Alexander Ludwig Calls 'White Lotus' Season 4 'F—ing Wild'

Alexander Ludwig is filming Season 4 of "The White Lotus" in the south of France — and he says the new season is the show's most "extravagant" yet. "It's fucking wild," the 34-year-old actor tells Variety, speaking by Zoom from a small café near his Airbnb, where, he jokes, "This is my really hard life right now."

Ludwig and AJ Michalka were the first cast members announced for the HBO anthology's new season. The ensemble also includes Marissa Long, Ari Graynor, Steve Coogan, Max Greenfield and Kumail Nanjiani. Creator Mike White and HBO have not officially revealed plot details, but Variety previously reported the story follows two rival filmmaking teams competing for the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Production has been spotted in and around Paris, Monaco and Cannes, including the Palais des Festivals.

Ludwig has already tasted the setting's glamour firsthand. "The only thing cooler than having a film premiere at Cannes Film Festival is shooting 'The White Lotus' at the Cannes Film Festival," he says. "Let me tell you, it was like I had this golden ticket. I was at this event at the Hôtel du Cap — which is already the most obnoxious statement of my life — and who walks up but George Clooney? My wife and I start talking to him for like 15 minutes. The second he heard 'White Lotus,' he was like, 'Tell me everything. Tell me.'"

Did he share any secrets with Clooney? "Go, no," Ludwig says, before adding with a wink: "He's going to have to wait like everyone else."

Fans of the series know how far "The White Lotus" will go — last season delivered a shocking incestuous scene between Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola. Ludwig says he had one immediate question for White. "Who am I doing that to?" he asked, laughing. "Obviously joking but I was like, 'Just tell me.' [I'll do it] happily."

From Cato to Kaczynski's World

Before the Cannes shoot, Ludwig was promoting "Unabomber," his new Netflix biopic about Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist who killed multiple people between 1978 and 1995 by mailing bombs to his targets. Shailene Woodley stars as the FBI agent who insists on following a tip from Kaczynski's own brother, which led to his identification and arrest. Ludwig plays a less-than-supportive fellow agent. Jacob Tremblay leads the film as a young Kaczynski during a controversial psychiatric study he participated in as a Harvard undergraduate. The movie raises questions about whether the study's traumatic impact shaped Kaczynski's radical beliefs and deadly actions.

"Netflix kind of cold offered it to me, and I read the script and I was like, 'I love this because we've all seen versions of this, but never told from this place where you actually can see the making of this genius monster," Ludwig says. "I thought that was a fascinating way to tell the story."

At times the film presents a sympathetic portrait of Kaczynski as a young man exploited by an unethical professor, played by Russell Crowe. "One thing is for certain: he was an incredibly intelligent human being and was totally bamboozled at a young age," Ludwig says. "He was clearly abused."

The Scene That Launched a Career

Ludwig, who grew up in Vancouver, Canada, first drew wide attention as Cato in the original "The Hunger Games" in 2012. His death scene — mauled by a pack of wolf mutts before Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) fatally shoots him with an arrow — remains one of the franchise's most memorable moments.

"Shout out to (writer and director) Gary Ross for that," Ludwig says. "I actually think without that scene and the scene that happened just prior, where I have this little monologue that was written on the day by Gary, I don't think that character would have been nearly as memorable as it became because if you watch the film, I'm not in it a ton. It's just that character had such a presence, and I owe so much of that to Gary. I really owe my career to him. That was kind of what set me up at the beginning. It kind of teed me up for being able to work consistently in this business."

He recalls his first days on set with Lawrence, already an Oscar nominee for "Winter's Bone." "I remember Jen and I riding together in this van, and her being so lovely and me being like, 'God, she's only a couple years older than me and she's already been nominated for an Oscar. Like what the hell?'" he says. "I remember seeing the Cornucopia for the first time, and just being in total awe and being in total awe of my life and how lucky I was."

The franchise, he notes, carried an aura of inevitability. "That was one of those rare films, not dissimilar from 'White Lotus,' where you knew it was going to be massive before you had even shot a frame," he says. "You were famous for just being cast."

Ludwig plans to attend the premiere of the next installment, "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping." "I just saw the trailer yesterday," he says. "They invited me to the premiere, and I said, 'If you fly me out, I'll come.' I literally turned to my wife and I said, 'I can't believe they're still making these. It's amazing. It's crazy.'"

"Unabomber" is now streaming on Netflix, while "The White Lotus" Season 4 — with its Cannes setting and Clooney still waiting for spoilers — remains one of HBO's most closely guarded productions.