From fantasy realms to gritty thrillers, Julian Kostov’s range knows no bounds—and now, the Bulgarian actor and producer enters the sun-soaked, sharply satirical world of The White Lotus for its highly anticipated third season. Set against the lush backdrop of Thailand, Season 3 introduces new faces, darker turns, and Kostov’s enigmatic Aleksei. In this exclusive interview, he shares how a serendipitous call changed his career, the immersive reality of filming in Koh Samui, and why representing Eastern European stories—on screen and behind the scenes—remains his greatest mission.
The White Lotus is known for its unpredictable characters and sharp social commentary. What was your first reaction when you got the call to join Season 3, and how does it feel to be part of such an acclaimed show?
It was a shock, especially with the way it all happened was unorthodox, to say the least. It’s probably the first time I screamed. I was with my girlfriend, and she flipped out even more! She started crying and got me going too. It was serendipitous too. We were just about to book a vacation to Thailand for the same week that we ended up having to shoot the series. So… saved on plane tickets that day, apart from a career defining moment. Ha ha
The new season of The White Lotus is set in the stunning backdrop of Koh Samui. How did filming in Thailand influence the atmosphere on set, and did the location shape your approach to your character?
As you know, two of the major features of The White Lotus world are the Hotel and the location. The fauna and flora, the local culture, and the luxurious backdrop all play a big part in the series, and even more so than ever in season 3. Thailand is a magical place in so many ways – everything from the people, the faith, the food to the weather – it just all blends into a special type of magical realism that you live on a daily basis. And living in the Four Seasons resort and the other hotels with the rest of the cast and crew makes it all so much more meta. We literally lived The White Lotus experience, except no one got hurt. We went to the famous full moon party in Koh Phangan. Explored Phuket too, the infamous Bangla Road was where the penny dropped for my character exploration. I immersed myself in the surroundings looking for my character, studied people, stole someone’s walk, imagined what it would be like if I were Aleksei, and I moved out here. How could he hustle and make money? How could he thrive as a newcomer in this underbelly of society. The city’s glittering nightlife masks a seedy underbelly of society where a lot of dodgy expats operate so I wondered how Aleksei could make his mark here.
With The White Lotus being a mystery-filled ensemble piece, what can you tell us about working with Mike White and the cast? Were there any standout moments on set?
Mike White has this ability to make you feel like family instantly. First day on set was a challenging one because we, the boys, had to do all the pool scenes from the end of Ep5 which meant we had to establish an instant connection with the three friends played by Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan and Leslie Bibb. But it turned out to be so easy and fun. Mike would just come and throw some lines and ideas at us and when we were doing the scene we would hear him giggle like crazy all the way from his monitor inside the house. It was very inspiring to see someone so accomplished lead the set with such easy energy, allowing us room to improvise, to try and fail, or make some moments even better with our unique energies and ideas. He trusts his cast and you can feel it. It gives you a lot of confidence and makes you a better actor in the moment. One of the best moments was in Cafe Del Mar where we shot the club scenes. There’s a scene where I have a major fight in Russian language with a few girls and most of the SAs in Thailand were Russian speaking so after Mike called cut the entire club started shouting and applauding. I worked really hard to get the Russian perfect and it was a bit of an out of body experience to have that part of my performance legitimised by a Russian speaking audience live.
You’ve played such a wide range of roles, from Shadow & Bone’s Feydor to action-packed performances in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III to comedic in Fight or Flight. Do you find yourself drawn to a particular type of character, or do you enjoy constantly switching things up?
I am really good at languages and accents so linguistic challenges are always welcome. I am a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy and it was a dream to do Shadow & Bone and creating my own General European Fairytale accent for that was so fun! I generally try to do different roles or if a role is similar then it must be a script that’s really exciting or a different medium or a creative team that I want to work with. But as long as I am at least a little afraid of taking on something it means that it’s probably the right move forward. If you’re fully confident you can do it then it’s probably best to pass and find something challenging.
As both an actor and a producer, you’ve been involved in bringing Triumph to life, a film that has now premiered at TIFF and LFF. What was the most rewarding part of working on this project, especially alongside Maria Bakalova?
It’s always great to work with Maria. We’ve laid the foundation of a movement for breaking down the stereotypes that follow Eastern European actors in Hollywood and we’ve been witnessing the fruits of it. But we can’t wait on the industry. We have to take responsibility and if we want better representation, we need to be the leaders of that and create our own original work to showcase our culture, mythology, language and myth. Triumph is inspired by unique true events that you couldn’t make up. The Bulgarian army really was digging a hole searching for alien intelligence led by a team of psychics. That really happened. But is it really crazier than some of the world events right now? It’s a relevant project because of the social and political division we have right now and the fact that a lot of people yearn for something to hold on to, some identity that would give them meaning, a feeling of belonging and hope for a better future. That was the case in Bulgaria, during the change of regime in the early 90’s while the country was in depression – economic and mental. People wanted to see their country, communities and family and friends do well. But the psychics didn’t help so it’s a cautionary tale about being careful what we choose to believe in and who we chose to follow (and vote for). Making art that comes from a personal and culturally specific place but tells a universal story and is received by one of the 5 most renowned film festivals in the world and becoming Bulgaria’s Oscar submission is what’s most rewarding about this process.
From starring in Amazon’s Alex Rider to leading Another Mother’s Son, you’ve had experience across major streaming platforms and traditional cinema. How do you see the industry evolving, and what excites you about where it’s headed?
I love mediums like Performance Capture in video games and in cinema. It gives us a new way to deepen the craft and tell stories. The rise of TV in the last two decades has also been very inspiring because the writing has space to expand, to create a prolific world full of three-dimensional supporting characters and as an actor, even in a smaller part, you have the ability to shine. Films are of course my first love. What’s been great about the indie movie scene is that you still have brave experimental work that dissects topics and themes on the periphery of mainstream media. The industry has become more inclusive, I feel the final frontier is culture, language and accent. And a lot more actors have been put in the driving seat by studios and streamers to tell their original stories.
You’ve worked with incredible talents like Mark Strong, Peter Dinklage, and Elijah Wood. Have any of your co-stars or directors given you advice that has stuck with you?
Actually, there’s something Mark Strong said to me on the set of Temple. We were discussing older actors and how their faces already tell us the story and they don’t need to “do” anything but say the lines. They know that they shouldn’t play the distance between them and the other actor but between them and the camera. And then Mark added this that blew my mind: Experienced actors know that they also shouldn’t play the distance between them and the other actor with their voice but rather the distances between their mouth and the lav mic (that’s the mic attached to your chest). George Clooney is a great example of that. When you listen to his voice in the cinema the subwoofers are blowing up because he gets to use that deeper register of his voice while speaking softly.
Photographer: David Reiss @davidreissphotography
Stylist: Hannah Beck @hannahbeckstylist
Groomer: Charley McEwen at The Only Agency @charley.mcewen
