Livvy Dunne Reveals She Auditioned for “The White Lotus” Before Scoring Role in “Baywatch”

Luke ChinmanThu, May 14, 2026 at 5:25 PM UTC

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Livvy Dunne
Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty -

Livvy Dunne revealed in an interview with Jimmy Fallon on May 13 that she had auditioned for The White Lotus before landing her role in Baywatch

“No one watched that,” the host joked, comforting Dunne that she didn't get the part

Dunne is set to share the screen with Stephen Amell, Thaddeus LaGrone, Jessica Belkin, Hassie Harrison, Shay Mitchell and Noah Beck

Livvy Dunne threw her name in the hat for another major TV show before landing Baywatch.

While speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on May 13, the 23-year-old gymnast-turned-actress revealed that she had actually had some experience with auditioning before going out for her role in the Fox reboot of the '90s classic.

“I was obviously so nervous,” she remembered about her first audition. “It was different, because [for] gymnastics, usually you just go out there and perform on a four-inch beam, but this, I have to talk and perform and play someone else.”

“I ended up not getting that one,” continued Dunne, teasing that the audition was for a show Fallon was probably familiar with. But when Fallon pressed to reveal the show, she whispered, “It was for White Lotus.”

“No one watched that,” the host joked, comforting Dunne that she didn't get the part.

Even though she didn't get the role in the hit HBO series, she submitted a self-tape for Baywatch later with few expectations that it would go anywhere, Dunne continued, and she got a call-back and eventually booked the show.

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In March, Fox announced that Dunne would be making her acting debut by joining the Baywatch cast in the role of Grace, a "highly enthusiastic junior lifeguard.” She's set to share the screen with Stephen Amell, Thaddeus LaGrone, Jessica Belkin, Hassie Harrison, Shay Mitchell and Noah Beck, and the show is currently slated for a January 2027 release.

Livvy Dunne
Credit: NIKOTYLER / BACKGRID

The month before her cast announcement, Dunne revealed in a conversation with PEOPLE that — following her retirement from gymnastics in April 2025 — she had plans to lean into acting.

"One thing people would be surprised about is that I take acting lessons — and I really love it,” she said. “It's something I've been passionate about for quite some time. I was interested in doing that at LSU, but sports are your top priority when you're a student-athlete at school; school and sports, but really gymnastics was my main focus."

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Added Dunne at the time: "And now that I'm done with school, I have more time to lean into the acting stuff and the creative side of things.”

"I feel like collabing on creativity and seeing the end result, having something be great after, that's something that I love," continued the former athlete. "And whether it's gymnastics or acting in a movie or a TV show, I just think watching all your hard work pay off, whether it's an individual thing or a group thing, I think it's so cool."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”