Michelle Monaghan on The White Lotus and Being the Face of U Beauty

All you need to know about Michelle Monaghan’s character in The White Lotus season 3 is that she brings an Erewhon tote with her to go clubbing. Her character Jaclyn, a TV star married to a younger man, is just one-third of an intriguing trio of female friends, which includes actresses Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon and is captivating viewers. The role is a departure for Monaghan, who has long entertained audiences with her action movie prowess in the Mission: Impossible franchise and The Bourne Supremacy. Another new role for the actress is her first-ever beauty campaign, as a spokesperson for the high-tech skin care line U Beauty. As a survivor of skin cancer, the gig is a chance to amplify her mission to spread awareness about skin health.

Monaghan was fresh off attending her first Dior show in Paris when she talked to ELLE.com about being one third of a “blonde blob,” bonding with the White Lotus cast, and the lip balm color she personally chose for her character.

Congrats on your first beauty campaign—I like that the film shows real skin.

I’m in my 40s and I’m really proud to be the age that I am. When I saw the video, I was like, “Thank you, because that’s me.” I felt like that was me in my best self. That’s what I want other people to feel as well.

I am very aware of my skin journey. In my teens and 20s, I had no concept of what I was putting on my skin. I was guilty of sometimes not washing my face and didn’t wear sunscreen. Then in my 30s, I got a huge wake up call when I was diagnosed with melanoma.

How did having skin cancer affect how you think about beauty in general?

I had to pay really close attention to what I was putting on my skin, and start educating myself on the science behind ingredients and the dangers of the sun. All of that corresponded with me becoming a mother as well. When you become a mom, you’re looking at the ingredients of all things. You look at not just how to protect your children, but become more aware of skin health. A lot of my routines changed.

I learned about U Beauty when I was in the trailer, working with a makeup artist and talking about dark spots, fine lines, hormonal acne, and things like that. The Resurfacing Compound has been my holy grail. Honestly, within about a week, I just saw a noticeable difference. It’s really diminished my age spots, sun damage, and reduced my pore size and improved the texture of my skin. There is a lot of glow there. Streamlining my beauty routine also allows me to maximize other moments—for me, that’s my 20 minute meditation in the morning before the kiddos wake up. That is luxurious to me.

Did you adapt your skincare routine when you were filming in Thailand?

Yes and no. It was so incredibly humid there. I’ve never experienced humidity like that, ever in my life. Even the Thai people said, “This is really intense.” I drink a ton of water, so I’m always hydrated, which is obviously key for skin health. But it was so hot. I just upped the SPF and the hat situation. I continued using the Resurfacing Compound.

I would also use the Super Hydrator Body every morning on top of my fake tan. I feel like it’s a little sleeper hit that nobody knows about, but I just want to scream it from the mountain tops. I added the Lip Plasma in the light pink because it was a great color for my character. But we just went with the sweat. There was nothing we could do. We just had to be glistening.

I know from experience that the awareness about sun protection in Asia is on another level. Did seeing it for yourself change how you approach it?

Well, the crazy thing was that our entire Thai crew was dressed from head to toe. All their skin was covered. They had hats. They had things over their ears. And here we were, running around in bikinis. Thankfully, Mike White, who’s also had melanoma, gets the importance of sun protection. I would be like, “Jaclyn’s gonna wear a big hat in the scene.” He would say, “I think that’s a great idea.” He was okay with shooting her with sunglasses on.

But I do feel like with any time I’ve spent in Asia, there is a particular awareness around sun protection that doesn’t necessarily exist in this country. I have made it my mission to be able to bring some sort of awareness like that within my own community. I realized that I have a wonderful opportunity and a platform to be able to do that. If there’s something that I can impart on other people, it’s to take care of their skin.

Fabio Lovino/HBO

You mentioned the fake tan. Were there other beauty elements to Jaclyn’s character?

Mike asked me to go blonde, and I said, “Dude, I’d shave my head for you. Are you kidding?” That’s not a lie. That’s how much I love him. For the “Ladies’ Storyline” as he called it, he said, “I want the ladies to be a big blonde blob.” He wanted them to all initially feel very interchangeable. As the season progresses, you really start to see their individuality. But he wanted them all to be blonde.

The great Tracey Cunningham took me from brunette to blonde. It took a couple of days, and I loved it. With the fake bake and blonde hair, she’s kind of fancy. It just felt like a real departure from who I was. Every Sunday, I applied the fake tan. I would then have to walk around my room in my skivvies. Because it was so humid, I’d be walking around, learning my lines for the week, because the tan would take a while to dry. It looked great, but it was a lot of work for six months.

Did Mike White ask for a specific shade of blonde?

I deferred to Tracey on that. She asked me, “What kind of blonde did you want to be?” And Mike had said, “I want you to be whatever your ideal version of a blonde is, whatever works for your skin tone and eye color.” Tracey is a bit of a unicorn because she has her processes. It can take 48 hours. She will say, “Okay, we are going to do it up to this point. Then, we will let your hair settle.” She will pick a piece here and there, and perfect it. She actually maintained it, too. She came to Thailand to look after my hair, as well as Leslie [Bibb]’s. She was an amazing creative partner.

Your U Beauty campaign talks about celebrating moments. How did you find a moment for yourself during filming?

The show has such a big ensemble. We would have a little bit of time off here and there, and I love an adventure. I’m very independent. I’ve been traveling since I was 17 on my own. When I got to Southeast Asia, I realized it’s much like Europe in that once you get to the region, everything is just a hop, skip, and jump away from Bangkok.

I took the opportunity to check a box on my list, which was going to the temples of Angkor Wat. I spent a weekend there and had the most beautiful experience. My family ended up coming out, and I said, “I have to take you back there.” We also all got our diving certificates, and over the summer, we went on multiple diving trips throughout Thailand. We went to the islands of Koh Tao and Koh Samui, which have some of the most beautiful diving and reefs in the world. That was really special. It was one of the most peaceful things I could have ever done in my life. Now, we’re already trying to figure out the next time and place that we’ll get to do that as a family. It’s really special. I got to do that with a couple of my fellow cast members as well.

What did you make of the ladies’ relationship on The White Lotus and the way they gossip about each other ? Did you feel like that was a realistic portrayal of friendship?

It is a realistic portrayal of female friendships, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s how my friends and I talk to each other. But that storyline is something that is universal to everyone around the world. These women are lifelong friends, and yet their lives have taken them to very different places. The women come back together, and put their best feet forward in hopes that their relationship will be as authentic and strong as it was before.

Mike really wanted to explore the way in which friends and women continue to perpetuate this judgment that we have on each other and on ourselves. Women are really hard on ourselves. We’re really critical. These women are confronting their life choices depending on the successes or the failures of their friends. That is what feels very true to women when they’re watching the show. I hope people’s takeaway is that everyone one of us has the opportunity to be celebrated. There’s enough space for all of us.

Fabio Lovino/HBO

Did you, Carrie Coon, and Leslie Bibb have lots of bonding time?

Yes, I’m actually having dinner with Leslie tonight in about an hour, which I’m so excited about. She just landed in Paris. But these are two women who are so, so talented. I’ve known Leslie for years, but I hadn’t worked with her. I’ve known Carrie’s work, but hadn’t met her. We landed in Thailand at virtually the same time that our storyline kicked off in production. We bonded right off the bat, over food and water aerobics. I just want to say that we are underestimating water aerobics. It is an amazing workout.

Leslie was the one who brought water aerobics to the table. We were sitting and talking about our characters and the dynamic—how one’s the peacemaker, another is the victim, and one is the perpetrator. And then Leslie was like, “Should we just get in the water and start kicking our legs?” We had our hats (Tracey would be proud of us, because we couldn’t get chlorine in our hair), glasses, and one-pieces on. Every day after work, we would hop in the pool and chat through everything creatively. We’d have a little bit of our own hot “goss,” do our water aerobics at the same time, and cool off in the humidity. I think I can say, on behalf of everyone on the show, what an immersive, creative experience this was– we got to live, eat, breathe, and create all under the same roof. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced artistically before. I don’t presume that I probably ever will again.

In the most recent episode, your character takes home someone at the end of the night. What do you think was her mindset and what went into that decision?

She wasn’t thinking. At the end of the day, this is a woman who has been put on a pedestal. She’s maybe not as happy as she seems. She might be a little bit lonely. She’s clearly a woman that likes stimulation and validation, for better or for worse, and is not getting it from home, as we discover.

That prompts her to want to get outside the hotel. She has a lot of fun that day. Jaclyn is impulsive, and makes a decision that she doesn’t really think it’s that big of a deal. It’s a decision that she’s probably going to tell her girlfriends about the next morning, because she thinks it’s fun. But she gets called out on it, and realizes that it’s rubbed the other ladies the wrong way. That really shuts her down. At that point, she’s really finally felt like they’ve reconnected, so unfortunately for their relationship, she does something that really upsets the two of them.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.