Who is Scott Glenn, Walton Goggins’ Nemesis on ‘The White Lotus’ — And Will He Be Back for the Season Finale?

BACKDRAFT, Scott Glenn, 1991, (c)Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

In the penultimate episode of The White Lotus‘s third season, Walton Goggins‘ mysterious Rick finally met the man he came to Thailand to pursue: Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), The White Lotus resort’s co-owner — and, according to Rick, the man who murdered his father decades ago, before Rick was even born. Rick’s confrontation with Hollinger was brief, and culminated with Rick knocking the elderly man over and running from his home. But was this the last we’ll see of Hollinger this season? Considering that Rick’s entire plot line revolved around his vendetta against the man — and fan theories that he might actually be Rick’s father, rather than his father’s killer — there’s a strong chance that Jim Hollinger will pop up again in the season 3 series finale on April 6.

As we wait for the final episode to drop, it’s a great time to catch up on the long career of Scott Glenn — and the hints he’s given on his character’s final fate.

Who is Scott Glenn?

Even if the name doesn’t immediately ring any bells, you’ve almost definitely seen the 86-year-old film and TV actor before. After attending the College of William and Mary and spending three years as a Marine in the early ’60s, Glenn turned to acting, making his Broadway debut in 1965, and gaining his first steady TV gig, on Burt Reynolds’ Hawk, in 1966. He joined the famed Actors Studio in 1968, and nabbed guest spots on TV and smaller roles in 1975’s Nashville and 1979’s Apocalypse Now, before breaking through in 1980 as one of the stars of John Travolta’s Urban Cowboy.

Glenn’s prolific filmography has included everything from playing the good guy in sophisticated early ’90s thrillers like Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Hunt for Red October (1990) to a doomed drug dealer in the crime drama Training Day (2001) to a run as CIA Director Ezra Kramer in two of the Jason Bourne films.

Starting in the 2010s, Glenn has found a home on cable and streaming dramas, with turns on The Leftovers, Castle Rock, and as blind sensei Stick in multiple Marvel shows.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn, 1991.

©Orion Pictures Corp/courtesy Everett Collection

In addition to his acting, Glenn is an accomplished outdoorsman, skydiver and martial artist, who engaged in open-water spear fishing until doctor’s advised him to quit following a skin cancer diagnosis. Though he’s nearly 90, Glenn is in excellent physical shape — so much so that he was initially put off by the idea of playing a character with a cane. As he told GQ, “[White Lotus producers] sent me a description of an older guy who is laid up and walking with a cane. My first instinct was to get really pissed off because over the last five or six parts I’ve been offered (and did not do), four of them were guys dying of Alzheimer’s, three of them had canes, one of them had a walker, and one of them was in an iron lung. I thought, OK, I know I’m old…”

However, Glenn was later won over after watching the show’s first season, and happily signed on to play the mysterious Jim. His martial arts background and physical fitness did come into play in one surprising way while filming the show — they allowed him to perform his own stunt. “They pushed me over in the chair,” he told GQ. Considering that Glenn did some of his own fight scenes in Daredevil, it’s not the most dangerous thing he’s ever done on film — but it’s still pretty impressive.

Will Jim Hollinger be back in the season finale?

THE WHITE LOTUS, Scott Glenn,, Killer Instincts', (Season 3, ep. 307, aired March 30, 2025).

Though Glenn has not formally said he’ll appear in the finale, his GQ interview hinted at a return appearance. In discussing the scene where Goggins’ Rick confronts him, Glenn said, “I don’t want to give away what’s going to happen. Towards the end of that scene as the character, I’m trying to figure out how this guy [Rick] got this information about me. And what connection I have with him, other than him being in my office and threatening me with a pistol. I don’t know if that’s an excuse-me answer to your question.”