Woody Harrelson reveals surprising ‘hard decision’ that forced him to turn down major role

Woody Harrelson has addressed why he had to turn down a role in an HBO show following reports of a salary dispute.

The American actor, who is well known for his roles in The Hunger Games and True Detective, was very nearly back on our TV screen, with his last appearance being 2023's White House Plumbers.

However, instead of the White House, we would have instead seen Harrelson in a wellness resort in Thailand alongside Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood and Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Yes, we almost could seen Harrelson in season three of The White Lotus, which made its HBO Max debut on 16 February.

In case you haven't seen it, The White Lotus follows the mishaps of its clients, with this season occurring in Thailand instead of Italy.

And Harrelson was reportedly up for a role in season three, however, it was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that he'd passed on the opportunity due to his salary.

The outlet claimed that the actor 'went all the way to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to see if his salary could be negotiated', adding: "It couldn’t. Nevertheless, he signed on, then later dropped out due to scheduling."

The role he was reportedly offered was Rick Hatchett, who is instead being played by Walter Goggins.

However, Harrelson has since addressed the speculation in an interview with The Daily Beast, where he revealed that he was 'very excited' to be in the show.

Woody Harrelson was offered a role in The White Lotus (Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)

However, the Zombieland star said his decision to turn it down wasn't due to money, but rather scheduling conflicts.

He said: “I was set to do ‘White Lotus’ and very excited. Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.”

We've all been keen to avoid working after booking a holiday but then again, if I was offered thousands, or potentially millions, of dollars to appear in a film or TV show, I'd probably cancel my holiday to Blackpool.

His representatives also revealed that it wasn't Rick he was scheduled to portray, but rather his friend Frank, who is played by Sam Rockwell.

“He was set to do the show and they moved the date,” they added.

He was also reported to have been offered the role of Rick (HBO Max)

Speaking of Rockwell's performance, Harrelson continued: “Things must be meant to be though, because I couldn’t have done as fantastic a job as Sam, who is killing it.”

When it comes to salaries, one of the show’s producers, David Bernard, explained that they are 'not negotiable'.

He said: “Everyone is treated the same on The White Lotus. They get paid the same, and we do alphabetical billing, so you’re getting people who want to do the project for the right reasons, not to quote ‘The Bachelor.’

"It’s a system we developed in the first season because there was no money to make the show.”