Laura Dern joins The White Lotus season four after Helena Bonham Carter exit

Laura Dern has joined the cast of The White Lotus season four after Helena Bonham Carter's unexpected departure from the upcoming season.

Last week, it was revealed that Bonham Carter had exited the fourth season of the HBO drama just four days into filming.

It has now been confirmed that Big Little Lies star Dern, a longtime collaborator of the show's creator Mike White, will step in following the sudden casting change.

However, according to Deadline, White has written a new character specifically for Dern, meaning she will not directly replace Bonham Carter's original role.

HBO previously said Bonham Carter chose to step down from the role after it had "become apparent" that the character, who was reportedly central to the season four storyline, "did not align once on set".

Dern and White have worked together several times before, including on the 2007 film Year of the Dog and the HBO series Enlightened.

The actress also made a voice cameo in season two of The White Lotus as Abby, the estranged wife of Dominic Di Grasso, played by Michael Imperioli.

Rumours that Dern would join the fourth season first emerged last July, when she and White were spotted having smoothies together in Los Angeles while he was reportedly scouting locations for the new season.

Season four of The White Lotus will be set in France and follows a new group of White Lotus hotel guests and staff over the course of a week during the Cannes Film Festival.

Alongside Dern, the cast includes Steve Coogan, AJ Michalka, Kumail Nanjiani, Chloe Bennet, Max Greenfield, Vincent Cassel, Marissa Long, Alexander Ludwig and more.

The series, which does not yet have a release date, will film in Cannes, St Tropez and Monaco, with additional production taking place in Paris, although the storyline will remain focused on the Côte d'Azur.