Cannes and the Hôtel Martinez await a ‘White Lotus’ close-up

CANNES, France (AP) — Though many actors are appearing at the Cannes Film Festival this week, the best role in town might be a little further down the Croisette.

Season 4 of “The White Lotus” will be set around the Cannes Film Festival, bringing one the most acclaimed TV series into the heart of cinema’s French Riviera playground. The Hôtel Martinez, one of the iconic luxury hotels that line the beach in Cannes, will be a central location in Mike White’s HBO series, fictionally renamed the White Lotus Cannes.

Shooting has begun along the Riviera. But four days into the Cannes Film Festival, “The White Lotus” production has yet to materialize in town. The festival runs to May 23, so there’s still plenty of time. But the prospect of it turning into a live backdrop for “The White Lotus” may be unlikely.

As tantalizing as the prospect of cast members — including Steve Coogan, Heather Graham, Kumail Nanjiani and Rosie Perez — mixing into red carpet premieres during the festival may be, Cannes is vigilant about keeping attention focused on its film selections.

Representatives for HBO and festival organizers declined to comment.

When cameras turn on Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival has often been an irresistible setting for movies and series. A trip to Cannes made for some of the best moments in the French series “Call My Agent!” Some movies have been shot guerrilla-style around the festival, like the 1996 cameo-rich mockumentary “Cannes Man.”

But most have relied on a mix of exterior footage shot from the event with staged interior scenes apart from the festival. “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” the 2007 comedy that culminates with Mr. Bean bumbling into Cannes, is, surprisingly, among the most seamless recreations.

Some of this season’s “White Lotus” cast members are appearing in Cannes on their own, for other projects they’re a part of. Vincent Cassel walked the red carpet Thursday night for the premiere of Asghar Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales.” Laura Dern, who joined the cast after the departure of Helena Bonham Carter, is attending later in the festival for the documentary “Dernsie,” about her father, Bruce Dern.

After location scouting, producers settled on the Martinez and another hotel south of Cannes in Saint-Tropez: the Airelles Château de la Messardière. It will be renamed the White Lotus du Cap. In real life, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, in Antibes, can function like a swanky satellite to Cannes during the festival, and hosts the annual amfAR gala.

Last month, “The White Lotus” producer David Bernad said the setting for Season 4 came out of a trip he and White took to the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.

“We went to dinner and we had a really specific experience with a waiter and a maître d’, and it was the stereotype. It was a very funny moment,” Bernad said at the Canneseries Festival. “And I think that it suddenly unlocked what the show is and the dynamics of the show.”

Their festival experience convinced them to bring “The White Lotus” to Cannes.

“The energy around it was so intoxicating and this season will have elements of that,” said Bernad. “It’s really about the people’s stories, them navigating Cannes, and the ups and downs of the festival. It’s the beating heart of everything in this season.”

A plum role for the Martinez

Meanwhile, the Martinez awaits its close-up. But the Hyatt-owned hotel, which first opened in 1929, is already at the heart of the festival. Like several of the other hotels on the Croisette, the Martinez hosts waves of stars for the festival. Glamour shots on its spiral staircase are an indelible feature of Cannes. Hordes of onlookers camp outside its doors hoping for a glimpse of a celebrity or an autograph.

“We are the biggest player in town in terms of the number of rooms,” says Michel Cottray, general manager of the Martinez. “The film festival started in 1946, but we have ever since been fully engaged and in complete partnership with the festival.”

On nights during the festival, the Martinez’s lobby swells with attendees in formal wear heading to the evening premieres. Often, that includes casts and filmmakers who pile into the official festival motorcade that ferries them down the Croisette to the Palais des Festivals.

Right now, keeping that nightly ritual humming, and catering to its A-list guests, is the main concern of the Martinez. “The White Lotus” will come later.

“We are gearing up to the shooting,” Cottray says. “I think it will be in a couple months’ time and then it will be a big experience for all of us. But we are ready for that.”

Some floors of the hotel will be completely sold out and inaccessible to the public during the shooting. Filming will take place throughout the Hyatt-owned hotel. “It will be things happening a bit everywhere,” said Cottray.

Cottray spoke in the hotel’s Michelin-starred La Palme d’Or restaurant, where movie memorabilia adorns the vintage yacht-styled interiors: the boxing shorts from “Raging Bull,” a plate from “Titanic,” the ice pick from “Basic Instinct.”

In the same room, the Martinez every year hosts a private dinner at the beginning of the festival for the jury that will decide the Palme d’Or. This year, that includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård and jury president Park Chan-wook. A meal is always tailored to the president of the jury. For the South Korean filmmaker of 2003 thriller “Oldboy,” octopus was naturally on the menu.

Hosting such a crowd — and with such a classic murder weapon near at hand, too — sounds straight out of “The White Lotus.”

“There are always unexpected issues happening,” says Cottray. “We have to react quickly. I will not drop names, but, clearly, we are ready for the unexpected.”