5 Fun Facts About Sarah Catherine Hook, 'The White Lotus' Star

There are big shoes to fill when cast as a main character in Mike White's The White Lotus, the hit television show with prior casts of A-listers like Sydney Sweeney, Aubrey Plaza, and Jennifer Coolidge. But Sarah Catherine Hook, the breakout star who plays Piper Ratliff this season, has proven she has what it takes.

Playing the middle daughter in the Ratliff family—where Parker Posey acts at the mother, Victoria; Jason Isaacs plays the father, Tim; and Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola play the incestuous brothers Saxon and Lochlan. A quintessentially wealthy, Southern family, the Ratliffs are a relatively dysfunctional crew with plenty of secrets and lots of tension at the dining table. Hook does a great job of portraying Piper, a college student interested in Buddhism who sneakily convinced her family to journey to Thailand for her thesis. As the trip progresses, her real intentions for the vacation are unveiled.

The White Lotus actor is aptly breaking into a new level of the limelight. Hook recently starred in Cruel Intentions, the 2024 Prime Video series based on the classic 1999 film of the same name that famously stars Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar (another leading lady with a double first name). Hook did not play the innocent protagonist in the eight-episode series. Instead, she took on the role of Caroline Merteuil, a sorority top dog and campus mean girl in the college spinoff of the film.

Sarah Catherine Hook has played a Buddhist and a bully in her two breakout roles, with a range that proves there is likely much more talent to be revealed from the 29-year-old. Keep scrolling to learn surprising facts about her, including what she studied in college and her previous TV roles.

Yes, she has a double name.

The actor cleared things up about her name on her Instagram profile writing, "It's a double name. Just try it." She has previously explained that it is customary in her native state of Alabama for girls to have two first names, so don't refer to her as Sarah. It's Sarah Catherine.

She studied music in college.

Hook attended SUNY Purchase College where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Opera Specialization in 2017, meaning the actor has some series pipes, even if viewers don't get to hear them in The White Lotus Season 3.

She played a vampire in the Netflix series, First Kill.

The 2022 series follows Hook as she plays the young vampire Juliette Fairmont, who needs to make her "first kill" to follow in her family's footsteps. The show was canceled after one season. 

She's been tapped for the film version of People We Meet on Vacation.

The movie, which is based on Emily Henry's 2021 hit novel of the same name, is set to release on Netflix, likely at some point in 2025. Tom Blyth and Emily Bader are slotted to play the main characters, and Hook is sure to stand out in the rom-com.

Hook was in commercials for Sodastream.

Every great actor has to start somewhere. Before Sarah Catherine Hook made it big in the world of film and television, she was in a series of commercials for the soft drink alternative company Sodastream, in 2018.