Michelle Monaghan Talks ‘White Lotus,’ New Netflix Hockey Series and Her Favorite Past Characters (Exclusive)

Michelle Monaghan has taken on a variety of different roles throughout her 26 year acting career, with early projects such as Young Americans (2000) and more recent ones like the award-winning series, The White Lotus. Over the years, the actress has steadily built up a diverse resume of characters played, but there are a few she would immediately step back into if given the chance. 

“I really love a woman named Diane Ford [in Trucker (2008)],” Monaghan shared. “She was a lady trucker, and I learned how to drive an 18-wheeler… I loved learning about the culture of trucking. She was just a very interesting, layered woman, and I learned a lot about myself playing that character. Then one of my favorite characters I’ve ever played is a woman named Harmony Faith Lane in a movie called Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), which would be a character I would love to revisit, because she was very sassy, fun and quick-witted.”

But most recently, Monaghan took the world by storm with her role as Jaclyn Lemon in The White Lotus and she continues to do so with her upcoming projects. Woman’s World got to chat with the actress about those, her favorite roles and her recent partnership with Natrol, the #1 drug free sleep aid brand. 

Woman’s World:  What was your favorite part about playing Jaclyn on The White Lotus?

Michelle Monaghan: I was very nervous about doing the show, to be honest. I was thinking that I am a Hollywood actress, so this feels a little on the nose to be playing somebody kind of well known, but obviously she’s fictional. Mike [White] wrote a very fun, colorful and vivacious woman that was just a blast to play. She walks into every room and draws the attention towards her and it was just really very different from anything that I’ve done before. 

Collaborating with Mike—he’s just a genius. He writes every single episode, he directs every single episode. He’s also an actor, so he’s really great at understanding each of our processes. Plus, getting to travel to Thailand and have that adventure of a lifetime with talented actors that have now become lifelong friends. There wasn’t really anything not to like about it, except for the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were really rough, but it was a very special experience to be a part of that series.

WW: There have been a lot of thoughts about Jaclyn, with fans calling her relatable but also a bit manipulative. Do you have an unpopular opinion about Jaclyn that you wish more people could see?

Michelle Monaghan: It’s interesting because people are very vocal about her. I don’t think that she was being malicious. I think that she’s very impulsive and someone who, despite appearing to be very happy and has everything going for her in life on the outside, she’s actually a little lonely. That comes out in very unexpected and impulsive ways throughout her vacation. 

WW: It’s interesting to see those different layers of the character too, rather than just taking her at face value.

Michelle Monaghan: Exactly. That’s the beauty of Mike’s writing and his ability as a showrunner, to really invest in characters, and you get to really see all the facets and the layers of people. They’re all multi-dimensional. 

WW: In honor of your time on White Lotus, do you have any favorite beach reads?

Michelle Monaghan: Oh gosh, I love a big long book. One of my favorite books ever is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. It’s such a beautiful book. So, I would take that on the beach because it takes a while to get into and it just pulls you into this other world.

WW: You’re joining Season 3 of Friends and Neighbors. What can you share about the project, if anything?

Michelle Monaghan:  

I’m going to be a part of Westmont Village [the show’s fictional town], so I’m very excited about the project. I’m a huge fan of the show. I adore the cast and they’re all incredibly talented and kind. There’s not too much I can share. My name is Tessa, and that’s about all I can say.

WW: You’re also working on a new Netflix show, an untitled hockey series. What about this project are you most excited about?

Michelle Monaghan: I’m really excited. I’m a high school hockey coach and it’s a drama set in a town in northern Minnesota. I felt very connected to this story, in the sense that I’m a huge sports fan, but also I’m from Iowa and hockey was a big part of my upbringing. I was really excited about taking on this leadership role, so to speak, as a coach. 

The writing is so beautiful and it’s a really beautiful, emotional journey about a tragedy that a town endures. So this show is about them coming together, and my character is very central to that. It was just an extraordinary experience working with our cast and our crew. I’m very, very proud of it, and hopefully it’ll be coming out in 2027.

WW: One of our favorite projects you’ve been in is Made of Honor—do you have any fun memories from that film that you think back to?

Michelle Monaghan: It was so wonderful. I just had an absolute blast with Patrick [Dempsey] and Kevin McKidd, who I still see around every now and then. But we really got to go to the Isle of Skye in Scotland and shoot in a castle and it was absolutely beautiful. My husband came with me and I just have very fond memories from that shoot.

WW: Can  you share a bit about your partnership with Natrol and why it was important to you to team up with them?

Michelle Monaghan: I was very excited to team up with Natrol because, as my husband would say, sleeping is my superpower, and I’m all about maximizing my sleep, but my sleep goes through a lot of transitions. I’m a busy mom, I work really hard. I travel through multiple time zones and sometimes I work at night, so I have sleep challenges every now and then. I wanted to use something to achieve a good night’s sleep without taking a drug or a prescription medicine, so I was really excited to use Natrol because it allowed me to have this drug-free, great, restful quality sleep using melatonin and GABA. 

I feel great in the morning, which is critical, instead of feeling groggy and drowsy. It really allows my body to work in a very efficient way to get all the things done I need during the day.