'I fell madly in love : Jason Isaacs feels like a 'surrogate father' to his on-screen children in The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs feels like a "surrogate father" to his on-screen children in The White Lotus.

In the hit HBO black comedy-drama anthology series, the 62-year-old actor plays businessman Timothy Ratliff, who is married to Victoria Ratliff (Parker Posey), and they have sons Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Lochlan (Sam Nivola), and daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook).

Jason told People: "I fell madly in love with Patrick and [Sam Nivola] and [Sarah Catherine Hook] as my fake kids."

The actor - who is married to actress Emma Hewitt - forgot who his real children were when his daughters Lily, 23, and Ruby, 20, flew out to Thailand to visit him on the set of The White Lotus.

Jason admitted: "When my real daughters came to visit, I said, 'Let's go out and eat with the kids,' and they went, 'Dad, we're your kids.

"I'm like, 'Sorry.'"

Season three of The White Lotus - which sees the Ratliff family, who are from North Carolina, travel to Thailand and are faced with drama and danger throughout their stay at the titular resort - received nine Emmy nominations, with Jason being named in the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category.

Jason lost out on a gong to Tramell Tillman, 40, for his role as Seth Milchick in the Apple TV+ thriller series Severance, and The White Lotus did not win an award for Best Drama Series - with it going to the HBO Max drama The Pitt.