Meet Tayme, Who Romances Lisa in The White Lotus Season 3

Tayme Thapthimthong in The White Lotus Credit - Fabio Lovino—HBO

Tayme Thapthimthong is taking it all in. Relaxing with other The White Lotus cast members in the upper rafters of Phuket’s Bangla Muay Thai Stadium, the 35-year-old former nightclub bouncer, soldier, and talent show contestant can hardly believe his luck.

Below him, two fighters are trading flying kicks in the ring as series creator Mike White discusses camera angles with his cabal of producers. To his left, two-time Emmy nominee Carrie Coon is fanning herself against the oppressive heat. To his right, Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, star of K-pop supergroup Blackpink, chats with an aide.

Just a few weeks earlier Tayme was working as a bodyguard for a Thai rapper. Now he’s starring in one of television’s biggest shows—and as Lisa’s love interest, no less. Season 3 of Lotus takes HBO’s hit black comedy to Thailand and Tayme plays security guard Gaitok at the luxury resort. You could forgive Tayme for feeling a bit of imposter syndrome. But he’s choosing just to relish every second.

“It's incredible,” he told TIME last April during one of two exclusive visits to the set of The White Lotus. “When I think back to what I was doing a year ago compared to now, I feel very blessed and I appreciate everything so much.”

Gaitok is a sweet guy with a crush on pretty coworker Mook—played by Lisa—and the burning desire to prove himself as more than just a rent-a-cop for pampered vacationers. And in person, Tayme betrays much of that same tender, soft-spoken charm as his Lotus alter ego. But a big difference in his transformation from real-life to on-screen security personnel is that the true Tayme has zero need to prove his valor to anyone.

Tayme was born and raised in London, where his Bangkok native parents ran a successful restaurant in the well-heeled Kensington district. But despite the family’s success, growing up as a third culture kid wasn’t always easy. “I did experience some bullying,” he says. “I stood out a little bit being the only Asian kid in school.”

Turns out that torment was a formative experience. “I always think back to a moment when I decided to stand up to the bullies,” he says. “It just changed everything. It made me feel maybe sometimes you just have to fight back.”

Read More: Behind the Scenes of The White Lotus’ Bigger, Wilder, Darker Third Season

Fighting soon became a way of life for Tayme, who at the age of 13 enrolled in Combined Cadet Force, a British Armed Forces-run training program for kids in schools. “It was almost like a calling,” he says. “Because I was never good academically, but I was good at sports.”

After high school, Tayme desperately wanted to join the Royal Marines. “Afghanistan was already kicking off and I just felt the calling to go,” he says. But his father insisted that he get a degree first, so he enrolled in a dance course at West London’s Kingston University. “Not that I was a dancer!” he laughs. “I didn't know what else to do. So I thought I'd choose something with the least writing. I was very wrong; it's a lot of writing!”

Between studies, Tayme worked in a nightclub as a bouncer. “No one was scared of me, for sure!” he says. “I still had a baby face but back then, when I was 19, doing bouncing work, it was pretty hard.”

To prepare for the Marines, Tayme started training with a family friend who had served with Britain’s elite Special Air Service, or SAS, to build up his fitness and stamina. He passed the aptitude test, aced the fitness, but there was a problem. “I failed the physical because they found my left ear just doesn't hear very well,” he says. “I got off a plane when I was 11 and it just never popped.”

That rejection stung. “I was just gutted after training so much for this thing that I wanted most in the world,” he says. “And it kind of broke me. I didn't really know what to do with myself.”

His dad suggested he live with his aunt and uncle in Thailand for a change of scenery, using the language skills his parents had forced him to practice growing up. He arrived in Bangkok with a vague notion to find his way into entertainment. “I also loved to act and sing but I just never really took it that seriously.”

However, he quickly learned that without any experience, the cutthroat Thai showbiz industry was going to be a struggle. Then a connected friend suggested he try out for a reality talent show called Academy Fantasia, which was like X-Factor crossed with Big Brother, with 24 budding performers living in a house as they prepare for weekly singing, drama, and dancing contests. Tayme came in second and wound up with a record deal.

However, the sheen soon rubbed off. “I like to sing blues and R&B but they didn’t have a market for that here,” he says. “So they were trying to make me more rock. It wasn't really me.”

Still, by now Tayme had the profile to segue into acting, landing a few minor parts in international films that came to Thailand, such as Skin Trade, Farang, and the Netflix series Thai Cave Rescue. Despite acting alongside heroes like martial arts legend Tony Jha, major roles proved elusive, leaving Tayme to generally portray “corrupt policemen or drug dealers,” he says. “Fourteen days of filming was the most I'd ever had.”

That's why after five years of singing and acting he started to reevaluate his career choices. “I didn’t know where this was going and wanted a stable income,” he says. “That’s when I decided to join the Thai Army.”

Read More: How Thailand Is Redefining ‘Soft Power’

Despite being by far the oldest recruit undergoing the six months of basic training, he sufficiently impressed his instructors to be posted to the elite Counter Terrorist Operations Command, which is equivalent to the U.S. Delta Force. After three years, he was made an officer in the Close Projection division of Thailand’s Armed Forces Security Centre, its CIA equivalent, which is charged with guarding high-ranking officials. Tayme ended up serving as a shooting instructor. “I was initially trained as an agent just using handguns and stuff,” he says. “But then later I decided to do counter assault, which is the SWAT team attached to security details.”

Another three years later Tayme decided to leave the army for more lucrative security contracting work. A chance meeting with the Thai rapper Way of the hip-hop group Thaitanium led to him becoming his personal bodyguard. And it was while doing security that the opportunity to audition for Lotus popped up. “I've always seen myself as an action guy because I have weapons skills,” he says. “But now with The White Lotus I’m willing to give anything a go. I love it.”

Not least since he gets to work so closely with Lisa, which has made him extra popular at home. “My daughter loves Blackpink,” he says. “I myself haven't really listened to K-pop but when I come home my daughter would have Blackpink concerts on the TV.”

Tayme credits Lisa for helping him perfect his Thai accent for Lotus. “Because my character is an island kid, who grew up on Samui, I had to make my Thai much better and my English much worse,” he says.

Tayme now has an American agent and hasn’t ruled out moving to Hollywood if that would help his career. He’s already secured parts in the new Alien: Earth series coming out later this year as well as the upcoming Jason Statham movie Mutiny. “Security has always been my safety net,” he says. “But this time, I'm really going to go for the acting. Because this opportunity is probably not going to come around again. And this is amazing.”

Write to Charlie Campbell at charlie.campbell@time.com.