute his success to being a nepo baby.
Nepo Baby
Nivola is adamant is success is not down to his famous parents, Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola.
He explained: "Other than my genes, I don’t think I can attribute much of my success to my parents.
"I feel proud that I’ve done it for myself, and sometimes in spite of them."
About landing his first movie role, he said: "I didn't get my dad's agent to call up so-and-so. I did it by myself.
"I didn't want to give anyone an excuse to be able to say that anything I’ve achieved has been because of anyone other than me. And I'm proud of that."
He dropped out of Columbia University after one semester, adding: "My parents were upset. It totally scared them, which is understandable.
"I wasn't happy at the time because I couldn't dedicate everything in me to acting. And...I have problems with authority figures."
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Nivola, here with his 'White Lotus' onscreen family, featured in an incest scene with Patrick Schwarzenegger, far left.
Nivola’s breakthrough role in the The White Lotus saw him take part in the now-infamous incest scene involving Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played his on-screen brother, which was branded as "disturbing" by some viewers at the time.
The actor admitted that it had been "weird" to kiss his male co-star, saying: "It was very weird kissing Patrick because he's a really good friend of mine.
"And, you know, I'm straight, he's straight. It's already weird. Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of f----d up."
His mother, Mortimer, also offered her own thoughts on her son's sex scene in The White Lotus with Schwarzenegger and fellow castmate Charlotte Le Bon — where they had a threesome.
"It's so crazy, all of it. It wasn't particularly crazier than having my boy go off to Thailand for so long," The Pink Panther actress said.
"Of course it was a bit bizarre, but being married to an actor, we've all had to watch each other do strange things.”
