When Walton Goggins' wife died in tragic circumstances, he went to Thailand. Fate would take him back.

He's the actor of the moment right now. The White Lotus star Walton Goggins has been a familiar face on TV screens for decades, but in 2025, he's become an internet sensation, too.

From people rooting for his on-screen relationship with Aimee Lou Wood (as beloved character Chelsea) to the 'babygirl' memes about the actor's good looks, it's Walton Goggins world, and we're just living in it.

But the man has been around for a long time. From breakout roles in The Righteous Gemstones, Justified and The Hateful Eight to a slew of successful TV roles, Goggins is a Hollywood staple.

Watch Mamamia's interview with The White Lotus cast. Post continues after video.

But behind it all, like Goggins' character in The White Lotus, his life has been marked by tragedy.

Walton is currently married to writer and director Nadia Conners. The pair met in 2005 while on a blind date orchestrated by mutual friends during a business dinner.

The couple welcomed their son Augustus on January 1, 2011, and tied the knot later that year in August.

Now, Walton and Nadia have been together for nearly two decades and the actor has described his wife and son as the greatest joys of his life.

Walton Goggins and Nadia Conners. Image: Getty.

But before Nadia, there was Walton's first wife, Leanne Goggins, who died in 2004.

It turns out, Thailand wasn't new territory for Goggins. In fact, he had been to the country for a much darker reason almost two decades ago.

The story of Walton Goggins' first wife, Leanne Knight.

Walton Goggins married Leanne Knight (later Leanne Goggins) in 2001. Leanne was a Canadian native who was passionate about animals and ran a successful dog-walking business in Laurel Canyon, California.

Their marriage came just as Walton's acting career was taking off. Reports suggest that the couple faced marital strains due to Walton's demanding work schedule and Leanne's discomfort with life in Los Angeles.

She reportedly wanted to return to Canada, which added tension to their relationship. By 2004, the couple had become estranged, and Leanne had filed for divorce.

But before the divorce was finalised, Leanne disappeared suddenly. She died by suicide on November 12, 2004, at the age of 37.

Leanne jumped from a high-rise building in Los Angeles after struggling with chronic depression. Walton recalls this period of his life as one of profound grief and loss which led him to spend three years travelling the world in search of healing.

Walter Goggins traveled for three years to heal himself. Image: Binge.

In a raw interview with GQ, Goggins opened up about this time in his life, which coincidentally led him to Thailand, 20 years before he would film there for The White Lotus.

"I had someone in my life that committed suicide… and she was my wife," he said.

"It's a very complicated story," Goggins continued. "And ultimately it was revealed the decision that she'd made."

For some time, the death of his wife left Walton with a reckless approach to life.

"I thought it was really unrecoverable for me. Life on the other side of that. And I spent the next three years looking for an excuse — not to end it, but certainly putting myself in situations that were questionable, not with drugs or anything like that, just life experiences and travelling. And I really went all over the world."

His journey took him to Vietnam, Cambodia, and India, but he began his trip in Thailand.

Two decades later when accepting his The White Lotus role, he knew Thailand would be the filming location, but he didn't register the effect it would have on him until he arrived at the first filming site.

"The first island we were staying on," he says. "I realised, 'I've been on this road before'. And then the next island we went to, I realised, 'I've definitely been on this beach before. I know this boardwalk.' And all of the things kept coming back."

On the final shooting night in Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River, the actor spotted the exact hotel he had stayed at during this time of indescribable grief.

Walton Goggins was part of a tragic love story on The White Lotus. Image: Binge.

"Oh my God. That's the room I stayed in 20 years ago. That's my balcony. That's where I was the very first day I came here, 20 years ago, and in so much f**king pain, man," he recalled.

"That's where we were filming, man — all of the equipment was literally right in front of the hotel that I'd picked 20 years ago on the internet, on this little bitty road in this little bitty neighbourhood."

It was a bizarre parallel between his past and present life that Goggins hasn't quite reckoned with yet.

"I think I haven't had the time to fully unpack the symmetry between those two people showing up at the same place, separated by 20 years. And a wife and a kid and peace and all the rest of it."

When asked if he felt like the same person who had stood on that balcony two decades back, Goggins said "I thought about that on the day," he replied.

"I thought, 'God, I wish I could hug that guy'. I wish I could whisper in his ear, 'You're going to be okay.'

"Life continues, and it continues for everybody, if you can just hold on and lean into it and keep walking the walk that you're walking, and keep looking for the answers."

Feature image: Binge.