Jason Isaacs "lied" in his 'White Lotus' audition

He confessed to People magazine: "You're the first person I've ever said this to. I lied to Mike and Dave and told them I was a huge fan."

But the 61-year-old star - who has daughters Lily, 22, and Ruby, 19, with wife Emma Hewitt - quickly went away to "binge" both previous seasons of the show and liked what he saw.

He said: "After the audition, I binged season one and season two.

"The only reason I hadn't watched it is my family had started without me. They loved it like crazy, and season two came on and they said, 'Watch it,' and I went, 'I want to see season one,' so I just hadn't caught up.

"I watched all of them in like a day and a half.

"I basically sat and stewed in my own filth, watched it and realised why people had made such a fuss. And then I was a fan, but by then I think I had the job."

Jason recalled feeling "anxious and nervous" about the audition process.

He said: "I went to audition and put myself on tape in New York because I was there to launch 'Archie', a show in which I play Cary Grant.

"And I walked past all these giant billboards in Times Square of my face on it to go into a casting director's office like I used to in my 20s and put myself on tape, so I certainly couldn't get too big for my boots.

"And I was anxious and nervous. Then I got the job. I obviously didn't do too appalling of a job."

'The White Lotus' season three was filmed in Thailand and Jason recently quipped the cast all "stunk" at the end of a day's filming because of the heat and the fact they were unable to have air conditioning running due to the noise interference it caused.

He told Time magazine: "We're doing intimate scenes, and you stink. By the end of each day, we're just caked in sweat and makeup. You can peel your clothes off with a trowel. It melts your fillings."

"It would be churlish to complain - there are terrible things going on in the world - but we've all had enough."

The outlet noted many crew members "fell ill" amid record-breaking temperatures, and the set was "littered with ice coolers and sachets of isotonic powder" to help them cool down, while hairdryers were utilised for the cast to dry off their sweat patches.