Sam Nivola might be on the rise in Hollywood, but even he has his idols.
Nivola is best known for playing Lochlan Ratliff in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus. Lochlan is the youngest of the Ratliff siblings, a high school senior and the youngest child of Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and Victoria Ratliff (Parker Posey). He is depicted as being caught between his siblings’ contrasting personalities and his parents’ predefined expectations for his future.
In a recent Variety feature, the 21-year-oldactor opened up about his role in The White Lotus, as well as gave admiration for fellow actor Timothée Chalamet, calling him “one of the best actors alive.”
Before mentioning Chalamet, Nivola mentions how he thinks that Hollywood and the entertainment industry are not interested in welcoming new talent into the space, and noted that many older actors are getting plastic surgery to look younger.
“He’s a total star…But it’s a different kind of movie star; he’s not huge and jacked. He looks a little more like me,” said Nivola, who, like Chalamet, has a more slender frame and a babyface.
Though Nivola is the son of actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola and surrounded himself in the Brooklyn indie film scene growing up, he got his start in his acting career without their help and wants to navigate Hollywood on his own. His parents did not want their children to follow their footsteps, but Nivola secretly submitted a self-audition tape in his senior year of high school and got the role of Henrich, the son of Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig’s characters in the 2022 film White Noise.
After his success in The White Lotus, the actor has been quickly carving out a space in the industry. He is set to star opposite fellow White Lotus alum Connie Britton in Hulu’s coming-of-age mystery Phony, and he recently wrapped production on a Bobby Farrelly Rated-R comedy film, Driver’s Ed. He currently lives in the East Village neighborhood in Manhattan with his girlfriend, Iris Apatow, and his a co-founder of a production company he created with his two best friends, Cold Worm.
With The White Lotus wrapped and new projects in the works, Nivola’s career is just getting started.
Related: ‘White Lotus’ Actress, 44, Posts Cheerful Picture With Co-Stars After Receiving Emmy Nomination